Mandie Gardner is a Washington transplant, moving here from the Midwest in 2013. She is happily married with two children and many pets (3 dogs and 3 cats – rescues).
In 2006 she graduated from Purdue University Calumet, now Purdue University Northwest, with a Bachelor of Arts, Psychology. In 2010, she graduated from the same university with a Bachelor of Science, Nursing. From the beginning, Mandie was drawn to working in mental health – beginning her nursing career on an acute care behavioral health unit in an industrial hospital in the Midwest. Over her 10+ years in nursing, she has worked in many areas of mental health including as a RN, a case manager, a nurse educator, a court liaison for involuntary commitments, and a nurse manager.
Observing a lack of available mental health providers serving youth and wanting to make a meaningful difference, Mandie enrolled in graduate school at Washington State University. In 2021, she was awarded a Doctorate of Nursing Practice with a concentration in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Across the Lifespan and passed her board certification, earning the title Dr. Mandie Gardner, DNP, PMHNP-BC.