The Nurse Practitioners of South Denver Cardiology are highly skilled professionals with impressive credentials. They function in our practice as physician extenders and collaborate with physicians in an ongoing manner to enhance and improve the quality of care provided to our patients. They attend treadmills and tilt tables and are part of our team approach to consults, hospital follow-ups, and discharge teaching.
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Whitney Groth has an extensive background in educating critical care nurses. Her experience as a nurse since 1991 has taken her from Texas to Colorado and from emergency room nursing to critical care nursing. Whitney received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas and she has a specialized certification in Critical Care Nursing from Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas. Whitney completed her Master of Science in Nursing in the Family Nurse Practitioner program from the University of Colorado in May of 2000 and joined South Denver Cardiology Associates shortly after.
Whitney loves the Colorado outdoors when she is not chasing after her young children or hunting antiques at local garage sales to turn them from “trash to treasure.”
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Julie Garside, ANP, is an adult nurse practitioner at South Denver Cardiology Associates. Julie received her BS in EPO Biology from the University of Colorado in 1992. She received her Bachelor of Nursing from Regis University in 1996 with the honor of Sigma Theta Tau. She then received her Nurse Practitioner license in 2001 graduating from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
Julie is a Colorado native and is married with two boys. She enjoys hiking, skiing, running, biking, reading and savoring quality time with her family.
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Paula McDermott is a clinical nurse specialist (CNS) at South Denver Cardiology. Paula has 20 years of experience in cardiovascular nursing with her initial experience being with the Army Nurse Corps where she worked in a variety of locations including Tripler Army Medical Center in Hawaii, and finally at Fitzimmons Army Medical Center. She left the military as a Captain to attend graduate school at the University of Colorado, where she earned a Master’s Degree as a clinical nurse specialist. Over the past 15 years, she has held positions as clinical instructor, nurse educator, and most recently as a CNS in cardiology private practice with a local group working at St Joseph’s and Presbyterian/St Luke’s Hospitals. She has her own teaching seminar program educating healthcare professionals on various cardiovascular subjects.
She is married, has a daughter and resides in Denver. She and her husband enjoy fine wine, healthy food, and an active lifestyle.
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Shari Nieman joined South Denver Cardiology Associates in 1999 after completing her graduate education at the University of Northern Colorado. Initially, she attended college in Gainesville, Florida and completed her undergraduate education at Metropolitan State College of Denver. Her nursing experience began in 1985 and focused on holistic care of hospitalized patients on the medical, surgical, emergency, and intensive care units of multiple hospitals in Florida. After moving to the Denver area, she gained experience in the areas of women’s health, hospice, home healthcare, family care mobile clinics, and long term ventilator care. She began to focus specifically on cardiology in 1995 and sees herself remaining in this area of healthcare for her career. She sees cardiology as presenting tremendous challenges and rewards daily. Shari is the supervisor of the nurse practitioner team.
Shari is married and together they have two beautiful daughters that are the joy of their life. Shari loves listening to music, singing, and playing the guitar. She is an avid traveler and outdoor activity participant.
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Barbara Poole is a Family Nurse Practitioner who has been with South Denver Cardiology since the Summer of 2000. Originally from Jefferson City, Missouri, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Missouri in 1984. After working several years as a critical care nurse, she returned to school and received a Master of Arts in Counseling in 1994. She returned to work as a registered nurse in both Interventional Radiology and the Cardiac Cath Lab at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. There she continued her education, graduating with a Master of Science in Nursing in 1999.
Barbara worked as a traveling nurse for many years, which instilled in her a love of traveling. She also enjoys reading , hiking, and attempting obedience with her standard poodle, Leo.
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Bonnie Scheckenbach joined South Denver Cardiology in 1999. She came to South Denver Cardiology SDCA from Northwestern Hospital in Chicago where she had worked for seven years as a critical care nurse. She earned her Bachelors degree Cum Laude at St. Mary’s College at Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. She received her Masters degree and completed the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1998. She and her husband Greg moved to Denver in 1998 where she worked as a critical care nurse until she joined SDCA.
Bonnie is a certified acute care nurse practitioner and has devoted her entire career to cardiology, both as a nurse and a nurse practitioner. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, the honor society for nurses, the American Nurses Association, and the Colorado Nurse Practitioner Association.
Bonnie enjoys reading , playing volleyball, traveling, and being a mother to her children.
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Amy Wischmeyer, has been skiing since she was a little girl, even though she grew up in Chicago. She is excited to be back in Colorado and “close to the slopes.” She is an avid runner and has run in quite a few races although the longest was the Chicago Marathon in 1995. She is planning on training for at least a ½ marathon here in Colorado and also enjoys trail running and traveling. In the future, she would like to participate in medical volunteer work. Amy received her Master of Science in Nursing as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner from Rush University in Chicago, Illinois.
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Barb Van Horne has re-joined South Denver Cardiology Associates as part of the merger with Western Cardiology in February of 2007. She was one of the first Nurse Practitioners working for SDCA between 1983-1986. During that 11 year hiatus, she spent 2 years in family practice and working on the Chest Pain Center at Porter Adventist Hospital. For about 10 years, she worked as a Nurse Practitioner or Western Cardiology and now back with SDCA. The practice has doubled since 1996; it’s such a big practice now!
Barb has the distinction of being the most "seasoned" NP of the group, having been around before angioplastys and stents. When she came out of Nursing School in 1975, patients with heart attacks sat in bed for a month. She remembers when Dr. Weily did the first balloon angioplasty at Porter Adventist Hospital in the mid 80s--little did we know where that would lead us!
In her spare time, Barb enjoys lots of outdoor sports including skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, and bicycling. She has been doing Ride the Rockies, Bike Tour of Colorado for over 20 years and has climbed most of the Colorado 14ers. She is married to a nice lawyer and has a 16 year old daughter who loves musical theater and has a beautiful high soprano voice. Barb and her husband are very involved in the theater program at Stage Door Theater in Conifer where their daughter caught the "theater bug!"
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