My Education:

I think that in order to choose a practitioner, you need to know more than just what degrees they have.  What motivates them?  What has shaped them to be who they are today?  What are they passionate about?  Only then can you decide if this is the kind of person that you would “click” with.  My personal journey and my education are intertwined.  So, if this is important to you, read on.  If it isn’t, simply know that I have taken all the classes and passed all the testing & certification requirements! 

Since I was a child, I had always been fascinated with how the human body worked.  It seemed natural that I would chose a career in medicine.  However, while I was taking my pre-med college classes, I volunteered at the local hospital.  Now, remember, this was in the late 1970’s.  What I saw made me think twice about entering the medical field.  The doctors scurried from room to room, handing out diagnoses like playing cards and quickly leaving before the poor patient had time to ask a question.  They barked orders at the nurses and I can’t ever remember one of them smiling or laughing.  When they asked the question “How are you feeling today”, I didn’t see them taking the time to truly listen for a genuine response.  I was young then and when I looked up to these (99% male) doctors, I thought to myself – I do not want to become like them.  That’s not the person I want to be “when I grow up”.  Then, I watched the social workers.  They engaged with patients and listened to them.  They tried to help them solve not only the logistics of their illness but their emotional response to their illness as well.  They, along with the nurses, were there to pick up the pieces that the doctors left in their wake.

Much to my father’s dismay, I changed my major to Social Work.  For fifteen years, I enjoyed working in that field.  I started working in group homes for the developmentally disabled and went on to lead parenting classes through Child Protective Services.  I started programs for children in the schools, correlating the connection between poor reading and math scores with dysfunctional home lives. 

After my illness, I became fascinated with the mind, body, spirit connection.  My training as a Social Worker gave me the skills to delve into the emotional/mental connection to my illness.  My upbringing in a religious family provided me with the yearning to explore the Spiritual side of this manifestation.  Now I wanted to learn how the mind, body, spirit connection worked and how to restore the health of the physical body.  Back to school I went to become a RN (Registered Nurse).

For the next fifteen years, I worked in a variety of different nursing specialties, ranging from Neonatal Intensive Care to Hospice.  I also combined my expertise as a Social Worker with Psychiatric Nursing.  Of course, my love for the holistic approach was always in the forefront and when I was able to, I incorporated Healing Touch and Reiki into my practice.

As a Family Nurse Practitioner, my training focused on conventional western medicine.  I have worked in both Acute and Chronic Care, and I continue to provide care to long-term chronically ill patients through Pinnacle Healthcare.