Biography: Greetings! I am the director of the MSN FNP program here at NNU. I am a born and raised Idahoan and hail from McCall, ID. McCall is a small mountain town full of various outdoor activities year around. I continue to enjoy outdoor activities as my schedule allows.

I graduated from NNU with my BSN in 2003 and immediately moved to Jamestown, North Dakota with my husband, Stacey. He was recruited to wrestle for University of Jamestown and we thought our adventure would only be a 5 year stint away from home/family. 12 years later…we moved back to Idaho! While in North Dakota I received my Master’s in Science with a Specialization in Nursing Education from Walden University. I started teaching in the BSN program at University of Jamestown full time in 2007. After teaching for some time, I realized I wanted a terminal degree but didn’t want to be ‘stuck’ in education – I wanted the option to still do patient care, just not in the bedside nursing role. I then went to North Dakota State University (NDSU) for my Doctorate in Nursing Practice, Family Nurse Practitioner. After graduating with my DNP, I continued to teach and also worked in the clinic.

During our time in ND, my husband went to school off and on and also worked in the oil fields. We have been married for 22 years and counting. We adopted our daughter in May 2008 and our son in August 2012. They are the light and joy of our lives! Our daughter, Maddy, is now 16 and after 12 years of gymnastics, she retired after her Level 9 season. She is now involved in regular school sports and is enjoying the extra time she now has. She’s smart, sweet, and sassy and she’s my biggest helper. Our son, Briar, is now 12 and hasn’t quite figured out what he really enjoys doing. He is bright, charismatic, witty, and always has a smile on his face. He makes friends wherever he goes. My husband is a helicopter lineman now and is often out of state on a job with his company. We enjoy our family time together whenever he makes it home.

As much as we enjoyed living in North Dakota (surprisingly that state grows on you!), we missed our family back here in Idaho. The kids were getting older and we wanted them to be closer to their grandparents and cousins. In 2015 I was approached by my alma matter and asked if I would be interested in starting the MSN FNP program here at NNU. I had never tackled anything like this before but decided to let God lead the way…God decided I was up for the challenge! The stars aligned and we found ourselves back in Idaho in July 2015. In August 2016 I admitted the first MSN FNP cohort and the rest is history 🙂

I continue to have a practice day where I practice Functional and Integrative Medicine. I have a passion for helping people regain control of their health and found that Functional and Integrative Medicine is the best way to do this. I became a certified functional medicine provider after completing my Fellowship in Anti Aging and Metabolic Medicine (FAAMM) through A4M in 2019. I mostly help men and women with thyroid and hormone balance, but I also continue to practice primary care and complete wellness visits. I have the best of both worlds – teaching and practice!

What is your favorite thing about working at NNU? I enjoy the people I work with at NNU. Every person on campus – faculty and staff – have one great desire…to see the students succeed. We pour our hearts and souls into our students. Students at NNU are not a student ID number, each one has a face and a name in which the faculty and staff make a concerted effort to know. It brings me joy to be a part of such a loving and God-fearing community.

Share a few facts about your specific area(s) of expertise that you bring to the classroom: As an actively practicing Nurse Practitioner, I am able to draw from personal experiences I have in the clinic setting and share these with my students. I believe students appreciate having faculty who are not just ‘book smart’ but also have practical knowledge to apply to the learning environment. I am also a certified functional medicine practitioner so I am able to share this knowledge with our students during their residential lab time when they come to campus throughout the program.

Share a few pieces of information that represent your teaching experience and why you love working with students: I have been teaching full time since 2007. I started teaching in an undergraduate BSN program in Jamestown, ND. Teaching undergraduate students helped me to better understand the base knowledge each nursing student should know, and be able to build on this for the graduate student. Our graduate nursing students come to us with all levels of nursing backgrounds – various areas of practice and years of experience. Being able to bring these students together and educate them on how to step up to the next level of nursing as a Nurse Practitioner is rewarding in so many ways. Mostly because we are able to produce providers in our communities who are well rounded and are helping to bridge the gaps in healthcare we are currently experiencing in our communities.