I have been a nurse for 27 years. I started my nursing career in 1996 working as an LPN in Sauk Centre Clinic and then at Douglas County Hospital (now Alomere in Alexandria, MN). In 2006, I received my AD in Nursing and worked at St. Michael’s Hospital (now CentraCare in Sauk Centre, MN), which is a Critical Access, Level IV rural hospital. I worked as a Charge Nurse and have experience in Emergency Department/Trauma, Labor and Delivery, Med/Surg, and Chemotherapy Infusion. 

In 2017 I earned my BSN and decided to try something different. I worked for CentraCare at Clara’s House, a Partial Hospitalization Program for Children and Adolescents. This is where I realized my passion for Behavioral Health and the importance of treating patients with behavioral and mental health disorders with courtesy, respect, and curiosity. In 2019 I relocated in MN and had to leave my position at Clara’s House. I became the Acute Care Nursing Manager at CentraCare Health, a critical access, level IV rural hospital in Melrose, MN. I continue to be an advocate for our patients that have mental health diagnosis and behavioral health issues. We didn’t have the resources in our ED or In-Patient department needed to assess and treat conditions for our patients that needed psychiatric help. 

After months of asking questions and meeting with leadership within CentraCare about getting more resources in our rural sites, we started a relationship with St. Cloud Hospital Behavioral Health, and we now have telehealth psychiatric services for our ED patients, thanks to Avel staff!