I began my nursing career in Albert Lea, MN as a Med/Surg/OB nurse. I focused mainly on OB nursing for several years. I began travel nursing to help broaden my knowledge and skills in a variety of settings. Working in many critical access hospitals allowed me to gain experience in several different areas of nursing including OB, Med/Surg, Peds, NICU, ER, ICU and Long-term care. As I traveled, I pursued a BSN through Rasmussen University. After obtaining this degree, I took a nursing faculty role with Rasmussen University in Mankato, MN. I also continued on to pursued a MSN in nursing education and Doctorate in Nursing Practice (DNP) through Chamberlain University. I am currently enrolled in a DNP to PhD program at Barry University. I enjoyed my time teaching and taught a variety of courses including Adult Acute Care, Maternal Child, Med/Surg, and Role Scope Quality and Leadership. My favorite course was Role Scope Quality and Leadership. This course mainly focused on the quality improvement, innovation, and research aspect of nursing. I enjoyed helping students identify a topic for change and then work to identify evidence-based literature, along with developing a plan to implement it. Their major project for the course involved doing searches to find evidence-based research/literature to back up their ideas for change which were typically presented to local clinical sites. This spurred my passion for research and ultimately led me to this role as a Nurse Researcher at Gundersen Health System. I am inspired daily by our hard working staff and their innovative ideas to improve health care for both patients and staff!