Sharon Sanders, RN, Chief Executive Officer

Sharon Sanders has worked in almost every area of nursing since earning her degree at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami many years ago. She spent six years as a Navy nurse during the Viet Nam war, then worked in the emergency department for fifteen years at Highland Hospital in Oakland, California. After leaving the city for a place in the country, she worked in a rural ED for ten years. Sharon has been certified and educated in multiple ED and trauma-related areas such as CEN, TNCC, MICN, CCU, and served as a BLS, ACLS, and PALS instructor. Prior to co-founding ATrain Education, Sharon worked as a nursing editor and writer for another online continuing education company.

Sharon brings a wealth of clinical, educational, and organizational skills and experience to the ATrain Education team.

Lauren Robertson, BA, MPT, President, Editor-in-Chief

Lauren Robertson founded ATrain Education with Sharon Sanders and Toni Thompson in 2008. She has been in the continuing education business for more than twenty years, having served as the CEO and editor-in-chief for Wild Iris Medical Education, which she founded in 1997. She has written or edited more than 250 continuing education courses for nurses, physical and occupational therapists, and other healthcare professionals.

Lauren became a medical writer and editor following fifteen years working as a physical therapist in acute care, home health, and long-term care, specializing in stroke rehabilitation and balance disorders. She also spent six years teaching neuroanatomy to physical and occupational therapy assistant students at a college in Santa Rosa, California. Lauren also is a Volunteer in Prevention for CAL FIRE and vice president of her neighborhood's Firewise Council.

Judy Johnstone, BA, Managing Editor Emeritus

Judy Johnstone brings decades of editorial experience in educational publishing to the position of managing editor at ATrain Education. Her work in corporate publishing included editing and producing textbooks in a wide spectrum of undergraduate disciplines and culminated with production of major nursing textbooks for Addison-Wesley Nursing Division. In addition, she was West Coast production manager for the medical publisher Appleton & Lange. More recently, her focus has been online continuing education for nurses, PTs, OTs, and other medical professionals.

Having lived in a medical family for many years, Judy found it a natural progression to specialize in healthcare issues and she is passionate about maintaining rigorous academic standards in all of ATrain’s offerings.

Fran Laughton, RN, PHN, FNP, Lead Nurse Planner

Fran Laughton is the co-founder, assistant director, and clinical coordinator for the Registered Nursing Program at Mendocino College in Ukiah, California. She is certified for classroom and clinical content by the State of California Board of Registered Nursing in Medical-Surgical, Psychiatry, Maternal/Child, Pediatrics, and Pharmacology, and is the lead instructor for these content areas. In addition, Fran is in private practice as a family nurse practitioner.

In her role as lead nurse planner for ATrain Education, Fran is involved with the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the continuing education courses offered on this website.

JoAnn O'Toole, RN, BSN, Nurse Planner

JoAnn O'Toole is a medical writer who worked as an ED nurse at a certified stroke center at Kaiser Redwood City in California. Before transferring to the emergency department, she worked for fifteen years in neurosurg at Kaiser. In addition to writing duties, JoAnn serves as a nurse planner, helping ATrain to comply with accreditation requirements. JoAnn has spent time living and studying in Mexico City and is fluent in Spanish.

Adele Newman, BS, MS, Website Manager

After earning her degrees from the University of Michigan, Adele Newman began a long career in software development, working in a number of capacities for pioneering Silicon Valley companies. Her interests in technology, visual arts, and a life-long addiction to crafts—she never met a yarn craft she did not like—have found a comfortable blend in her current responsibilities. Working independently as a technical writer and web developer, Adele recently completed such disparate projects as a complex web-based help system for a suite of software products and a website for a local physical therapist.

Adele implements and maintains the ATrain Education website, courses, and assists with technical support. She believes strongly that the care and attention given to writing and editing deserves a beautiful presentation.

Susan Walters Schmid, PhD, Contributing Editor

Susan has an extensive background in research and writing in both academic and practical settings. She earned BA degrees in History and European Studies from George Mason University; an MA in Public History from Appalachian State University, where she worked as the editorial assistant for the journal Albion; and a PhD in History, along with a Certificate in Scholarly Publishing, from Arizona State University. She served as a permissions editor and an assistant production editor for Wadsworth Publishing Company and as an acquisitions editor for AltaMira Press. She worked as a desktop publishing specialist for Arizona State University where she taught courses for the History Department and the Scholarly Publishing Program.

Susan currently owns and operates Teton Editorial Services, which provides editing, copyediting, proofreading, InDesign page layout, indexing, research/writing, and WordPress website design and management services for individual and corporate clients. She is co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Tudor England and author of two bios in A Biographical Encyclopedia of Early Modern Englishwomen: Exemplary Lives and Memorable Acts, 1500–1650, a review article on Anne Boleyn for History Review, and an article about Monticello for The Historian.

Susan is an invaluable contributing editor on the ATrain Education editorial team, using her research, editing, and writing skills, particularly courses that require understanding of state and federal regulations.