I’m a Nashville native who graduated with my Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Belmont University in 2008. I started my career of nursing at Vanderbilt and worked in the Pediatric ICU and Cardiac ICU’s for over 7 years. I quickly found my love for the cardiac population, specifically those children awaiting a heart transplant. I pursued graduate school to further my education and to also become a better resource and teacher for patients and their families. I graduated from Vanderbilt’s School of Nursing graduate program specializing in Pediatric Acute Care in 2015. I joined the Pediatric Heart Transplant team in November 2015.
I provide care to children who have congenital heart disease, or cardiomyopathies and heart failure. I follow the children in the pre- and post-operative periods both inpatient and outpatient. One of the most rewarding aspects of my role is the lifelong relationships I have with my patients and their families. Some of those being, children I cared for at the bedside as a nurse and now as an advanced practice provider. I have had the privilege to see these patients recover from a heart transplant to go on and lead very normal lives despite the need for lifelong medications and follow-up visits. I have also been able to spend time educating patients and families about heart transplantation and the importance of taking care of their health and their new heart.
I provide education for the nursing staff in the PCICU as well as on the pediatric cardiology floor. I present at the annual Cardiology Boot Camp about pediatric heart transplant and the care of this specialized population. I have also had multiple opportunities to be involved in research within our transplant team and have collaborated on publications in Pediatric Transplantation. More recently, I had the opportunity to travel to the International Pediatric Transplant Association 2017 Annual Meeting in Barcelona, Spain in May 2017. In collaboration with members of the transplant team, we submitted three abstracts at this conference.
Outside of my busy work life, I enjoy spending time with my friends and family. I enjoy staying active by running, yoga and playing with my dog, Graham. I also have a love for travel and a heart for missions work. I have had the honor of working alongside the organization, Hearts of East Africa in Kenya for many years and recently returned from my third trip to Tenwek Mission Hospital in February 2017. I hope to return to Kenya in 2018.
