← Back to Faculty Listing

Her mission is to further improve the understanding and acceptance of those with mental health concerns and to contribute to the overall health and well-being of rural populations by educating and supporting our future care givers.

Dr. Tarutis earned a baccalaureate degree in nursing (Bemidji State University), a master's degree in psychiatric-mental health nursing (University of Minnesota-Minneapolis), and a Doctor of Nursing Practice (University of Minnesota-Minneapolis). She is board certified through the American Nurses Credentialing Center as an adult psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner. Dr. Tarutis incorporated in 2005 (Rural Minnesota Behavioral Health Services, Inc.) and she has been in independent practice since that time. She provides a variety of psychiatric services in both inpatient and outpatient settings, including assessment, diagnosis, medication management, and therapy. She assists with the development of behavioral interventions for clients and supervises mental health programs for county providers, along with working as a locum tenens provider.

Sarah's under-graduate nursing experience includes geriatric and psycho-geriatric long-term care. Her advanced practice experience includes inpatient and outpatient adult and geriatric psychiatric nursing. Her graduate research dealt with burden of care on caregivers of dementia patients. Her post-graduate research included implementation of an agitation guideline to meet the needs of dementia patients in a hospital unit.