Experience

• 

  U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

  • United States

  • Clinical Applications Coordinator

    • Dec 2017 - Present
    • United States

• 

  University of Missouri

  • Columbia, Missouri

  • Graduate Student

    • Aug 2015 - May 2017
    • Columbia, Missouri

    The focus of study has been on data collection, analysis, and reporting. My final semester capstone project was related to near-real-time syndromic surveillance and data visualization techniques. Data mining has featured prominently in the curriculum, but information architecture planning, clinical decision support systems, information security, and software usability have also been close to my heart for a couple of years. Diagramming and Analyzing workflow processes has graphically demonstrated the concepts of chaos and order for me. This has been challenging (to say the least), the learning curve has been nearly vertical much of the time. My ability to find the information I need to learn or finish the task at hand has improved dramatically. However, the overarching lesson has been about the relationships I’ve made along the way. You learn a lot about people during group projects, but also when the chips are down, deadlines are imminent, and things aren’t looking good… I was lucky to be surrounded by a good bunch of classmates (friends), and supportive family.

• 

  University of Missouri Health Care

  • Columbia, Missouri

  • Nursing Informatics Intern

    • May 2016 - Jul 2016
    • Columbia, Missouri

    Worked closely with multi-disciplinary management teams to determine service line or departmental needs. Gained experience developing, validating, and proactively timing implementation of change orders within Cerner Millennium EMR. Assisted front-line staff with integration of electronic lab order process changes to user profiles during go-live event. Developed information organization skills based on established techniques in use by preceptors. Participated in management, informatics-centric, and project development meetings. Learned nuances of structuring agenda and coordinating multi-disciplinary Informatics Council meetings from Nursing Informatics Coordinators.

• 

  Department of Veterans Affairs

  • Columbia, Missouri

  • RN

    • Jan 1991 - Oct 2006
    • Columbia, Missouri

    I worked in the SICU for a couple of years before transferring to the Operating Room. From the onset, I learned to manage the care of complex post-surgical patients with multiple comorbidities. I worked for many years in the five suite OR and Urology Cysto Unit as a circulating RN and scrub nurse with all of the surgical specialties affiliated with our hospital. I began my career with pen and paper documentation and analog style equipment. I got to experience the shift from paper to digital documentation with DHCP/VISTA systems and the CPRS interface. My operating room career exemplified complex adaptive behavior as we transitioned from completely open surgical techniques to predominantly laparoscopic surgery. As new technologies and equipment became available to us, we learned to adapt to many proprietary surgical equipment systems as well as the new techniques they were designed for.