I was born and raised in Pennsylvania and lived in Boston for two years before settling full-time outside of Bethany Beach. I have been working in healthcare for over ten years, starting as a medical assistant and continuing my education to become a registered nurse and ultimately obtaining my Master of Science in Nursing Degree with a focus on Family Nurse Practitioner. I graduated with my Master’s degree from Simmons University where I acted as a graduate nursing program student ambassador and graduated summa cum laude. My experience throughout the last ten years in healthcare includes environments such as urgent/walk-in care, critical care, oncology, and hospice/home care, and telehealth. I am certified through both The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC, FNP-BC), and The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP, FNP-C).

I have a desire to advocate for mental health, with a special passion for eating disorder recovery and education, a resource our community lacks. I currently serve as a volunteer for The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) and I am involved in advocacy efforts where I have shared my personal history with eating disorders. I will also be obtaining advanced training through NEDA with “The Body Project” where I will be provided the ability to become a facilitator which will allow me to deliver evidence-based education to high school individuals to assist in reducing eating disorder risk factors and behaviors.

In addition to advocating for mental health I am also passionate about community education to assist in closing healthcare gaps and reducing emergency department visits and hospital admissions. Because I am passionate about community education, I have published an op-ed and contacted the Delaware State Senate based on this op-ed requesting consideration to amend postpartum depression laws in Delaware which would allow for sooner recognition of postpartum depression (PPD) and postpartum anxiety (PPA). I also have a systematic review publication pending in a medical journal that focuses on reducing hospital readmission rates with the use of palliative care services. I am currently researching potential opportunities to provide additional community education to Sussex County. In the future, I would love to obtain my post-masters degree as a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) and/or my doctorate in nursing practice (DNP) to build on my family nurse practitioner training and education.

I enjoy spending time with my family which includes my husband, our daughter, and our dog traveling and enjoying the drive-on beach. I am also a part-time fitness instructor in my free time where I teach Barre/Pilates as well as stretching and meditation. To finish, as our other provider Kelly stated in her bio, Philadelphia football is a huge passion of mine, GO BIRDS!