She worked in many financial services occupations and was a member of many Grand Island, Nebraska, organizations.
She sat on the Education, Natural Resources, Reference, and Legislative Performance Audit committees as well as the Executive Board.
McDonald supported a proposal for the addition of the psychoactive herb Salvia divinorum to Nebraska's Schedule I classification early in 2008.
Opponents of extremely prohibitive Salvia restrictions argued that such reactions were largely due to an inherent prejudice and a particular cultural bias rather than any actual balance of evidence, pointing out inconsistencies in attitudes toward other more toxic and addictive drugs such as alcohol and nicotine.
However, shortly after she was term limited and left office, another bill restricting the use of Salvia divinorum, LB123 sponsored by Russ Karpisek, passed the Nebraska Legislature in 2009.