Biography

Dr. Mitchell earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Denison University in 1998. She then attended Case Western Reserve University where she earned a Certificate in Nursing in 2000. She started in her nursing career at University Hospitals of Cleveland working on a medical surgical unit with emphasis on infectious diseases. She continued her education at Case Western completing her Master of Science in Nursing with certificate as a Family Nurse Practitioner in 2002. She started her advanced practice career at Frontier Nursing Service in 2002. She completed her Doctorate of Nursing Practice in 2004. Her research project was focused on rural adolescents’ perceived barriers to healthcare. During her six years at Frontier she assisted in the opening of a new rural health clinic: Kate Ireland Healthcare Center, developing school-based health clinics in Leslie and Clay counties, and developing outpatient substance abuse treatment clinics. She also served as the Family Nurse Practitioner Faculty Practice Director 2005 to 2008. She joined Mecklenburg Medical Group: Gastroenterology in 2008 until 2012 providing outpatient care. She then returned to Kentucky in 2012 and joined the Department of Veterans Affairs Lexington Kentucky. She provided primary care 2012-2018 to veterans at the Somerset Kentucky CBOC. She served as President of the Lexington KY Veterans Affairs' APRN Advisory Group, 2017 to 2018. She has recently returned to where she started her professional career, Frontier Nursing University. Throughout her career she has been involved in conducting research, quality improvement with evidence-based practice, serving as a preceptor, and teaching.