The Life and Writings of Barbara Nelson Blinn
and Dr. Carol Ann Blinn White

Dr. Carol White picked up writing completely by accident.

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In 2005 her mother, Barbara Nelson Blinn died of lung cancer. Barbara was a writer who had won nearly 170 awards during her lifetime. During the abusive and harsh life that Barbara endured as a victim of severe domestic violence, writing poetry became her escape. She started entering small poetry contests that did not cost much money and was thrilled at her success, but did not have the self-confidence to publish her work.

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Carol was born in 1970 and grew up in the violent household until Barbara was finally able to escape, putting them on the run from Carol’s father for almost a year. He continued to harass and threaten Barbara until his death in 2000.  Even though Barbara's life was filled with trauma and sorrow, she was determined to raise Carol to be successful and pushed her to excel in school, sacrificing fun and activities for schoolwork.

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After her mother’s death Carol put her writing on a bookshelf for thirteen years. One day, she felt the call to start reading her mother’s works. Most were written on an old manual typewriter and was marked up in pen. Carol spent six years scanning and typing Barbara’s writings onto the computer and organizing the work. Before she knew it there were multiple books of poetry, three books of short stories, and a novel.

​​​​​​​Then COVID came. Carol was isolated and alone in a house and found the words tumbling out of her brain onto the laptop. Before she knew it, Carol was writing her own book about her mother and her life. Carol also supplemented her feelings and trauma, in order to help cleanse her soul of the abuse as well. This book, Bullheaded Inner Strength, tells the story of Barbara and Carol’s lives as they suffered through years of domestic abuse.

 

Besides having a love of writing, Carol has become accomplished as a medical provider as well as a businesswoman. Dr. Carol White DNP, RN, ANPC, GNPC, CNLCP is a quadruple board certified nurse practitioner. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Indiana Wesleyan University in 1992. She went on to obtain a dual master degree in 2000 in Community Health Nursing and as an Adult and Geriatric Nurse Practitioner. Dr. White furthered her education and studied at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and obtained a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in 2009. Dr. White’s board certifications include Adult Nurse Practitioner, Geriatric Nurse Practitioner, and Life Care Planner. Most recently she became certified as a functional medicine practitioner. She has practiced as a licensed nurse for 33 years, and as a nurse practitioner for 25 years.

 

In 2003, Dr. White formed Geriatric Innovations as a business for her clinical practice as a nurse practitioner. In 2004, Dr. White started working part-time as a nurse practitioner and added educational consulting to Geriatric Innovation’s services. In December 2004, the name was changed to National Healthcare Innovations and incorporated under the name NationalHI, INC. (NHI). Over the course of the next several years, Dr. White presented eight-hour, keynote, and break-out presentations in forty-five states. Her opinions have been published in interview articles on Medscape and Eli’s MDS Alert. Dr. White has published her research in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners entitled, “An Exploration of Decision-Making Factors Regarding Advance Directives in a Long-Term Care Facility” in 2005.

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In 2005, Dr. White started doing case reviews for attorneys and testifying as an expert witness as well for NHI. NHI has grown over the years to become a nationwide practice employing herself, two paralegals, and several contracted nurses. Between the educational consulting and legal consulting, Dr. White has worked on cases and/or educated nurses in every state but Vermont, and has even worked on a case from Canada. Dr. White is well known throughout the United States as providing expert witness testimony in cases that involve nurse and nurse practitioner standard of care, as well as life care planning.

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In 2007, Dr. White became a full-time nursing professor to undergraduate nursing students at Indiana Wesleyan University, then transitioned in 2008 to the graduate nursing program there teaching students who were getting their Master degree in Nursing Education, Nursing Administration, as well as Nurse Practitioner. In late 2008, Dr. White became the chair of the Geriatric Nurse Practitioner Program at Indiana Wesleyan University until the program was dissolved several years later. Also in 2008, Dr. White started seeing patients in the outpatient setting at a free clinic in Marion, Indiana and continued that over the next 15 years. From 2013 through 2025 Dr. White continued to see patients in the outpatient, assisted living, acute rehabilitation, and long-term care settings as both a primary care provider and as a physical medicine and rehabilitation nurse practitioner.

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Dr. White formed Functional Medicine Partners in 2025. She and her husband, Doug Kronk, have three amazing sons, two wonderful daughters-in-law, three rambunctious lovable dogs, and adorable twin grandsons. In her free time, Dr. White enjoys spending time with her husband, family, and friends. In the winter they like to ski, and in the summer, you will find them by the lake boating, kayaking, wake surfing, or going out to area restaurants to eat and listen to bands play in their lake town.