As a certified gerontological Clinical Nurse Specialist, Melissa worked as an advanced practice nurse in geriatric primary care for 12 years at St. Mary’s Senior Care clinic. In 2007 she started her career in academia as an adjunct professor teaching clinical gerontology at the University of Southern Indiana. In 2009 she returned to her alma mater and began teaching at the University of Evansville first as an adjunct professor and then in January of 2010 as an assistant professor of nursing.