Professional Summary

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Passionate public health leader with 18 years of experience including leadership, fiscal management, supervision/management, case management, program planning and evaluation, research, writing, teaching, epidemiology, infection control, data analysis, and various areas of public health. Areas of work have included juvenile detention, immunization and primary care clinics, maternal child health, communicable disease investigation, STI and HIV, immigration, and other community interventions. Currently directing the state public health nursing workforce, activities, and programs across 23 counties in Wyoming. Experience managing a variety of ongoing, diverse programs and staff simultaneously. Skilled in team building and fostering communication, as well as relationship development with community stakeholders and policy makers. Excellence in teaching in distance format using education platforms, proficiency in engaging people in synchronous and asynchronous learning formats. Very strong understanding of principles of public health, including theories and frameworks to inform public health action and policy. Culturally competent and compassionate advocate for all people. Leadership in a variety of settings at local, state, and national levels in both direct care and community services.  Proven ability to set targets and move large teams toward them. Highly skilled in communicating in multiple formats, and especially proficient at translating complex concepts to everyday language. Highly active in national public health organizations with near daily contact with multiple national colleagues in public health nursing and other sectors through social media, committee work, and other avenues. National advocacy efforts through organizational participation. Strengths include Ideation, Strategy, Intellection, Connectedness, and Maximizing.

Licenses Registered Nurse in Colorado and Wyoming (active licenses).

 

Certifications

 

Certification in Infection Control (CIC) expires Sept 2021

Board Certified Advanced Public Health Nurse (APHN-BC)

 

Skill Highlights

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Leadership/Management                                                     Building collaboration

Community Assessment                                                       Epidemiology

Infection Prevention                                                               Data collection and analysis     

Excellent communication                                                     Program planning/evaluation

Teaching

Team building                                                                                        

Public health                                                                               

 

Professional Experience

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Wyoming Department of Health                                                                                                           October 2016-Present, 40+ hrs/wk

State Supervisor, Public Health Nursing                                              

Cheyenne, WY

Director of Nursing level position. Directly supervises 1 administrative assistant, 4 regional nurse supervisors, and 2 nurse consultants.  Indirectly supervises 20 county nurse managers and approximately 70 of their subordinates. Responsible for all state public health nursing programs, activities, and personnel including facilitating and directly managing human resources actions such as hiring, evaluation, restructuring of position requirements, coaching, discipline, and termination. Assisted HR department in researching laws related to nursing and human resources, applies quality improvement principles to improve overall HR policies and processes. Oversees the public health nursing delivery of 8 core essential services throughout the state, including maternal child health, long term care Medicaid waiver assessments, communicable disease activities, public health emergency preparedness activities, community health assessment,  public education and information, and response to environmental hazards. Also oversees delivery of immunization services, family planning, telehealth, and a variety of optional programs around the state. Assesses workforce competency, needs, and performance within the framework of the Quad Council’s public health nursing core competencies and the Public Health Foundation’s core competencies for public health professionals. Develops and sets the state public health nursing mission, vision, goals, and overall strategic plan. Facilitates communication within the team and with strategic partners. Develops funding formulas and payment models to ensure county-level draw down of state and federal funding to operate public health nursing programs and separately oversees budget of over $17M including state and federal funds. Ensures fiscal transparency between the state and counties. Writes and oversees contracts for the delivery of public health nursing and maternal-child health programs throughout the state. Collaboratively works with other partners to identify and implement solutions for budget shortfalls, technological innovation needs, and new program development.  Creates and implements training for new programs and procedures to ensure best possible outcomes. Conduct literature reviews, research, and other data collection methods to ensure evidence-based decision making. Carries out a variety of public health nursing administrative duties.   

               

10th Medical Group                                                                                                                  September 2015-October 2016, 40 hrs/wk

Regional Infection Preventionist

United States Air Force Academy, CO

Provided infection prevention expertise to eight United States Air Force base medical units across the Rocky Mountain region. Oversaw all aspects of infection control programs in these units, to include training and education, environment of care, and adherence to all applicable guidelines and recommendations. Provided technical authority and advising to Air Force medical leaders regarding current best practice and issues pertaining to infection control in their programs. Provided expertise and oversight to infection preventionists assigned to each base. Traveled to individual bases at least annually to provide assistance and comprehensively review infection control plans and practices. Reviewed and edited all infection prevention plans, summaries, and development of medical group infection prevention policies. Observed and consulted on day-to-day infection prevention activities. Compiled, analyzed, interpreted, and reported a variety of surveillance measures to include hand hygiene compliance and occurrence of healthcare acquired infections. Reviewed literature and worked with all bases to standardize a variety of practices across the region, and development of a robust outpatient surveillance practice. Continuous review of literature to ensure best practices and current trends were identified and communicated to all regional programs.

 

Evans Army Community Hospital                                                                                 September 2006 to September 2015, 40 hrs/wk
Various Nursing and Public Health
Fort Carson, CO                                                                                           

 Led and coordinated medical team care for population of wounded soldiers. Coordinated community needs assessment for this population.  Served as nurse epidemiologist for 6 years, including managing STD and immigration clinics, broad community surveillance, and leading epidemiological responses to both infectious and injury threats in the population. Principal investigator for research activities including studying prevalence of drug-resistant gonorrhea and approaches to STD education, oversaw research personnel. Served as public affairs representative with frequent community education and writing assignments, displaying proficiency in communicating with diverse audiences. Assisted in the development and delivery of risk communication messages during threats such as H1N1 and wildfires. Conducted and wrote Fort Carson's first Community Health Assessment. Developed and delivered epidemiology training for Army public health nurses to expand response capacity. Built and maintained relationships with a variety of departments and organizations both within and outside of the military. Fulfilled numerous public health duties as needed and requested, including assisting with environmental and industrial hygiene assessments. Developed and maintained a variety of databases and improved surveillance systems. Monitored HEDIS performance metrics and recommended programs to improve community health. Provided infection prevention coverage in absence of hospital infection preventionist. Worked closely with infection preventionist on a variety of communicable disease issues within the hospital and population, including prevention of exposures, ICRA, and TB patient management.

 

University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill                                                                                 August 2013 to May 2014, 15-20 hrs/wk
Teaching Assistant
Chapel Hill, NC

Served as distance teaching assistant in graduate level coursework in public health practice and
community assessment in one of the top public health schools in the country. Assisted professor in
course content development. Moderated team forum discussions, facilitated team development,
mediated conflict, and critically evaluated team and individual projects including analytical papers
and issue briefs.

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University of Nebraska Medical Center School of Nursing                                                                                   2004-2005, 12 hrs/wk

Adjunct Instructor

Lincoln, NE                                                 

Served as adjunct community health nursing clinical instructor. Led and supervised accelerated BSN program students during community health clinicals, researched and assisted to place students in clinical experiences, supervised and assisted students during Maternal Child health program home visits. Critically evaluated students’ learning and performance on a variety of projects and assignments.

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Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department                                                                 August 2001 to September 2006, 40 hrs/wk
Public Health Nurse
Lincoln, NE

Served as a communicable disease nurse, investigating and facilitating response to various communicable disease outbreaks in the community. Participated in and assisted with the planning for emergency management exercises. Perinatal Hepatitis B program coordinator responsible for a caseload of pregnant Hepatitis B women to ensure expedient preventative care of exposed neonates. Served on quality improvement council. Worked as a public health nurse in various areas including primary care, immunizations, Medicaid eligibility, STD, maternal-child nursing program, and served for 3.5 years as sole medical personnel for 75-bed juvenile detention center. Mentored and supervised numerous baccalaureate student nurses in a variety of public health settings as a clinical preceptor.

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Education and Training                                                                                                                                           

University of Colorado at Denver                                                                                                                                2018-December 2019

               College of Nursing- Anschutz

               Doctor of Nursing Practice in Public Health

               Denver, CO, USA           

               Capstone: "Determining the Return on Investment of Public Health Nurses Delivering Immunization Services in   

               Wyoming"

 

 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill                                                                                                              2012-December 2015

               Gillings School of Public Health Master of Public Health:

               Dual: Public Health Practice and Epidemiology

               Capstone: "Consideration of Military Veterans as Health Disparity Populations"

 

University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Graduate Studies                                                                                    2004-2006
                Master of Science in Nursing-Coursework (no degree)
                Lincoln, NE, USA
                Graduate nursing coursework

 

University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing                                                                                                     1999-2001
               Bachelor of Science-Nursing: Nursing
               Scottsbluff, NE, USA

 

Western Nebraska Community College                                                                                                                                        1997-1999
                Nursing Prerequisites
                Scottsbluff, NE, USA

 

Honors, Awards, & Memberships

        

           Outstanding DNP Project Award, CU Anschutz College of Nursing, December 2019

           

           Graduation from UNC-Chapel Hill with Masters in Public Health, top 10% of class Dec 2015

 

            Induction into Delta Omega, public health honor society, March 2016

     

            Public Health Advocate Award, Wyoming Public Health Association, 2017

 

            Immediate Past President, Association of Public Health Nurses (APHN, term 2017-2019)

     

           Association of Public Health Nurses Leadership Award, 2019

 

           Past Secretary, Quad Council Coalition

 

           Past Treasurer, Wyoming Public Health Association, Public Health Nursing section

 

          Member, American Public Health Association, Public Health Nursing section

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          Member, Delta Omega Public Health Honor Society

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          Member, Sigma Theta Tau Nursing Honor Society