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Introduction: Hello, my name is Amy C. Gallagher. I am 37 years old and an Aries, and I certainly fit every trait associated with the 'sign of the ram.' I tend to take things head on. I am a very direct person and tend to say exactly what I think. However, when it comes to dealing with people, I believe in the "Thumper" approach from the movie Bambi -- if I don't have anything nice to say, I don't say anything at all. I love to laugh and have been told I have a great sense of humor. I do believe that laughter is an important part of healing. I am very fierce when it comes to doing things "the right way," and tend to be very "by-the-book" clinically. I don't believe that there is a difference between "school" and the "real world," because standards are standards when it comes to care delivery. In other words, you don't cut corners to save time, you work harder and smarter. I believe one of the roles of the nurse educator is to help nursing students mesh their education with their practice. Educational Background I graduated from Austin Peay State University in May of 1998 with my Associate of Science in General Studies degree. After nearly 4 years as a stay-at-home mom, I returned to APSU to pursue my BSN. I was inspired by my younger sister who has been an RN for 7 years now. She loved nursing so much and it made such a huge difference in her life and that of her son whom she was raising by herself at the time. I graduated in May of 2005 with my BSN and began my nursing career. When my husband deployed to Iraq, I decided to pursue a master’s degree to occupy my mind and because 12 hour shifts were difficult as a single parent. My current goal is to graduate in December of 2009 and to work on post-graduate certificate in advanced practice when I return to Tennessee this May. Family I have been married to the love of my life for 16 years. I was just 19 when we met. We were married when I was 21. We met in Germany while we were both in the U.S. Army. Our son Michael was born in 1998. Ryan came along in August of 2007 and Shelby was born in June 0f 2008. So, yes, I have two babies at home born just about 10 months apart (my Irish twins), and yes, it is VERY hard sometimes. Our family also includes a Boxer named Maggie and a Ragdoll cat named Mischief who thinks she is a dog. We are currently living on Fort Irwin, California located just south of Death Valley in the Mojave Desert. Fort Irwin is home to the National Training Center (NTC) where units from all over the Army and from the other branches of the Armed Forces come to train "in the box." My husband's job is to "observe" and "control" the training. As an "O/C" he follows a visiting unit, observes their performance through a set of given scenarios, and then gives them feedback on areas where they excel and areas where they need to improve. The hope is that these men and women will have an edge in combat. An old Army adage is "sweat in peace so you don't bleed in war," and they do a lot of it here at Fort Irwin. Hobbies I love to read. My favorite authors include Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Patricia Cornwell, Jefferson Bass, Lisa Gardner, and Karin Slaughter. I admit to being a Harry Potter fan and have read the entire series at least twice and never tire of them. I used to collect X-men comics and have several thousand dollars worth. I love museums and zoos and travel, though I haven't been able to do much lately. We try to take a trip every month since the end of every training rotation includes a 4-day weekend. I love yard work and flowers and hope to have a trellis with climbing roses and wisteria some day. I would like to learn to roller-blade, but I am sure I will fall and break a bone. I didn't realize until a few years ago that you can forget how to roller skate. I really thought it was like riding a bike (but it isn't!) My husband wants to get some mountain bikes and hit some of the trails around here, but the cost is prohibitive right now.
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