Education
Dr. Savage began her nursing education with the ASN program at Lincoln Memorial University in 1997. She worked for many years as a RN before returning to pursue her RN-BSN degree at East Tennessee State University in 2006. She was part of the first class at Lincoln Memorial University to receive the Master of Science in Nursing- Family Nurse Practitioner concentration degree in December 2007. She completed her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree at Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing in 2011. Dr. Savage is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
Family Nurse Practitioner Career
Dr. Savage has worked in a variety of settings for clinical practice. Practice sites have included a private primary care practice, a federally qualified community health center, performance of nursing home rounds, and even running her own nurse practitioner owned primary care practice for a number of years. She still currently practices one day per week for the Tennessee Department of Health as a Family Nurse Practitioner, providing women’s health and family planning services at the Hancock County Health Department.
Dr. Savage began her teaching career here at Lincoln Memorial University as adjunct faculty for clinical site visits in 2008. She later became a full-time instructor in 2011. She was promoted to Assistant Director of the FNP concentration in 2014. She has served as director of the Family Nurse Practitioner concentration and Assistant Professor in the Caylor School of Nursing since May 2015.
Committees and Organizations
In addition to her administrative responsibilities, didactic and clinical teaching, Dr. Savage serves on the Interprofessional Education Committee at Lincoln Memorial University. She also serves as chair of the MSN curriculum committee and member of the MSN program outcomes committee.
Dr. Savage is active in her professional organizations as well. She served on the Executive Board for the Tennessee Nurse Practitioner Association (TNNPA) from 2017-2021. She is a member of the TNNPA along with the Tennessee Nurses Association, American Nurses Association, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), and the Tennessee Public Health Nurses Association. She is also a member of Sigma Theta Tau, International Honor Society for Nursing, where she served as Vice President of the Epsilon Sigma at Large Chapter from 2015-2019.
Honors
Dr. Savage was acknowledged by the Tennessee Nurses Association in 2020 with the District 2 Clinical Award. In 2021, she was recognized by the Tennessee Nurse Practitioner Association as Family Nurse Practitioner of the Year.
Scholarship and Research Interests
Dr. Savage has published and presented on a variety of topics in her nurse practitioner career. She has an interest in the importance of interprofessional education of healthcare disciplines especially nursing and advance practice nursing students. Interprofessional education supports graduates of multiple healthcare disciplines to grow in their role as members of healthcare teams. These learning projects and research also help students to learn about roles of other healthcare professions. Dr. Savage is currently collaborating along with representatives from other disciplines at Lincoln Memorial University, South College, and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville on various interprofessional learning opportunities and research projects for students.