LTC Schimmels is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMH) Program at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing (GSN).  As an astute clinician, teacher, administrator, and officer in the U.S. Army, LTC Schimmels' contributions to the behavioral health field have changed the way patients are cared for, and how behavioral health registered nurses and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners are trained and utilized in hospitals and deployed settings across the Army and Department of Defense.  She has been deployed twice, during which she assembled 12 Combat Stress Prevention and Restoration Teams and wrote and enforced clinical and operational policy across Iraq and Afghanistan. 
At USU she has facilitated inter-professional education and resource sharing with the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, Social Work, and RN-level nursing by co-teaching behavioral health content on numerous occasions. She used her deployment experiences to develop realistic exercises in which our PMH students and clinical psychology students can cover as many of the 9 areas of combat stress as possible within one 4-day field training experience.  As the PMH Program Director, LTC Schimmels designed and launched a new Administrative Behavioral Health Course that provides policy and administrative foundations for clinical practice within the Military Healthcare System. She recently quarterbacked a major revision of our APRN core curriculum, which combined several separate classes into one course taught over two semesters. She fine-tuned and enhanced the content and aligned topics and interdisciplinary educational opportunities. This update relieved students of credit burden, altered workload, and freed time for faculty.  LTC Schimmels also implemented a Psychological First Aid (PFA) course into the GSN Operational Readiness course. This course places students in the role of a provider during a disaster scene and provides students with the core goals of PFA through innovative activities, video demonstrations, and tips from the nation's trauma experts and survivors. The addition of this content ensures a more comprehensive approach to trauma/disaster by including the mental health aspects for more holistic care.  She has repeatedly contributed to the success of numerous organizations by executing thoughtful analyses and decisions, inspiring confidence in even the most unpredictable, austere environments. She is the epitome of a nursing leader balancing the roles of policy, leadership, and clinical practice.