I am very excited to be teaching with the ASU nursing faculty. Originally from the mountains of western Virginia, North Carolina has become home for my family including my husband, our two Malamutes, and four kitties. I graduated from Radford University with a BSN and UNCG with a MSN. With recent certification as a Nurse Educator from the League for Nursing, I am also currently a PhD candidate of Nursing at ECU. My research interest is centered on pre-licensure nursing education specifically student retention and NCLEX-RN performance. My introduction to nursing education has for the last 7 years been as both educator and Director of a local Associate Degree Nursing program. I have spent the majority of my nursing practice of over 18 years in Neuro-Surgery Intensive Care and Trauma Intensive Care and Administrative Director of Neuro-Intensive/Progressive care and Orthopedics. I am a member of Sigma Theta Tau, The Southern Nursing Research Society, National League for Nursing, and The American Association of Critical Care Nurses.