Kristie initially earned her BS in Public Relations from the University of Florida.  She later transitioned into the nursing field and initially received her Associates degree from Florida Southwestern College, as well as her BSN and MSN from Western Governors University.  Kristie has worked as a critical care nurse in the emergency department and step-down setting, but first started practicing as a nurse on a progressive care unit with cardiac patients in the Southwest Florida area.  She eventually became a leadership team member of a STEMI program as a quality coordinator, where she provided data, insight, and recommendations for patient safety and excellence during cardiac events.  These combined experiences eventually led her to TeleSpecialists, where Kristie has been a Quality Program Specialist again, focusing on patient safety and excellence, but now for stroke and neurological needs.  Kristie has been actively involved with utilizing the lean process to identify areas of opportunity and highlight value-added aspects of stroke processes at current and onboarding partner facilities, while continuing to identify trends and track data on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis.