Teresa Steele, an Advanced Practice RN (APRN), is board certified as an adult psychiatric mental health CS by ANCC. She is a professor and Director of Husson College's Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nursing Program. She has been instrumental in developing a home care psychiatric nursing program in the rural community. She is actively involved in policy making in the state consults with mental health agencies and is regionally recognized as an advocate for the mentally ill. Dr. Steele completed a phenomenological research study entitled "The Experience of Being a Psychiatric Nurse in the Rural Community." In 1997 she submitted and was granted federal funding from the Bureau of Health Professions to begin the Advanced Nurse Education program entitled "Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nursing Program" at Husson. In 2000 the program received a second federal grant from the BHPr to expand the Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nursing Program. Dr. Steele received a nursing diploma from Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Portland, Maine and she has a BUS from the University of Maine. Teresa has a Master's in Education from the University of Maine and a Master's in Nursing from the University of Texas. She also has a Ph.D. in Nursing Science and Organizational Behavior from The Union Institute in Cincinnati Ohio.