Joining the faculty in 1992, Dr. Schmidt teaches in the undergraduate and graduate programs. Her areas of expertise include parent-child nursing, nursing research, and nursing education. She is also the director of the Congregational Health Project.

Prior to teaching at Valparaiso University, Dr. Schmidt worked as a pediatric clinical nurse specialist at Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington, Illinois. She has also been a staff nurse at Wyler Children's Hospital at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics, working on both medical inpatient units and the pediatric emergency room.

Dr. Schmidt's areas of scholarly interest include children's pain, Orem's nursing theory, ethics, service learning, program assessment, and spirituality. With the Shaw Nursing Faculty Collaboration Grant from Children's Memorial Medical Center in Chicago, Dr. Schmidt studied the effect of guided imagery on children's perceptions of pain and their medication usage. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, MNRS, AWONN, The International Orem Society, International Pain Society, and ANA, as well as a grant reviewer for HRSA. She has published in Issues in Comprehensive Pediatric Nursing, Journal of Professional Nursing, and co-edited Spiritual Care in Nursing Practice with Dr. Mauk. She is currently co-editing an undergraduate nursing research textbook with Dean Janet Brown. Her scholarly work about pain in infants and children and Orem's theory have been presented locally, nationally, and internationally. She also enjoys her volunteer work teaching "Safe Sitter," a nationally recognized babysitting class for children ages 11-13.