Paula Halcomb has been a nurse for over 35years, beginning with an Associate degree from Lexington Community College.  She received her Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree as a Clinical Nurse Specialist and Doctor of Nursing Practice in organizational systems leadership at the University of Kentucky. She is a board-certified CNS and a Fellow in the Clinical Nurse Specialist Academy. She is the Trauma Emergency General Surgery and Solid Organ Transplant Clinical Nurse Specialist at UK HealthCare in Lexington, Kentucky. Her experience includes trauma and cardiovascular intensive care, hospital capacity command, interventional radiology and nursing management in various areas as well as nursing education. She has lectured locally and nationally on a number of topics including delirium prevention, pressure injury reduction, open bedside tracheostomy and nurse driven early mobility. Paula has published in peer-reviewed journals and is currently actively involved in original research projects. She is active in a number of organizations, including the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists, American Nurses Association, Society of Trauma Nursing, American Association of Critical Care Nurses, Kentucky Association of Nurse leaders and Sigma Theta Tau.