Tawnya Pionk, RN, joins the firm as its Legal Nurse Specialist. A Registered Nurse for over 20 years, Tawnya brings a wide range of experience as a clinician and an enterprise risk manager. Tawnya brings a wealth of expertise to our clients focused on survey readiness, regulatory compliance, quality assurance/performance and process improvement, and nursing administration on the continuum of long-term care. As the Legal Nurse Specialist, Tawnya is central to the evaluation and assessment of liability, risk and defensibility of claims and collaborating with our lawyers and experts with the PRISM and IMPACT proactivity risk mitigation strategies.
Tawnya served as an American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) Certified Compliance Officer in Tennessee. For over five years, she was an active committee member of the Mississippi Healthcare Association Long Term Care Nursing Coalition.
Tawnya attended college in South Dakota, and began her journey in senior living in the dietary department of a long-term care facility while attending classes. Her engagement and connection with the facility residents inspired Tawnya to direct her career path to nursing. In turn, she became a Certified Nursing Assistant at the same facility while attending nursing school. Tawnya later became the Director of Nursing at the same facility.
Tawnya’s experiences also include Registered Nurse Supervising, Minimum Data Set (MDS) and Restorative Nursing and Regional Nurse Consultant. She’s gained valuable experience as a Compliance Officer for a business that places Nurse Practitioners in long-term care facilities.
Tawnya moved to the Mid-South in 2006. She is married and has two step children as well as a miniature greyhound named Al Pacino. Tawnya and her husband are motorcycle enthusiasts who love traveling the states. Tawnya also enjoys bird watching, deer hunting, fishing and boating. Tawnya and her husband also foster rescue dogs for the Tunica Humane Society in Mississippi through their organization Foster Dogs at Southern Comfort.
She is the 2024 Secretary of the Greater Memphis Paralegal Alliance [GMPA]. She will attend quarterly and annual board meetings. She will also be actively involved with the monthly lunch and learns to grow in her knowledge of law firms and the paralegal role.
