She earned her BSN from the Medical College of Georgia School of Nursing in 1984 and her MSN from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in 1991. She completed her DNP at Georgia Southern University School of Nursing in May 2012. She is a member of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the Association of Asthma Educators, and Sigma Theta Tau.