Deb began her nursing career as a psychiatric nurse, then a Head Nurse on a Drug and Alcohol Unit and her passion for this has never abated. Later, she became a  Computers In Nursing Consultant, traveling the world and serving on the editorial board of the first-ever Computers in Nursing Journal. She was one of the first women to speak publicly in the United Arab Emirates. She was a Professor of Nursing at Brenau College for several years.

Later, Deb’s career advanced into healthcare administration, where she served in the position of Vice President for Nursing at Northeast Georgia Health System for many years. During her tenure, she began the first Nurse Midwifery Program in the state.

Deb recently retired as the Executive Director of Governmental Affairs for the Northeast Georgia Health System. While working for Northeast Georgia Health System in this capacity, she was appointed by Governor Perdue to the Committee on Public Health. Additionally, Governor Deal has appointed her to the Georgia Board of Nursing, the Georgia Hospital Medicaid Financial Program Advisory Committee, and numerous other state committees. Deb has served as the Master of Ceremony for Brenau’s Art of Nursing Program and is a recipient of the award. In addition, she is a recipient of the Daisy award.

Deb’s fingerprints can be found on all the significant legislation impacting NGHS in the last 25 years and she has spent the last several years of her career supporting lobbying and testifying on every piece of legislation regarding opioids in the state of Georgia and received grants for millions of dollars to provide Peer Coaches in the Emergency Department and the only hospital system in the United States to provide Peer Coaches in the NICU. Those grants have served over 8000 individuals. She has written two more successful grants totaling over 10 million dollars in the last three years.

Deb currently serves on the Brenau Professional Advisory Board, the University of North Georgia Professional Sciences Advisory Board, and the Emory Doctorate Nurse Practitioner Board. In addition, she serves on the Legislative Taskforce of the Georgia Hospital Association, Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals, Safety Net Coalition of Hospitals, and the Georgia Chamber. Deb’s Nursing Awards over her career are too numerous to list but she remains passionate about nursing and its future. Just last month she was the recipient of the Outstanding Women in Healthcare Award.

Deb has written numerous articles for professional journals as well as co-authored 4 Psychiatric textbooks, one of which was named the American Journal of Nursing’s Book of the Year. She has also authored chapters in Medical Surgical texts and is currently in the process of writing her latest book on the significance and impact of Peer Coaches in a hospital setting.

In addition, Deb is an avid artist and has many of her pieces hanging in Congress and the Georgia State Capitol.

Deb lives in Gainesville with her husband, Jerry Coker, and has one daughter and one grandson.