Her work began at Orange Grove Center in the summer of 2001. She worked as a family nurse practitioner in health care services at the center before being promoted to her current position.

She has been in the medical field for 25 years, with 14 years as a registered nurse and 11 years as a family nurse practitioner.  She is the third of four generations of nurses, starting with her grandmother, and continuing on to her daughter.

Prior to working at Orange Grove, Lynn worked at the Baptist Hospital of East Tennessee for 13 years. While there, she was a registered nurse and head nurse of the Intensive Care Unit, Critical Care Unit, and Emergency Room.  Her responsibilities included overseeing all of the patient registration area and all courtesy physician offices, including revenue-related issues. She was also promoted to patient registration manager.  She went on to teach nursing classes at Chattanooga State Technical Community College between 1999 and 2001.

Lynn was certified as an accredited family nurse practitioner through American Nurses Credential Center in 1999, 2004, and in 2009.  She also has a certificate of fitness with a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) license.

She is a member of Tennessee Nurses Association, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, and Chattanooga Area Nurses in Advanced Practice.

Her recognitions include the Outstanding Nurse Award in 1990, and the Envision Award in 1995 for a rehabilitation program called “Swing Bed,” which was cited as being without any deficiencies by the State of Tennessee.  She was recently published in the Journal of American Medical Directors 2008, as one of the main authors for a study on osteoporosis.  The article is titled, “Prevalence of Osteoporosis in Community Dwelling Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.” It is the first of a four part study.

In 1986, she received her associate’s degree from Walters State University in nursing. Two years later, she received her associate’s in science in secondary education. Porter continued her schooling at Carson Newman College, receiving a bachelor of science in nursing.  In 1998, she received her master’s of science in nursing from East Tennessee State University.

Lynn has been happily married to Tommy since August 2003.  Together, they have four children, four grandchildren, and three dogs.