Melissa Richling
DNP
Lieutenant Commander, Navy
Department of Primary Appointment:
Graduate School of Nursing
Nurse Anesthesia Program
Location:
Naval Medical Center, San Diego, CA
Research Interests:
Office Phone
Biography
Lieutenant Commander Melissa Richling is a Registered Nurse with 20 years of experience, including 14 years of active-duty service in the Navy. She is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) with a Doctor of Nurse Practice obtained from the Uniformed Services University (USU, 2019). Before accepting a direct commission in 2012, she worked for six years as a civilian Critical Care RN. Her early Navy service included a tour in the Intensive Care Unit at Naval Medical Center San Diego.Her first assignment as a CRNA at NMRTC Portsmouth included a deployment aboard the USS HARRY S. TRUMAN (2019-2020) in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel. Following her return, she was a staff CRNA and held the position of Procedural Sedation Committee Chair and the Coordinator for the Anesthesia Department Clinical Quality Assurance Program.
From 2021 to 2023, she served with Fleet Surgical Team (FST) EIGHT as the sole anesthesia provider and Deputy Officer in Charge for the 17-member team. This role included deployments supporting the IWO JIMA ARG (USS SAN ANTONIO), UNITAS (USS MESA VERDE), and BAT ARG (USS BATAAN), as well as participating in the 2021 Operation ALLIES REFUGE, Afghanistan Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO).
Following FST EIGHT, LCDR Richling served as the Department Head of Anesthesia at Navy Hospital Yokosuka, Japan, where she successfully led her team through the MHS Genesis migration and held the position of the Intravenous Moderate Sedation Chair.
LCDR Richling is currently serving as the USU Graduate School of Nursing Phase II Assistant Site Director and Evidence-Based Practice Director in San Diego, CA.
LCDR Richling’s personal military awards include two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and various unit, campaign, and service awards. She earned the Surface Warfare Medical Department Officer qualification and has completed Joint Professional Medical Education Phase I. She is an active member of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists.