About Me
I graduated nursing school in 2008 from Kishwaukee College and started as a cardiac nurse in Rockford taking care of post open heart patients. I later transitioned to critical care nursing at Kishwaukee Hospital until 2013 when I took a position at Advocate Sherman Hospital in Elgin working in the Critical Care Unit, ER and as a Rapid Response Nurse for most of my career. While working full time as a floor nurse I was able to complete the RN to BSN program at Northern Illinois University and graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2017 and later applied to Nurse Practitioner school at Lewis University in 2020. While completing my studies for my Master degree to become a Nurse Practitioner, I worked as Covid ICU nurse at Sherman and then as a travel nurse, traveling to areas with the most needs during the pandemic. Finally, I completed my time as a registered nurse as a Cardiac Cath Lab RN at Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital part-time to allow more time to focus on my clinical rotations and graduated with a Master of Science in Nursing from Lewis University in December 2023 and obtained board certification as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) shortly after.
My clinical experiences were spent in a variety of settings including inpatient, outpatient, individual and group therapy settings as well as residential programs and I was able to gain a surplus of skills through these experiences. After graduation, I worked as an outpatient psychiatric NP in the suburbs for about a year and gained expertise in treating many mental health conditions across the lifespan and to varying degrees of severity. Despite most of my nursing background being focused on physical health, I am passionate about the role that mental health plays in an individual’s health as a whole. Without a healthy mind, a person can never be truly “healthy”. I pride myself on providing exceptional mental health care by being an empathetic and active listener, utilizing evidence-based knowledge, and working diligently to remove the barriers and stigma that still exist in the mental health community. I promise to provide you with a personalized treatment plan, tailored to your needs and goals and always be a strong advocate to helping you achieve the best version of yourself. I specialize in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of many areas of mental health including ADHD, Autism, mood disorders, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder starting at age 6 years old and above.
Certifications
ANCC board certified as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
