Class Notes 1980-1989

Cathy Greer Calvert, BSN'80, is an attorney in her family's practice in Lexington, Kentucky (2022).

Chris Crockett Clarke, MSN'80, was named among the 2019 Nashville Medical News Women to Watch. She is senior vice president at the Tennessee Hospital Association.

Lou Condrey Douglas, BSN'80, of Nashville, passed away August 7, 2022.

Barb Duffy, BSN'80, MSN'91, PMC'98, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022. She was a panelist for "The Evolving Role of Nursing in Transgender Care," in March 2021, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC that October.

Cisneros Farrar, BSN'75, MSN'80, co-authored "Pain Management," in the December 2017 issue of Critical Care Nursing Clinics. She served as president of District 3 of the Tennessee Nurses Association.

Julia Moseley Garner, MSN'80, of Gainesville, Georgia, passed away December 30, 2017.

Mikel Gray, BSN'80, presented "Male Sexual Dysfunction," and "Testicular Disorders," at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference in June 2019.

Gene Elizabeth Harkless, MSN'80, presented "Reducing Diagnostic Errors in Practice," at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference in June 2019.

Anne Page, BSN'80, was named treasurer of the Virginia Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses in 2020. 

Margaret Hornberger Pisacano, BSN'80, is associate deputy general counsel of medical risk at University of Kentucky Health in Lexington and a faculty member in the university's J. David Rosenberg College of Law (2022).

Cole Powers, BSN'80, MSN'84, co-authored "Transitioning Community Health Clinical Experiences to an Online Format during COVID-19," in the March 2022 issue of the Journal of Nursing Education, and "Simulated Home Visit to Promote Chronic Disease Management Competencies in Prelicensure Nursing Students," in the June Nurse Educator. She was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in January 2020.

Donna Ruth, BSN'80, MSN'90, is director of education for the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health (2022).

Annie Santucci, MSN'80, is on the faculty at the Free University of Brussels School of Public Health in Belgium (2016).

Jenny Andrews, BSN'81, is an attorney with Naman, Howell, Smith & Lee in Fort Worth, Texas (2022).

Valerie Asbury, BSN'81, was named board member of Tactile Systems Technology, headquartered in Minneapolis, in January 2022.

Betsy Brach, BSN'79, MSN'81, has an experiential psychotherapy practice for individuals, couples and groups in Bethesda, Maryland (2020).

Tricia Colclazier Butner, MSN'81, is a nurse practitioner at Oklahoma Heart Hospital in Seminole (2020).

Opal Peacock Canarina, MSN'81, of Modesto, California, passed away October 15, 2021.

Elizabeth Goy Damato, BSN'81, is senior research physiologist at the Naval Medical Research Unit—Dayton and associate professor at both the Case Western Reserve University School of Nursing and School of Medicine in Cleveland (2020).

Debbie Fox-Howard, BSN'81, retired from a private practice women's health group in New York City in 1996. She has been a staff nurse at Cornell Medical Center, head of employee health at a New York University medical center, and nurse practitioner at various abortion and family planning clinics (2018).

Darlene Armstrong Franklin, MSN'81, was published in the Worldwide Leaders in Healthcare. She is on faculty at the Whitson-Hester School of Nursing at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville (2017).

DJ Bauer Gilfert, MSN'81, of North Port, Florida, passed away September 17, 2019.

Diana Donley Haller, BSN'81, is married and living in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (2018). 

Alice Moffatt Howard, MSN'81, of Memphis, Tennessee, passed away October 19, 2018. 

Pam Orebaugh Jones, BSN'81, MSN'92, DNP'13, was a panelist for "COVID Perspectives, Values and Vaccination Hesitancy," presented by the VUSN Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Committee in January 2022, and appointed in June to the Vanderbilt University task force charged with addressing the impact of Tennessee law and reproductive rights on the campus community. She presented, "Building Organizational Resilience in Turbulent Times," at the DNP Summit hosted by the University of Rochester School of Nursing in October, and co-authored "Promoting Nurse Manager Professional Well-being," published in the December issue of The Journal of Nursing Administration. Pam was featured in Vanderbilt's MyVU for a January 2021 story about her leadership of the university's COVID-19 public health central command center. She co-authored "A Systems Approach to Addressing Covid-19 Health Inequities," published in NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery that month. In April, she became the first recipient of the Vanderbilt Chancellor's Award for Distinguished Service and was a panelist for "Women's Leadership in the COVID-19 Era: How Women Responded and Led the Charge to Mitigate the Pandemic," part of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's celebration of Women's History Month. She was promoted to associate vice chancellor for health and wellness at Vanderbilt in September (as noted in the Nashville Post), and was the presenter for "Building Organizational Resilience in Turbulent Times," that month, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She is lead author of "Showcasing Nursing Leadership and Contributions to a University's COVID-19 Student Contact Tracing Process," published in the October/December Nursing Administration Quarterly. In March 2020, Pam was appointed to serve on the Vanderbilt Public Health Advisory Task Force, formed as a resource during the pandemic, and spoke at two town hall meetings in July to share information about COVID-19 with faculty, staff, students and families, as well as about VUSN's leadership in campus contact tracing and educating patients. She was named a Women to Watch by Nashville Medical News in May. Pam moderated the VUSN Alumni Board's annual DNP Know Your Value in January 2019, and was inducted as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing that October. In May 2018, she met with Surgeon General Jerome Adams while he visited Vanderbilt, received the Rebecca Culpepper Award from VUMC, and was honored as the March of Dimes Tennessee Chapter Nursing Administration Nurse of the Year. Pam received the State Advocate Award from American Association of Nurse Practitioners in 2015.

Ginger Manley, BSN'66, MSN'81, spoke at the Apron Museum's June 2019 symposium in Tishmingo, Mississippi, on "An Apron is a Document that Tells a Story and Connects Us All." She retired in September from her role as associate in psychiatry at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and was featured as a panelist for the Nashville Public Television documentary, Companionship & Intimacy: Aging Matters, which aired in December. Ginger wrote and published Proud Flesh (with a book launch and signing in March 2016 at Parnassus Book Store in Nashville), and Disarmed: An Exceptional Journey, in March 2015, which is about her 48-year marriage.

Kerry Meyer, MSN'81, is a nurse practitioner at the University of Washington's neighborhood clinic in Issaquah (2017).

Catherine Gamble Mezmar, MSN'81, is the executive-director of nurses for the Veterans Health Administration, Texas Valley Coastal Bend facilities. She is married to Michael Mezmar, MSN'81.

Michael Mezmar, MSN'81, was reelected to his fourth term in 2018 as commissioner of Harlingen, Texas, where he is mayor pro-tem.

Anne Atkinson Moore, BSN'76, MSN'81, is assistant vice president of women's health services at Peppy, headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. She was director of medical affairs, women's health at Mayne Pharma, senior medical science liaison for AMAG Pharmaceuticals, and Mid-Atlantic liaison with national thought leaders and various health care professionals (2022).

Jim Pace, MSN'81, MDiv'88, was named dean of nursing and health sciences at Valdosta State University in Georgia in June 2020, and was interviewed for the fall issue of FAANP Forum. He had served as New York University College of Nursing's senior associate dean for academic programs.

Florence Roberts, MSN'81, of Dahlonega, Georgia, passed away July 19, 2020.

Sarah Shields Sedille, BSN'81, of Nashville passed away October 18, 2022.

Carol Ann Braley Seeger, MSN'81, of Oswego, New York, passed away June 1, 2020. One year prior, she started a position as a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Oswego Health Behavioral Health Services.

Tricia Benson, BSN'82, is chief engagement officer of the Lillian Carter Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility at Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta (2022).

Denise Ann Daniel, BSN'82, of Hendersonville, Tennessee, passed away January 19, 2021.

Martha Davidson, BSN'82, is treasurer of the Southeast Region Wound Ostomy and Continence Society Board, where she has also served as president-elect and president (2021).

Iris Grim, BSN'82, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, passed away January 30, 2019. 

Leslie Homra, BSN'82, is the vice president of clinical services for The Centre for Health Care Planning in Nashville (2015).

Donna Ray Iverson, BSN'82, and her sister, Lisa Ray Pascale, BSN'83, are on staff at Wolfson Children's Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, in the behavioral health unit (2015).

Erin Byrne Rodgers, BSN'82, MSN'86, retired from VUSN in August 2022. She was recognized in Vanderbilt News in May 2020 for her innovative thinking that allowed VUSN students to continue simulation lab work in spite of COVID-19 challenges, and she received the VUSN Dean's Award for Faculty Achievement in Academic Endeavors in May 2018. As an assistant professor in pediatrics, she served as course co-coordinator, clinical instructor, content coordinator and lecturer.

Elizabeth Rudolph, BSN'82, MSN'85, JD'89, was the featured speaker for the Tennessee Nurses Association's Critical Issue Forum in June 2022, addressing medical errors and legal ramifications.

Molly Walker, BSN'82, received the New Jersey March of Dimes 2014 Women's Health Nurse of the Year Award.

Laurie Alsentzer, BSN'83, is a physician with Old Harding Pediatric Associates in Nashville (2020).

Leslie Hague Bouton, BSN'83, is in medical operations with MD² in Bellevue, Washington, a group of concierge primary care clinics located across the U.S. (2018).

Katie Kilbane Brennan, BSN'83, MSN'87, received the VUSN Nursing and Health Care Leadership Preceptor of the Year Award in August 2022, and was quoted in a December 2020 VUMC Reporter story about Vanderbilt University Medical Center's biennial Nursing Staff Bylaws Convention, the first to be held virtually. She is co-chair of the Bylaws Task Force and associate nursing officer at the VUMC primary care patient care center.

Annette Stone Isaksen, MSN'83, is self-employed as a board-certified integrative health coach, using assessments and goals to help people feel empowered to make lasting lifestyle choices. She lives in Silverdale, Washington (2018). 

Sally Tucker Jasper, BSN'75, MSN'83, retired in June 2018 after 43 years of nursing. She taught at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon, for 20 years and established the school's simulation lab.

Joanie Laughlin Jeannette, BSN'83, MSN'04, served as moderator of "Compassion Fatigue during COVID-19: How Nurses and NPs Can Stay Grounded," in November 2020, part of the VUSN Dore to Dore Alumni Forum. She was quoted in the VUMC Reporter in August 2017 about patient flow nurses at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Joanie is administrative director of adult inpatient medicine at VUMC and president of the VUSN Alumni Board.

Catherine Price McKnight, BSN'83, of Jackson, Tennessee, passed away May 29, 2019.

Melanie Hall Morris, BSN'83, MSN'86, was interviewed by The New York Times in late 2021 about the benefits of journaling. The article was republished in March 2022 as part of the paper's Learning Network and was featured in Vanderbilt Magazine in November in "How to Keep a Journal for Self-care." She is lead author of "A Nurse-navigated, Postpartum Support Text Messaging Intervention: Satisfaction among Primiparous Women," published in The Journal of Perinatal & Neonatal Nursing in October/December 2021. Melanie authored "Write it Out! CPR for the Soul," published in October 2020 in Nursing Clinics. She was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in 2019 and presented a poster, "A Randomized Controlled Trial of Nurse-navigated Texting Support for Primiparous Women following an Unplanned Cesarean Birth," at the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses conference that June. Melanie successfully defended her dissertation, "Nurse-Navigated Mobile Messaging Support and Primiparous Women's Postpartum Symptom Experience following Unplanned Cesarean Birth," at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in April 2018. In 2015, she was awarded Research Paper of the Year from American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, and was the Scholarly Writing Contest winner from the Tennessee Nurses Foundation.

Lisa Ray Pascale, BSN'83, and her sister, Donna Ray Iverson, BSN'82, are on staff at Wolfson Children's Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, in the behavioral health unit (2015).

Mary Wuertenbaecher Petersen, BSN'83, is heart valve team coordinator at Saint Luke's Hospital in Chesterfield, Missouri (2016).

Frances Garcia Prockop, BSN'83, is an attorney and partner with Hall Booth Smith in Tampa, Florida (2022).

Joyce Grimes Safley, BSN'77, MSN'83, was a candidate for judge of the Davidson County General Sessions Court in Tennessee in May 2018. She joined the Law Office of Melinda Jacobs in Franklin as an attorney in August 2016.

Olivia Miller Smith, BSN'83, was a panelist for "Trauma and Addiction: Breaking the Cycle for Women," part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, in September 2022. She is a personal development coach, as well as founder of Healing Housing and Write a New Story, both in Nashville.

Kathleen Wooldridge Wolff, MSN'83, was leader of a class at the Vanderbilt Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, "Living Well with Chronic Pain: Skills and Practices," in May 2021, and received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in October. She co-authored "The Partnership to Improve Diabetes Education Trial: A Cluster Randomized Trial Addressing Health Communication in Diabetes Care," published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine in January 2020. Kathleen presented "Integrative Medicine Therapies to Enhance Health and Well-being," at VUMC in March 2019. She is a nurse practitioner in the Osher Center.

Joyce Feigel Backman, BSN’84, was featured on the Westport Chapter of Hadassah Connecticut’s website as a Member of the Month in 2018. She belongs to the Hadassah Nurses Council.

Suzanne McMurtry Baird, BSN’84, MSN’95, is lead author of “Goals for Collaborative Management of Obstetric Hemorrhage,” published in Obstetrics & Gynecology Clinics in March 2021, co-author of “Current Key Challenges in Managing Maternal Sepsis,” in the April/June issue of The Journal of Perinatal & Neonatal Nursing, and author of “Maternal Sepsis: Key Challenges,” published in the Symposia Medicus blog in July. She is one of two presenters on the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses podcast, “COVID-19 in the Perinatal Space,” and co-authored “Statewide Quality Improvement Initiative to Implement Immediate Postpartum Long-acting Reversible Contraception,” published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in April 2020. Suzanne was elected president of the AWHONN board of directors in October 2019 and received the AWHONN Excellence in Clinical Education Award in June 2017. She co-edited Intrapartum Management Modules, 5th ed., the runner-up in the American Journal of Nursing's Book of the Year in 2016 for the maternal-child health category. Suzanne is founder of Clinical Concepts in Obstetrics in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Lucretia Bolin, BSN’84, MSN’85, was a panelist for “How the Media and Entertainment Industry Perpetuate Stereotypes of Nursing (and Why That Hurts Everyone),” in May 2021, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She is an addiction medicine nurse practitioner at Oakland Medical Center in California and member of the sexual assault response team for the City and County of San Francisco.

Laura Logsdon Buchanan, BSN’84, received the Linda Norman Alumni Award for Innovation in Health Care presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school’s annual awards ceremony in October 2022.

Elizabeth Burgess-Dowdell, BSN’84, is lead author of “Risk Behaviors of High School Students Who Report Knowing Someone Who Self-harms,” published in January 2020 in Issues in Mental Health Nursing, and co-author of “Using the Word ‘Healthy’ in an Emergency Food Pantry: An Unexpected Response,” published in Public Health Nursing that September.

Nancy Myers Ellsworth, BSN’84, of Atlanta, passed away March 18, 2022.

Kelly McCampbell Gentry, BSN’84, is director at the Oklahoma Center for Adult Stem Cell Research in Oklahoma City. She represented VUSN on the Vanderbilt University Alumni Board (2018).

Debbie Dunn Gregory, BSN’84, was promoted to principal of healthcare innovation consulting at Smith Seckman Reid in Nashville in August 2022. She is author of “Code Lavender: Designing Healthcare Spaces to Enhance Caregiver Wellness,” published in HERD: Health Environments Research and Design Journal in February 2021, and was a panelist for “Influential Women in Data Science,” hosted by the Society of Women Engineers at the Memphis Data Conference, and presented “Experiences from Cancer Care, Elderly Care and TeleHealth,” at the Rethink Tomorrow: Transforming Healthcare Challenges into Opportunities conference hosted by the Swedish Minister of Health, both in March. She co-authored a chapter, “Communication and COVID-19: Challenges in Evidence-based Healthcare Design,” in the book Communicating Science in Times of Crisis, in May. Debbie co-chaired the International Nursing Conference for Excellence in Healthcare Design in July and September, where she co-presented, “Transforming Care: A Toolbox for Ideation, Creativity and Empathy,” and “Healthcare Technology Questionnaire Development: Validating an Approach to Data Gathering.” In August, she was a speaker for the American Nurses Association Innovation Lounge’s event, “Empathy for Change: Create a Better Future and Drive Impact,” and was featured in the Center for Health Design webinar, “How the Coronavirus Has Changed Healthcare Design,” recorded in September. Debbie is lead author of “Adapting and Creating Healing Environments: Lessons Nurses Have Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic,” published in Nurse Leader in November and co-author of a letter to the editor in the same issue. That year, she presented, “Standing Up Field Hospitals,” for the ANA’s COVID-19 Nurse Innovation Stories blog. In November 2019, Debbie was featured in the Johnson & Johnson Notes on Nursing newsletter for her work in innovative clinical models and the founding of the Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design. She was honored by the Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design as the first recipient of the Debbie Gregory Leadership Award. She is co-editor of Health Environments Research and Design Journal and authored two chapters in the book, Planning and Design for Healthcare Environments: A Nurse’s Perspective. Debbie is senior clinical consultant with SSR in Nashville and a member of the Clemson University Academy of Nursing Excellence in Design.

Sharon Jablonski Henry, BSN’84, is an attorney with Mateer Harbert in Orlando, Florida (2022).

Sarah Nichols Hutchison, BSN’84, is manager of transition management at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (2021).

Jackie Garrett Moreland, BSN’84, is clinical quality improvement specialist for the Tennessee Center for Patient Safety, part of the Tennessee Hospital Association (2020).

Cole Powers, BSN’80, MSN’84, co-authored “Transitioning Community Health Clinical Experiences to an Online Format during COVID-19,” in the March 2022 issue of the Journal of Nursing Education, and “Simulated Home Visit to Promote Chronic Disease Management Competencies in Prelicensure Nursing Students,” in the June Nurse Educator. She was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in January 2020.

Robin Rosen Schuman, BSN’84, is owner and chief executive officer of Fairview Medical-Legal Consulting in New York. She founded the company after serving 17 years as in-house medical consultant for Aaronson, Rappaport, Feinstein & Deutsch, where she received the Employee of The Year Award.

James Tucker, BSN’84, is chief quality officer at Bayfront Health Saint Petersburg in Florida (2021).

Reita Varney, MSN’84, of Akron, Ohio, passed away May 10, 2020.

Michelle Wenker, BSN’84, JD’93, of Cincinnati, passed away May 6, 2022.

Scarlett Hackman West, BSN’84, is an adjunct instructor of nursing at Indian River State College in Fort Pierce, Florida (2017).

Lucretia Bolin, BSN'84, MSN'85, was a panelist for "How the Media and Entertainment Industry Perpetuate Stereotypes of Nursing (and Why That Hurts Everyone)," in May 2021, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She is an addiction medicine nurse practitioner at Oakland Medical Center in California and member of the sexual assault response team for the City and County of San Francisco.

Cindy Comer Borum, BSN'85, published "Barriers for Hospital-based Nurse Practitioners Utilizing Clinical Decision Support Systems: A Systematic Review," in CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing in April 2018. She is assistant vice president for the clinical services group at HCA in Nashville. She is a board member of the Tennessee Nurses Foundation.

Sabrina Downs, MSN'85, retired in September 2021 from her role as senior director of nursing professional practice and Magnet recognition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Beth Middleton Ginzinger, BSN'85, was named chief strategy officer for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona in April 2018.

Christina Blair Lubold, BSN'85, was featured in the Indiana Gazette in March 2021 about her career in Indiana, Pennsylvania.

Mary McDevitt, MSN'85, joined the board of directors of Buckelew Programs in Novato, California, in August 2017.

Kim Dishman Parham, BSN'85, joined Thynk Health in Lexington, Kentucky, in July 2021, as vice president of strategic partnerships and clinical liaison.

Pam Quinn Phillips, BSN'85, MSN'88, is a legal nurse consultant with Hall, Schieffelin & Smith in Winter Park, Florida (2022).

Elizabeth Rudolph, BSN'82, MSN'85, JD'89, was the featured speaker for the Tennessee Nurses Association's Critical Issue Forum in June 2022, addressing medical errors and legal ramifications.

Leslie West Sands, BSN'85, MSN'86, is dean, program director and professor of nursing at Jackson State Community College in Tennessee (2017).

Elizabeth Kyger Sparta, BSN'85, and her daughter were featured in a story in VUMC Voice in September 2017, about both being nurses at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Molly Klekamp Tassone, BSN'85, is a teacher at The Summit Country Day School in Cincinnati (2019).

Vicki Turner, BSN'85, MSN'90, of Brentwood, Tennessee, passed away April 7, 2018. 

Susan Utley, BSN'85, is a family nurse practitioner at Tennessee Oncology in Nashville where she specializes in medical oncology, hematology and unknown primary cancer (2020).

Sherri Hollis Vaughn, BSN'85, is nurse case management supervisor at Johnston & Associates, a workers compensation company in Franklin, Tennessee (2019).

Nancy Anness, MSN'86, was featured in the spring 2021 issue of Catholic Awakening in the article, "Passion for Service: A Nurse Practitioner's Story." She was honored by the Tennessee Justice Center in May 2019 as a Mother of the Year at its Mother's Day Luncheon in Nashville, and by New Beginnings during its Spirit of Wellness Luncheon in September 2018. She was quoted in a September 2017 article in the Tennessean about the Saint Thomas Medical Mission at Home program, which she founded.

Judith La Gorce Bright, BSN'86, was featured by StyleBlueprint in November 2022 in "Southern Jewelry Makers We LOVE," and by StyleBlueprint in December 2020, in a story about Nashville jewelry businesses owned by women.

Maria Johnston Derryberry, BSN'86, MSN'01, is a nurse practitioner at Maggie's Hospice and Palliative Care in Prescott, Arizona (2016).

Laura Walsh Forrest, BSN'86, of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, passed away August 22, 2020.

Julie Foss, MSN'86, retired in February 2018 after 30 years of managing the mobile intensive care unit at Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital. She was published in The Empowered Nurse: Peer-Reviewed Journal for Innovative VUMC Nursing Research, Volume 1, Issue 1, that May.

Barbara Klug Giambra, BSN'86, is an assistant professor at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, where she studies communication between health care providers and parents of children with chronic conditions, and provides primary care for teens with asthma. She earned a PhD in nursing from Indiana University in Bloomington in 2014.

Dana Rowan Griscom, BSN'86, is an agent with Pilkerton Realtors in Nashville (2020).

Leslie Jeter, BSN'86, is co-author of "Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist Practice," published in the AANA Journal in August 2021.

Deborah Kenny, MSN'86, was a continuing education presenter at the Army Nurse Corps Association convention in October 2022. She is a tenured full professor of ethics and leadership at the Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, where she teaches and conducts research, and holds the college's first endowed professorship. Deborah enjoys serving on community boards, professional leadership activities and political activism.

Sharon Hicks Little, BSN'86, MSN'88, is president of the Tennessee Nurses Foundation (2022).

Karen Ramos McCarty, BSN'86, MSN'92, received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in October 2021.

Melanie Hall Morris, BSN'83, MSN'86, was interviewed by The New York Times in late 2021 about the benefits of journaling. The article was republished in March 2022 as part of the paper's Learning Network and was featured in Vanderbilt Magazine in November in "How to Keep a Journal for Self-care." She is lead author of "A Nurse-navigated, Postpartum Support Text Messaging Intervention: Satisfaction among Primiparous Women," published in The Journal of Perinatal & Neonatal Nursing in October/December 2021. Melanie authored "Write it Out! CPR for the Soul," published in October 2020 in Nursing Clinics. She was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in 2019 and presented a poster, "A Randomized Controlled Trial of Nurse-navigated Texting Support for Primiparous Women following an Unplanned Cesarean Birth," at the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses conference that June. Melanie successfully defended her dissertation, "Nurse-Navigated Mobile Messaging Support and Primiparous Women's Postpartum Symptom Experience following Unplanned Cesarean Birth," at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in April 2018. In 2015, she was awarded Research Paper of the Year from American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing, and was the Scholarly Writing Contest winner from the Tennessee Nurses Foundation.

Julie Moyle, BSN'86, is an outreach and engagement specialist at Practice Greenhealth, an organization that helps hospitals and health systems adopt programs to be more environmentally-friendly. She lives in Golden, Colorado (2019).

Jane Anne Filson Pilkinton, BSN'86, was recognized in June 2022 by the president of Cheekwood Estate and Gardens in Nashville for serving as chair of the COVID-canceled 2020 Swan Ball, a benefit for the Tennessee Botanical Gardens and Fine Arts Center in Nashville.

Erin Byrne Rodgers, BSN'82, MSN'86, retired from VUSN in August 2022. She was recognized in Vanderbilt News in May 2020 for her innovative thinking that allowed VUSN students to continue simulation lab work in spite of COVID-19 challenges, and she received the VUSN Dean's Award for Faculty Achievement in Academic Endeavors in May 2018. As an assistant professor in pediatrics, she served as course co-coordinator, clinical instructor, content coordinator and lecturer.

Leslie West Sands, BSN'85, MSN'86, is dean, program director and professor of nursing at Jackson State Community College in Tennessee (2017).

Julia Sawyers Triplett, BSN'86, co-authored "Integrating a Pharmacy Student into the Home Healthcare Setting," published in the June 2016 issue of Home Healthcare Now.

Susan Germann Yackzan, BSN'86, was a panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's Know Your Value, "Salary and Contract Negotiation for New NPs," in April 2022. She was chair of the National Oncology Nursing Society's annual congress in May 2021 and is recipient of the Lulu Wolf Hassenplug Award for Distinguished Career in Nursing, presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October. She was named to the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing editorial board as advance practice associate editor in July 2019. Susan completed her PhD at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing in December 2017. She is associate vice president and a nurse scientist for the Baptist Health System in Lexington, Kentucky.

Lana Leinbach Yaney, MSN'86, has been a certified registered nurse anesthetist for over 23 years at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Massachusetts (2017).

Sally Coles Yeagley, BSN'66, MSN'86, received the Alumni Award for Clinical Achievement in Nursing presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October 2016.

Katie Kilbane Brennan, BSN'83, MSN'87, received the VUSN Nursing and Health Care Leadership Preceptor of the Year Award in August 2022, and was quoted in a December 2020 VUMC Reporter story about Vanderbilt University Medical Center's biennial Nursing Staff Bylaws Convention, the first to be held virtually. She is co-chair of the Bylaws Task Force and associate nursing officer at the VUMC primary care patient care center.

Leanne Crabtree Busby, MSN'87, of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, passed away March 14, 2022. She had been director of the VUSN Family Nurse Practitioner Graduate Specialty for seven years, led the opening of the Vine Hill Community Clinic in Nashville, and was honored as a Top 100 Leader during the School's Centennial.

Tom Christenbery, MSN'87, PhD'04, of Nashville, passed away February 16, 2021. He was posthumously awarded the Alumni Award for Diversity and Inclusion presented by the VUSN Alumni Association to his family during the school's annual awards ceremony in October. In September 2020, his book, Fast Facts for Writing the DNP Project: Effective Structure, Content and Presentation, was published by Springer. Tom presented about engaging faculty in philanthropy at the Nursing Advancement Professionals conference in April 2019, and received the VUSN Dean's Award for Faculty Achievement in Media in June. That year, Tom co-sponsored a challenge gift incentive during Vanderbilt University's Giving Day, and co-authored "Writing a Diversity and Inclusivity Statement: Guidelines for Nursing Programs and Faculty," published in Nurse Educator that November. He co-authored "Appreciative Advising Pilot Study: An Innovative Approach to Advising Doctor of Nursing Practice Students," published in Nurse Educator in August 2018. Tom presented at a Vanderbilt University Medical Center faculty scholarly writing workshop in October 2017. He was a professor at VUSN, director of program evaluation and member of the Alumni Board.

Kim Hanna, MSN'87, was named dean of the Whitson-Hester School of Nursing at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville in 2019 after serving as the interim dean for two years.

Twila Williams Harmon, MSN'87, of Oneonta, Alabama, passed away October 19, 2016.

Maria Rapert Lanners, MSN'87, of Dassel, Minnesota, passed away January 31, 2020.

Leigh Ann Thompson McInnis, BSN'87, MSN'89, wrote a chapter, "Herbal Supplements for Common Women's Health Issues," for the book, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Part II: Herbal Supplements and Vitamins, published by Elsevier in March 2021.

Laura Reaves, BSN'87, MSN'88, is co-founder and president of Wellness Solutions in Nashville, a company that provides medical and psychiatric support services to long-term care facility residents across the southeast U.S. (2017).

Cathy Rozmus, MSN'87, was inducted as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in October 2019. She is a professor and vice dean for academic affairs at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.

George Shwab IV, BSN'87, MSN'94, is a family nurse practitioner in neurology at Saint Thomas Medical Partners in Nashville (2017).

Nina Page Waltzer, MSN'87, is a primary care nurse practitioner at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl, providing care for men, women and youth, and at the Flowood Community Work Center for women. She volunteers as an item writer for the American Nurses Credentialing Center's adult-gerontological primary care nurse practitioner exam (2021).

Sharon Adkins, MSN'88, received the Alumni Association President's Award of Distinction presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October 2017, and was honored by Nashville Medical News in May 2016 at its annual Women to Watch breakfast. She retired from the position of executive director of the Tennessee Nurses Association.

Elizabeth Alexander, MSN'88, shared a Top 5 Blue Ribbon Award at the 2019 Vanderbilt Health Professions Education Research Day for her poster, "Interprofessional Simulation between Nursing and Divinity Students: Learning beyond Roles and Checklists," and co-published on the same topic in the October issue of Science Direct . She collaborated on a poster, "Interprofessional Simulation between Nursing and Divinity Students: Qualitative Findings," which received a best research poster award at the International Association of Clinical Simulation and Learning in June 2018.

Paula Day Bennett, BSN'88, is a registered nurse at Summit Surgery Center in Hermitage, Tennessee (2017).

Martha Buckner, MSN'88, co-presented, "Academic-practice Partnership Supports the COVID-19 Workforce while Meeting Academic Needs for Clinical Experiences," on the American Nurses Association's COVID-19 Nurse Innovation Stories blog, posted in 2021. She is co-author of "Impact of COVID-19 on New Graduate Nurses' Transition to Practice: Loss or Gain?" published by Nurse Educator in August/September. Martha is professor, associate dean and executive director of Partners in Nursing at Belmont University School of Nursing in Nashville.

Aimee Carabin, BSN'88, is a registered nurse and back-office administrator at Houston Foot and Ankle in Texas (2017).

Nancy Davis, BSN'88, is a group leader in the department of medicine, division of hematology and oncology at the Vanderbilt Medical Group in Nashville, with a sub-specialty of genitourinary cancers. She had lived in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for 30 years (2017). 

Karen Hughart, MSN'88, was interviewed in April 2020 by the American Nursing Informatics Association president about Vanderbilt University Medical Center's reduction of electronic health record documentation during the COVID-19 pandemic, setting an example for hospitals and healthcare systems. She was appointed senior director of nursing informatics at VUMC in 2016.

Elaine Boswell King, MSN'88, is a family nurse practitioner at Vanderbilt Diabetes, where she specialized in endocrinology and metabolism (2020).

Joy Davis Kimbrell, MSN'88, is professor emerita at Cumberland University's Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions in Lebanon, Tennessee, where she has served as interim dean, associate professor and director of the Center for Nursing Success (2022).

Sharon Hicks Little, BSN'86, MSN'88, is president of the Tennessee Nurses Foundation (2022).

Sandy Womeldorf Murabito, MSN'88, co-presented, "Academic-practice Partnership Supports the COVID-19 Workforce while Meeting Academic Needs for Clinical Experiences," on the American Nurses Association's COVID-19 Nurse Innovation Stories blog, posted in 2021. She is on faculty at Belmont University School of Nursing in Nashville.

Anna-Gene Chalfant O'Neal, BSN'88, MSN'92, MBA'92, was interviewed in March 2019 by Nashville Public Radio for a story about the state of palliative care in Middle Tennessee. She received the Alumni Award for Innovation in Health Care presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October 2018, and is in a video about that year's Nashville Business Journal's Health Care Awards. Anna-Gene was interviewed in September 2017 by the Tennessean about a program to help providers talk with patients about death, and was honored as Nurse of the Year by the Tennessean in 2015.

Pam Quinn Phillips, BSN'85, MSN'88, is a legal nurse consultant with Hall, Schieffelin & Smith in Winter Park, Florida (2022).

Laura Reaves, BSN'87, MSN'88, is co-founder and president of Wellness Solutions in Nashville, a company that provides medical and psychiatric support services to long-term care facility residents across the southeast U.S. (2017).

Rachel Ricafort, BSN'88, is a physician in a private pediatrics practice in Smyrna, Tennessee (2017).

Jenny Sandlin Sauls, MSN'88, is a professor at Middle Tennessee State University School of Nursing in Murfreesboro (2016).

Patty Scott, BSN'88, MSN'92, is co-author of "Quality Initiative to Reduce Extrauterine Growth Restriction in Very Low Birth Weight Infants," published in Hospital Pediatrics in January 2022.

Christine Patrick Sharpe, MA'71, BSN'79, MSN'88, of Nashville, passed away February 24, 2021.

Velinda Youngner Block, MSN'89, was named a Visionary Leader by the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing in April 2021, and among the 2019 Nashville Medical News Women to Watch. She was appointed chief nursing executive at HCA TriStar Health System in Nashville in April 2017, and interviewed that August in HCA Nurse Residency about the company opening a new simulation learning facility in Antioch, Tennessee.

Caroline Post Cone, MSN'89, is a nurse psychotherapist and assistant in medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (2020).

Lea Ann Cook, MSN'89, of Los Angeles, passed away September 4, 2018.

Charlotte Mathias Covington, BSN'69, MSN'89, is associate professor emerita at VUSN (2022).

Betsy Babb Kennedy, BSN'89, MSN'93, was voted by VUSN doctor of nursing practice students to receive the Dean Colleen Conway-Welch Award for Contributions to DNP Student Learning in January 2022. She co-sponsored a challenge gift in memory of late professor Tom Christenbery, MSN'87, PhD'04, during Vanderbilt Giving Day in April, and received the VUSN Ingeborg Mauksch Excellence in Faculty Mentoring Award in May. Betsy co-authored "Utilization of Phone Simulations to Assess Competency within Nursing Education," published in the July issue of  Nurse Educator, and "Advancing Faculty Diversity in Nursing Education: Strategies for Success," in the September issue of the  Journal of Professional Nursing. That month, she was inducted as a fellow in the National League for Nursing. She is co-author of "Identifying Mental Health Issues Associated with Infertility," published in the November issue of The Journal for Nurse Practitioners. Betsy is co-author of "Goals for Collaborative Management of Obstetric Hemorrhage," published in Obstetrics & Gynecology Clinics in March 2021. She co-presented, "Scholarship in Progress Peer Support: A Faculty Initiative to Promote Best Practices in Publishing and Presenting," at the International Association of Nursing Editors conference in August, and is lead author of "Educational Theory and Cognitive Science: Practical Principles to Improve Patient Education," published in Nursing Clinics in North America in September. She co-authored "Advancing Clinical Scholarship among Non-tenure Track Faculty: A Faculty Scholarship Program," in the November/December issue of the Journal of Professional Nursing. Betsy is co-author of "Development and Pilot Testing of a Multidimensional Learning Environment Survey," published in the April 2020 issue of Nurse Educator, and was promoted to associate dean for nontenure track faculty affairs and advancement at VUSN that September. She co-presented "Speak Up Culture and the Academic Nursing Environment: The Junior Faculty Perspective," at a Sigma International conference in January 2019, and spoke at the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses regional section conference in April. She co-authored "Mentoring Nursing Faculty: An Inclusive Scholarship Support Group," published that September in Nurse Educator. Betsy co-edited  Intrapartum Management Modules, 5^th ed ., the runner-up in the American Journal of Nursing's Book of the Year in 2016 for the maternal-child health category, and received the Ingeborg Mauksch Excellence in Faculty Mentoring Award at VUSN that year.

Sandy Leake, MSN'89, was interviewed by 10News in Knoxville, Tennessee, in October 2021 regarding the pressures COVID-19 places on the health care workforce. She became senior vice president and chief nursing officer of the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville in May 2020.

Nancy Ledbetter, BSN'89, was hired in 2018 as a clinical nurse specialist at Salem Health Cancer Institute in Oregon, managing a new program to identify patients whose family history makes them more inclined to cancer.

Barbara Boone McGinnis, MSN'89, gave a webinar on Medicaid basics in April 2022, and became a certified elder law attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation in 2017. She was named chairperson of the Tennessee Bar Association's elder law section executive committee and president of the Life Care Planning Law Firms Association, both in 2016. Barbara is partner at Elder Law Practice of Timothy L. Takacs in Hendersonville.

Leigh Ann Thompson McInnis, BSN'87, MSN'89, wrote a chapter, "Herbal Supplements for Common Women's Health Issues," for the book, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Part II: Herbal Supplements and Vitamins, published by Elsevier in March 2021.

Kim Kullman Moore, BSN'89, was named manager of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center cardiovascular intensive care unit in Nashville in July 2018.

Roni Abernathy Nylander, BSN'89, MSN'92, was featured on the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's website in its Advanced Practice Provider Spotlight. She is a nurse anesthetist at Monroe Carrell Jr. Children's Hospital (2017). 

Vicki Goins Paty, MSN'89, of Mount Juliet, Tennessee, passed away December 2, 2022.

Laurie Scott Tompkins, BSN'89, MSN'90, joined The Women's Institute for Sexual Health, a division of Urology Associates, in Nashville, as a nurse practitioner, in November 2018.

Deborah Dalhauser Williams, MSN'89, is a women's health nurse practitioner at Hendersonville Obstetrics & Gynecology in Tennessee (2020).