I was born and raised in Kenosha, a city in southeastern Wisconsin. It was there where my interest in nursing first began. In 1981, I received my associate degree in technical nursing and began work at the local hospital.  Early in my career, I focused on nursing care of the critically ill medical patient.  Although I now reside in the beautiful state of Arkansas, my mother and brother, Bryon, still live in Wisconsin.  So,  try to get back as often as I can.

Several years after becoming an R.N., I moved to northern California with my husband and son.  There, I attended Sonoma State University and received a bachelors degree in nursing.  My career interests expanded to include hospice nursing, public health nursing and school nursing.  It also was in California where I became interested in nursing research.  My very first research study involved evaluating the California School Hearing Screening program and its ability to identify elementary school students with middle ear pathology.

After living in northern California for several years, I relocated to southeastern Wisconsin and worked as a school nurse for a large, city school district.  I also began graduate school at the University of Wisconsin.  After moving to northwest Arkansas in 1999, I began a teaching career at NorthWest Arkansas Community College. It was then I decided to complete my master’s degree at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, MO (now called Missouri State).  During my graduate studies, I developed a renewed interest in educational theory and nursing research.