Charlene A. Winters, PhD, ACNS-BC, is an Associate Professor in the College of Nursing at Montana State University-Bozeman, Missoula Campus. She serves as Project Director for the Clinical Nurse Leader graduate option. Dr. Winters teaches the rural health course in the graduate program. Her research interests are illness uncertainty, adaptation and chronic illness self-management, and rural nursing theory development. She is an active member of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, Western Institute of Nursing, Montana Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists, Sigma Theta Tau International, Rural Nurse Organization, Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science, and charter member of the International Council of Nursing-Rural and Remote Nurses Network. Dr. Winters holds a doctorate in nursing from Rush University, Chicago, Illinois, and a bachelor and master of science degrees in nursing from California State University, Long Beach.