Class Notes 2010-2019

Molly Bachtel, DNP'10, is featured in a podcast, "Healthcare and Nursing in Georgia amid the COVID-19 Pandemic," hosted by The Nurse Practitioner (2022) .

Josephine Bahn, MSN'10, is an acute care nurse practitioner at Meharry Medical Group in Nashville, where she specializes in digestive health (2020).

Marcia Spear Barnes, MSN'99, DNP'10, spoke about wound care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in May 2017, and published "Leadership and Emotional Intelligence: Does It Matter?" in Plastic Surgical Nursing, an electronic journal of American Society of Plastic Surgical Nurses in 2015. She edited the book, Skin Grafts: Indications, Applications and Current Research, published by IntechOpen in 2011. She is director of governmental affairs for the Tennessee Nurses Association Board of Directors.

Jeaninne Blackwell, MSN'10, MTS'11, was named head of psychiatric evaluation and medication management services at Chesapeake Mental Health Collaborative in Towson, Maryland, in 2021. She had been a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Child & Family Services in New Bedford, Fall River and Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Christine Taherian Cahill, MSN'10, joined VUSN as a simulation lab nurse in January 2018. 

Cynthia Heilpern Cameron, BS'03, MSN'10, received the Alumni Association President's Award of Distinction presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October 2016. She is a nurse practitioner at Dermatologic Surgery Center of Washington in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Jane Case, DNP'10, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022. She is one of two providers who earned a perfect score. She received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021.

Rachel Christian, MSN'10, is an instructor of surgery-gastrointestinal tumor/endocrinology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora (2016).

Katie Cole, MSN'10, co-authored "Dedicated, Proactive, Nurse Practitioner Rapid Response Team Eliminating Barriers," published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in September 2019.

Anna Elise Cottle, MSN'10, joined Mercy Clinic Gastroenterology in Oklahoma City in 2015 as a nurse practitioner.

Marlee Crankshaw, MSN'01, DNP'10, was interviewed for the Academy of Neonatal Nursing ANNTalks podcast, "Leadership: Workforce Engagement," recorded in July 2021, and was a panelist for "Compassion Fatigue during COVID-19: How Nurses and NPs Can Stay Grounded," in November 2020, the first VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She co-presented posters, "Implementing the Couplet Care Model When Not Every Baby is a 'Well Baby'" and "Neonatal Staff Engagement Strategies," at the 2019 Vanderbilt University Medical Center Nursing Research Day, and received the Alumni Award for Clinical Achievement in Nursing presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony that October. Marlee is administrative director of the neonatal intensive care unit at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital.

Kelly Davis, MSN'10, PhD'21, is lead author of "Postoperative Opioid Administration and Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms in Preschool Children after Cardiac Surgery," published in the November issue of the Journal of Pediatric Nursing. She completed her PhD in nursing at Vanderbilt University in May 2021. Her dissertation is "Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms in Preschool Children following Cardiac Surgery." Kelly received the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Jerita Payne (MSN'90, MMHC'13) Advanced Practice Nurse of the Year Award in May 2018, and presented at the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant Critical Care Bootcamp at VUMC that August. 

Heidi Dennis, MSN'10, co-presented "Look at Pediatric Sexual Assault Exam Findings and Their Significance within the 2018 Adams Classification Scale," in September 2019 at the International Conference on Forensic Nursing Science and Practice.

Jie Deng, PhD'10, is lead author of "Validity Testing of the Head and Neck Lymphedema and Fibrosis Symptom Inventory," published in Lymphatic Research and Biology in April 2022, and of "Conducting a Supportive Oncology Clinical Trial during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Strategies," published in Trials in November. She co-authored "Advanced Pneumatic Compression for Treatment of Lymphedema of the Head and Neck: A Randomized Wait-list Controlled Trial," published in Supportive Care in Cancer in May 2020, and "Lymphedema Symptom Intensity and Distress Surveys—Truncal and Head and Neck, Version 2.0," published in Lymphatic Research and Biology in November. She co-authored "Chronic Systemic Symptoms in Head and Neck Cancer Patients," and "Late Soft Tissue Complications of Head and Neck Cancer Therapy: Lymphedema and Fibrosis," both published in the August 2019 issue of JNCI Monographs. That month, she co-authored "A Comparison of Symptoms among Patients with Head and Neck or Truncal Lymphedema and Normal Controls," published in Lymphatic Research and Biology. In 2017, Jie received the VUSN Dean's Award for Faculty Achievement in Research Endeavors, and co-authored "Pain Management," published in Critical Care Nursing Clinics. She was named a 2016 American Academy of Nursing fellow and awarded a research scholar grant by the American Cancer Society to develop and test a self-care program for cancer survivors diagnosed with secondary lymphedema and fibrosis. Jie is an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in Philadelphia.

Gary Dodd, MSN'10, authored opinion pieces "Before Solving Opioid Crisis, We Must Empathize with Suffering Americans," published in the Tennessean in March 2022, "What Christians Can Do in Response to the Opioid Crisis," in The Christian Chronicle in June, "What You Don't Know about Fentanyl Can Kill You," in the Tennessean in May, and "Good Exists in Nashville," published on the Alive Hospice website in November 2022. He wrote, "The Practice of Giving Thanks Can Benefit Our Overall Well-being," published by the Tennessean in December 2021. Gary wrote an opinion piece that was published by the Tennessean in April 2020 about community involvement to diminish COVID-19, and was a guest columnist for the Tennessean that July, writing the op-ed, "How to Unite a Divided Country during a Time of Unrest." Gary's opinion pieces have also appeared in ehospice, Forbes Magazine and other media. He specializes in opioid recovery at Cedar Recovery in Middle Tennessee.

Carrie Harland Donnell, BA'05, MSN'10, co-authored "Building a Safe and Healthy America: Eliminating Corporal Punishment via Positive Parenting," published in the March/April 2020 issue of the Journal of Pediatric Health, and "Child Abuse Response Simulation for Advanced Practice Nursing Students," published in the July/August issue of Clinical Nurse Specialist. She co-presented "Child Abuse and Neglect," in May 2018 during Vanderbilt University Medical Center's annual Aprilfest, and presented about child abuse and neglect during VUMC clinical grand rounds in May 2016.  

Stuart Downs, MSN'10, DNP'13, was inducted as a fellow by the American Academy of Nursing in October 2022, and was honored with Atlanta's Executive Nursing Leadership Excellence Award in 2018. He is chief operating officer and vice president of WellStar Atlanta Medical Center.

Lauren Eppinger, MSN'10, is a pediatric nurse practitioner and lactation consultant at Academy Children's Clinic in Nashville (2020).

Patricia Estes, MSN'10, was named University of Kentucky Healthcare's first assistant chief nurse executive for informatics in late 2020, overseeing enterprise health information management, regulation and patient safety in health information technology.

Linda Fisher, PhD'10, is director of education and training and program manager of WMSNi at BIF Technologies. She lives in Gig Harbor, Washington (2018). 

Jennifer Young Fitzsimmons, BE'07, MSN'10, co-authored "Dedicated, Proactive, Nurse Practitioner Rapid Response Team Eliminating Barriers," published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in September 2019.

Sarah Flanigen, MSN'10, is a nurse practitioner at Tidewater Orthopaedic Associates in Hampton, Virginia (2020).

Soraya Fletcher, DNP'10, was on The Bachelor Season 20 and The Bachelorette Season 12 as her daughter, JoJo, competed (2016).

Tara Fox, MSN'10, is a nurse practitioner at TRF Pediatric Health in Indianapolis (2020).

Sara Morris Garner, MSN'10, is a nurse practitioner and certified aesthetic nurse specialist at DeLozier Cosmetic Surgery Center in Nashville. She got married in October 2014.   

Melissa Armstrong Glassford, MSN'10, co-authored "Assessment and Treatment of Dizziness and Vertigo," published in The Nurse Practitioner in October 2019. She was featured by the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching in April 2016 on its website, as a junior faculty teaching fellow.  

Tiffany Gwartney, MSN'10, DNP'15, is an assistant professor at the University of South Florida College of Nursing in Tampa (2016).

Katy Hansen, MSN'10, PhD'22, coauthored "Career Building for the New Professional Nurse," published in the May 2022 issue of Tennessee Nurse, and successfully defended her dissertation at Vanderbilt titled, "Factors Associated with the Use of Complementary and Integrative Healthcare by Patients with Chronic Pain," in November. She is co-author of "Preference for Telehealth Sustained over Three Months at an Outpatient Center for Integrative Medicine," published in January 2021 in Global Advances in Health and Medicine, and lead author of "A Call to Action: Adoption of Trauma Informed Care in Complementary and Integrative Health Services," in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in February. She led a class at the Vanderbilt Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, "Living Well with Chronic Pain: Skills and Practices," in May, and received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in October. Katy was featured in the March 2020 issue of VUMC Voice in a first-person account of using telehealth during the COVID-19 crisis, and was highlighted in the Osher Center summer 2016 newsletter. Katy is a nurse practitioner at the Osher Center.

Shelton Lacy Harrell, MSN'10, is co-author of "Optimization of Patient Scheduling in a Hematology Outpatient Setting," published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in November/December 2021, and was featured in the podcast, "Episode 20: What Happens When Your Work Spouse Leaves," hosted by the Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology in June 2020.

Elaine Harwood, DNP'10, is an assistant professor of nursing at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, North Carolina (2021).

Michele Hasselblad, MSN'10, is co-author of "Using a Learning Health Care System to Advance Nursing and Patient Care," published in Nurse Leader in November 2022. She is one of eight participants to receive the first postdoctoral fellowship from the Helene Fuld Health Trust National Institute for Evidence-based Practice in Nursing and Healthcare at Ohio State University in August 2021. She served as panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's annual MSN Know Your Value in January 2020 and co-authored "The Disruptive BEhavior ManageMEnt ANd Prevention in Hospitalized Patients Using a BehaviORal Intervention Team (DEMEANOR) Study Protocol: A Pragmatic, Cluster, Crossover Trial," published in Trials in May. Michele became vice president of ambulatory nursing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in May 2019.

Crystal Hawkins, MSN'10, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021.

Debbie Hawkins, MSN'10, received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in October 2021.

Nicola Hart Hempel , MSN'10, is an acute care nurse practitioner at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston (2016).

Lana Hirsch, MSN'10, is a women's health nurse practitioner at Neighborhood Health in Nashville (2020).

Sharon Holley, DNP'10, presented, "Slossfield Health Center: A Historical Lesson on Improving Social Determinants of Health Using Community Based Care," at the American College of Nurse-Midwives conference in May 2022, and was inducted as a fellow by the American Academy of Nursing in October. She co-authored "Providing Evidenced-Based Care during the Golden Hour," in December 2017, which was published by – and made the cover of – Nursing for Women's Health. In 2016, Sharon was named fellow by the American College of Nurse-Midwives and received the March of Dimes Tennessee Chapter Nurse Administrator of the Year Award. That year, she earned the VUSN Dean's Award for Recognition of Faculty Achievement in Clinical Practice as well as the Sara K. Archer Excellence in Teaching Award from students in the Nurse-Midwifery specialty. Sharon is chief of the Baystate Health's midwifery division and an associate editor of Advances in Family Practice Nursing. She is the first advanced practitioner to have been given a faculty appointment in the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, where she is a clinical associate professor.

Hope Kieft, MSN'10, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at PATHS Community Medical Center in Danville, Virginia (2017).

Pamela Finley Kubal, MSN'10, is an acute care nurse practitioner at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida (2017).

Katy McNeill Jackson Lanz, DNP'10, was chosen as one of four people (and the only nurse) to represent the inaugural health care services advisory team for Dollar General. The news was covered by Becker's Hospital Review, Business Wire and Chain Drug Review. She was featured in ehospice in November 2020 for receiving the Alumni Award for National Leadership presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in in October. She is founder and chief executive officer of TopSight LLC, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.and national director of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.

Tiffany Latham, MSN'07, DNP'10, was a panelist for "Supporting Nursing Students of Color: Success Strategies from Academia to Practice," in February 2022, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and served as co-chair of VUSN's Reunion held in October. She is a nurse practitioner at Inova Heart and Vascular Institute in Falls Church, Virginia.

Giles Lippard, MSN'10, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022.

Rene Love, MSN'98, DNP'10, PMC'12, presented at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties conference in April 2022, and was inducted as a fellow by the American Academy of Nursing in October. She was named associate dean for academic affairs—graduate clinical education at the University of Florida College of Nursing in Gainesville, starting in February 2020. She received a grant from the Health Resources and Service Administration in October 2018, funding a partnership between the University of Arizona and MHC Healthcare, to increase the pool of psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner doctor of nursing practice graduates able to assist patients with opioid use disorder. Rene was named a fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners in 2015, and is a member-at-large of NONPF's board of directors.

Georgianna Mayer, PMC'10, joined Cabinet Peaks Medical Center in Libby, Montana, in August 2019 as a hospitalist.

Manola Valverde Vides McCain, MSN'10, co-presented, "Building Bridges across Practice Sites: Improving Interprofessional Communication and Client Satisfaction with Birth Center to Hospital Transfers," at the American College of Nurse-Midwives conference in May 2022, and co-authored "Strengthening Interprofessional Collaboration to Improve Transfers between a Freestanding Birth Center and an Academic Medical Center," published in the November issue of the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health. She was interviewed for the website of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, in April 2021 about her career as a certified nurse-midwife. She is a CNM at West End Women's Health Center in Nashville.

Melinda LaLonde McCusker, MSN'10, completed her PhD at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston in 2016. 

Joel Bryan McPherson , MSN'10, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at the Alvin C. York campus of the U.S. Veterans Affairs Tennessee Valley Healthcare System in Murfreesboro (2016).

Gerald Meredith, MSN'01, DNP'10, was elected by colleagues to a three-year term as an at-large member of the U.S. Veterans Administration Medical Executive Board. He is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner with the VA in East Tennessee.

Laura Millener, MSN'10, is a family nurse practitioner at One Medical in Walnut Creek, California (2020).

Anne Rochford Morris, MSN'10, is a nurse practitioner at Wake Forest Baptist Health's Diabetes and Endocrinology Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (2020).

Angela Morris-Manning, MSN'10, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force. She is serving in Texas while pursuing a doctorate degree (2017).

Lauren Moss, MSN'10, received the Tennessee Rising Star Nurse Leader Award from the Tennessee Nurses Association, Tennessee Hospital Association and Tennessee Action Coalition in April 2022, and was honored in May as one of 50 outstanding graduates of Belmont University School of Nursing in Nashville, where she is an assistant professor.

Christy Cleveland Noblit, BA'07, MSN'10, was mentioned in a story in VUMC Voice for helping a patient in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center COVID unit arrange to be married days before he succumbed to the virus, and was interviewed by the Nashville Scene in December 2020 in an article honoring health care workers as Nashvillians of the Year. She is a nurse practitioner in the medical intensive care center at VUMC.

Alane O'Connor, DNP'10, received the Alumni Award for Innovation in Health Care, presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October 2021. She was named in January 2017 to the board of MaineGeneral Health in Augusta, where she is director of perinatal addiction treatment in Portland. She is also a Maine-Dartmouth family medicine residency faculty member.

Kelly Odum, MSN'10, is a nurse practitioner at TriStar Medical Group's Spring Hill Physicians in Tennessee (2020).

Lauren Palmore, MSN'10, is a family nurse practitioner and certified Botox injector at Crossroads Medical Group offices in Middle Tennessee (2020).

Anika Phillips, MSN'10, is a family nurse practitioner and certified nurse-midwife at Lakeview Birth & Women's Center in Stillwater, Minnesota (2020).

Jaime Pickering, MSN'10, is a certified nurse-midwife at Carolina Women's Specialists in Sumter, South Carolina (2017).

Elizabeth Pratt, DNP'10, is director of clinical effectiveness at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in Saint Louis, Missouri, where she, among other things, provides leadership and strategic direction toward best practices in improved clinical processes (2022).

Teresa Richardson, MSN'04, DNP'10, is a clinical professor and director of the executive leadership program at the University of Memphis Loewenberg College of Nursing in Tennessee (2022).

Anna Richmond, MSN'10, co-presented, "Maximizing the OSCE Simulation Experience: Evaluation of Oral Presentations, Clinical Reasoning and Documentation Skills of Family Nurse Practitioner Students," and "Strategies to Adapting a Pediatric Abuse Simulation from the Face-to-face to the Virtual Environment for Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Specialties," at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties conference in April 2022. She is the author of "Pediatric Patient with Heliotrope Rash and Proximal Muscle Weakness," published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in June. Anna co-presented, "Improving Outcomes for Patients with Axial Spondyloarthritis in Primary Care," at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference in July, where she presented, "Update on JIA for the Primary Care Provider." She is lead author of "Adaptation to Virtual Format of an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Pediatric Physical Abuse Simulation," published in the November issue of The Journal for Nurse Practitioners. Anna co-presented a poster, "Utilization of a Child Abuse Simulation in Hybrid Pediatric and Adolescent Primary Care Course," at the National League for Nursing Summit in September 2021, and is lead author of "Update on Guidelines for Sexually Transmitted Infection Treatment and Management in the Adult and Adolescent Population," published in Nursing Clinics in September 2020. She was featured on the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching website in May 2019 for her part in developing an innovative Pediatric Simulation Day at VUSN. Anna was interviewed in 2018 for a Nurse Educator video about the Vanderbilt CFT's Nursing Junior Faculty Teaching Fellowship and was highlighted as a fellow in the Center's newsletter. Anna is an assistant professor at VUSN.

Michelle Ruslavage, MSN'10, DNP'13, was the moderator for "The American Indian Health Care Delivery System: How and Why it Works," in June 2021, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and a panelist for "Loan Repayment Programs: What Are They and How Do They Work?" hosted by the VUSN Alumni Board Mentoring Committee in July. She received the Alma Gault Award for Public Service presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October 2020, and was deployed earlier in the year to operationalize and perform COVID-19 screenings in Massachusetts at the Boston Logan International Airport quarantine station. Michelle is a captain in the U.S. Public Health Service, a public health analyst with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and an instructor at VUSN.

Blake Salmony IV, MSN'10, joined the VUSN PreSpecialty faculty in June 2021 and is an assistant in medicine in the Vanderbilt Eskind Endocrine Department.

Aaron Scott, MSN'10, was named VUSN Family Nurse Practitioner Preceptor of the Year in August 2022, and received the March of Dimes Tennessee Chapter 2018 Nurse of the Year Award for advanced practice. He successfully defended his doctor of nursing practice project at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and graduated in December 2016.

Patty Sengstack, DNP'10, co-authored "Guidelines for U.S. Hospitals and Clinicians on Assessment of Electronic Health Record Safety Using SAFER Guides," published in JAMA in February 2022, and presented "Lessons Learned during Early SAFER Guide Assessments," at the American Medical Informatics Association event in March. She is cited in the article, "Preparing for the Future: Establishing a National Consensus on Nursing Crisis Documentation," published in Computers, Informatics, Nursing, and contributed to the book, Nursing and Informatics for the 21st Century—Embracing a Digital World, Book 2: Nursing Education and Digital Health Strategies, published by CRC Press, both in April. She presented, "Enabling the Value of Chief Nursing Informatics Officers in Realizing the Impact of Digital Health Leadership on Care Delivery: Best Practices and Opportunities for Healthcare Organizations," and "Lessons Learned during Early SAFER Guide Assessments," at the AMIA Clinical Informatics conference in May. Patty was chair of the Vanderbilt Informatics Summer Teaching Academy in July and became director of the VUSN Nursing Informatics specialty in August. That month, she received the Sara K. Archer Award from VUSN NI students. She co-authored "Do Electronic Health Record Systems 'Dumb Down' Clinicians?" published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association in September, and presented, "Technology Will Resolve the Nursing Workforce Shortage Within 5 Years," at the AMIA conference in November. Patty is co-author of "Contribution of Free-text Comments to the Burden of Documentation: Assessment and Analysis of Vital Sign Comments in Flowsheets," published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research in March 2021, and was moderator for "What a Nurse Can Do: The Surprisingly Broad Range of Expertise among Nurses/Nurse Practitioners," in May, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She was promoted to professor at VUSN in June and inducted as a fellow in the American College of Medical Informatics at its annual symposium in October. Patty was named senior associate dean for informatics at VUSN in January 2020, news of which appeared in the Nashville Post. She answered questions about informatics as guest editor of It Takes A Nurse for one week in February, and was interviewed in April by the American Nursing Informatics Association president about how Vanderbilt University Medical Center is reducing electronic health record documentation during the COVID-19 pandemic, setting an example for hospitals and healthcare systems. In May, Patty was interviewed by HealthTech about how advances in technology affect nursing education. She is lead author of "The Six Domains of Burden: A Conceptual Framework to Address the Burden of Documentation in the Electronic Health Record," an official position paper of the ANIA Board of Directors, published in June. Patty co-authored "An Evaluation of System End-user Support during Implementation of an Electronic Health Record Using the Model for Improvement Framework," published in Applied Clinical Informatics in 2019, and co-presented at the American Organization of Nurse Executives annual conference that April. She presented "Can We Stop the Perpetual Growth and Complexity of the EHR and Give Nurses Time Back with Their Patients?" at University of Maryland School of Nursing's Summer Institute in Nursing Informatics in July, and was interviewed by HealthTech in October for an article suggesting organizations confer with nurses before purchasing technology. Patty presented "The Burden of Clinician Documentation in the Electronic Health Record Era," in April 2018 at VUMC, was selected by VUSN students to receive the Dean Colleen Conway-Welch Award for doctor of nursing practice faculty in August, and became director of the nursing informatics program in December. She presented "Improving CAUTI Rates and Prioritizing EHR Enhancements," at VUMC in June 2017, and was named a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 2016. Patty co-authored Mastering Informatics: Companion CNE Course, published by Sigma Theta Tau International in 2015. She is nursing informatics executive at VUMC.

Tony Smith, DNP'10, shared a Children's Emergency Care Alliance EMS Star of Life Award in June 2021 for saving the life of a baby as a Vanderbilt flight nurse. He is also a provider at IRevive Health & Wellness in Nashville.

Missi Willmarth Stec, MSN'05, DNP'10, joined Wilson Health in Sidney, Ohio, in June 2021 as a certified nurse-midwife, and, in September, became a professor at Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta. In 2017, she was named a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. Missi is chair of the American College of Nurse-Midwives division of education.

Julia Martin Steed, MSN'10, PhD'18, co-moderated the panel, "COVID Perspectives, Values and Vaccination Hesitancy," presented by the VUSN Diversity and Inclusion Committee in January 2022. In April, she received the Tennessee Rising Star Nurse Leader Award from the Tennessee Nurses Association, Tennessee Hospital Association and Tennessee Action Coalition, and was lead presenter of, "Advocacy among Underrepresented Faculty Group Leverages Advances in Nursing Workforce Diversity at a Predominantly White Institution," at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties conference. She received the VUSN Dean's Award for Faculty Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion in May. Julia is co-recipient of a Vanderbilt University Sesquicentennial Grant for "Project SHARE: Sharing Strategies for Academic Faculty and Student Recruitment," in fall 2022. She was elected to TNA's Nominating Committee in November for 2023 and 2024. Julia is co-author of "Creating Collaborative Relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities: An Approach to Diversifying the Nursing Workforce," published in Nurse Educator in April 2021, and lead author of "Smoking and Maternal Health: Evidence that Female Infertility Can Be Attributed to Smoking and Improved with Smoking Cessation," published in May in Advances in Family Practice Nursing. She was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN and is one of eighteen Vanderbilt University faculty members named a Junior Faculty Teaching Fellow, both in June. Julia co-authored "A Summer Professional Immersion in Nursing Program for Underrepresented Minority Undergraduate Students," published in the Journal of Nursing Education in October 2020, and welcomed a baby in September 2019. She was interviewed by VUMC Reporter in July 2018 for an article about VUSN hosting undergraduate students from Fisk and Vanderbilt universities and the Undergraduate Health Sciences Academy at Morehouse School of Medicine. The programs expose them to nursing as a career choice.

Clare Storck, MSN'10, was featured in Scout Somerville magazine in August 2017. She is a certified nurse-midwife at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Niki Summers, MSN'10, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021. She is an assistant in medicine specializing in nephrology in Cordova, Tennessee.

Andrea Taylor, MSN'10, DNP'19, is lead author of "Increasing Human Papillomavirus Immunization in the Primary Care Setting," published in The Nurse Practitioner in October 2021.

Lindsay Piper Tedder, MSN'10, was appointed as a member of the advanced practice provider committee of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology. She is a gynecologic oncology nurse practitioner at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida (2020).

Zhijian Wang, MSN'10, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022.

Cassandra Wesnofske, BS'09, MSN'10, is a nurse practitioner at Saint Petersburg Pediatrics in Florida (2020).

Kathryn Nordfors White, MSN'10, is an assistant in medicine specializing in hematology and oncology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville (2020).

Jen Wiles, MSN'10, was interviewed about her career path in the blog OnlineFNPPrograms.com (2017). 

Sarah Wilkerson, MSN'10, was nominated in May 2022 for a Vanderbilt University Medical Center award named in memory of the late Jerita Payne, MSN'90, MMHC'13. She co-authored "Medication Order Errors at Hospital Admission among Children with Medical Complexity," published in May 2020 in the Journal of Patient Safety. She is a nurse practitioner at Vanderbilt Pediatric Complex Care.

Janye Wilson, MSN'10, is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Memphis Loewenberg College of Nursing in Tennessee (2020).

Sherry Wright, MSN'10, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021.

Cara Calloway Young, MSN'06, PhD'10, received the Colleen Conway-Welch Alumni Award for National Leadership presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October 2022. She was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nursing in October 2021, and co-authored "A Systematic Scoping Review of Psychological Capital Related to Mental Health in Youth," published in December in The Journal of School Nursing . She was inducted as a fellow of the American Association of Nursing Practitioners in June 2019, and received the Rising Star award from the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties in April 2018. Cara is an assistant professor at University of Texas Austin School of Nursing and on the editorial review board for The Journal of Nursing Education and Practice.

Casey Albritton, MSN'11, is an acute care nurse practitioner in the bone marrow transplant unit at the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver (2016).

Kim Allen, MSN'11, presented a poster at the International Pediatric Simulation Symposia and Workshops conference in Glasgow, Scotland, in May 2016. She is a pediatric critical care nurse practitioner at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Debra Arnow, MSN'96, DNP'11, was named director of VUSN's Nursing and Health Care Leadership specialty, effective in January 2021, and elected treasurer of the board of directors for the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board, 2020-23. She is associate professor at VUSN and had been senior vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer of Children's Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

Tiffany Atkinson, MSN'11, is the executive director of Freedom's Promise, a non-profit organization fighting human trafficking in Cambodia (2019).

Lisa DeLille Bolton, MSN'11, is a care management nurse practitioner at Nashville General Hospital's outpatient clinics (2021).

Stephanie Hunt Boyd, MSN'11, DNP'15, was named among the About Stark Twenty Under 40 list in June 2018, and received the Northeast Ohio Organization for Nurse Executives 2015 Aspiring Nurse Leader Award.  

Carol Callaway-Lane, MSN'93, DNP'11, is co-author of "Operationalising Outpatient Antimicrobial Stewardship to Reduce System-wide Antibiotics for Acute Bronchitis," published in BMJ Open Quality in September 2021. She co-authored "P2.11-33 Organizational Readiness for Implementation of Lung Cancer Screening in a Veterans Affairs Healthcare System," published in Journal of Thoracic Oncology in October 2019.

Heather Campbell, MSN'11, is assistant director of nursing workforce at the Vanderbilt Adult Hospital (2021).

Carrie Carretta, PhD'11, was named senior vice president of clinical development and medical affairs at NRx Pharmaceuticals in December 2022. The company is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware.

Elizabeth Cooper, MSN'07, DNP'11, is an associate professor at the Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. She was named dean of the Aquinas College School of Nursing in Nashville in 2016. 

Cara Costner, MSN'11, is a clinical nurse in the office of Brian Biesman, MD, in Nashville (2020).

Amy Small Culbertson, MSN'98, DNP'11, presented "Treatment Resistant and Depressive Disorder," at the American Association of Nursing Practitioners conference in June 2019. She is assistant professor at Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies in Washington, D.C.

Deborah Currey, DNP'11, became a medical acupuncturist and a battlefield acupuncture instructor through the U.S. Army. She moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, to work for the Veterans Health Administration as a pain management nurse practitioner at the William V. Chappell, Jr. Outpatient Clinic. She introduced medical acupuncture to the Orlando VA system, traveling throughout the region and credentialing providers in battlefield acupuncture as a means of helping veterans transition from high dose opioids (2018). 

Erin DeBruyn, MSN'11, is co-author of "Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause: Screening and Treatment," published in May 2021 in Advances in Family Practice Nursing.

Allie Hush Deckard, MSN'11, is a pediatric nurse practitioner in the Division of Developmental Medicine at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt (2021).

April Fortenberry, MSN'11, completed the first year as a fellow in the Duke-Johnson & Johnson Nurse Leadership Program in 2019, where she participated in intensive leadership retreats and distance-based learning activities, executive coaching and a leadership project. She served as president of the Georgia chapter of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.

Greta Fowinkle, MSN'94, DNP'11, is co-leading a population health course for bachelor of nursing science-level registered nurses at the Medical University of South Carolina College of Nursing in Charleston, where she is director of case management/care transitions (2016).

Jeannie Booher Giese, MSN'95, DNP'11, was honored in May 2022 as one of 50 outstanding graduates of Belmont University School of Nursing in Nashville, where she is an associate professor.

Mark Graves, MSN'11, is a nurse practitioner at Rainy Lake Medical Center in International Falls, Minnesota, where his scope of practice is primary, emergency and inpatient care for a remote and rural critical access hospital (2018).

Candace Harrington, DNP'11, was inducted as a fellow by the American Academy of Nursing in October 2022. She was chosen in November 2018 by the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence to be a member of its inaugural Distinguished Educator Class. 

Lauren Gingles Harrison, MSN'11, PMC'12, was honored in May 2022 as one of 50 outstanding graduates of Belmont University School of Nursing in Nashville. She is a nurse practitioner at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's' Hospital at Vanderbilt.

Jane Miller Hearnsberger, BS'10, MSN'11, was interviewed by My Southern Health for, "Going Back to School Can Literally Be a Headache," published in August 2022. She received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in October 2021, and was interviewed by My Southern Health in July 2019 for a story about children's headaches triggered when they return to school after summer break.

Abigail Hillard, MSN'11, is a clinical nurse annotator in the Center for Improving the Public's Health Through Informatics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (2020).

Michelle Irwin, MSN'11, is assistant in medicine at Piedmont Atlanta Hospital, specializing in pulmonary and critical care medicine (2020).

Cathy Ivory, PhD'11, is co-author of "Encouraging and Facilitating Research Opportunities for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses," published in The Journal of Nursing Administration in May 2022, "Using a Learning Health Care System to Advance Nursing and Patient Care," published in Nurse Leader in November, and "Impact of COVID-19 on New Graduate Nurses' Transition to Practice: Loss or Gain?" published in the July/August 2021 Nurse Educator. She was named to the National Advisory Council for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in November, and was interviewed on the Healthcare's Missing Logic podcast, Episode 29: "The Tension between Technology and Practice: Where We Started, Where We are Now and What's at Risk without Both/And Choices." Cathy presented at the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses regional section conference in Nashville in April 2019, and was named senior director of nursing research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in October. She was honored by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society-Alliance for Nursing Informatics with the Nursing Informatics Leadership Award in March 2018. Cathy was named a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in October 2017.

Nneka Jon-Ubabuco, BS'08, MSN'11, was a panelist for "SANE: Improving Outcomes for Survivors of Sexual Assault (Part 2)," in April 2022, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She is a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Well Minds, Healthy Living and at Mood Health, both in the Dallas-area, and founder of Blended Corners.

Erin Keckley, MSN'11, is director of health services at Lipscomb University in Nashville (2020).

Kasey Kohring, MSN'11, joined CHI Memorial Women's Health Associates in Chattanooga, Tennessee, as a women's health nurse practitioner, in September 2021.

Charmaine Jackson Krupka, MSN'11, is a nurse practitioner at Saint Thomas Medical Partners' Holy Family Health Center in Nashville (2020).

Kim Kuebler, DNP'11, was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nursing in October 2020. She received the American Journal of Nursing's Textbook of the Year Award for 2017 for Integration of Palliative Care in the Management of Chronic Conditions: An Interdisciplinary Approach, published by the Oncology Nursing Society. That year, she wrote "U.S. Health Policy and Practice: The DNP and Patients with Multiple Chronic Conditions," published in the Journal of Doctoral Practice Nursing, and "Health Policy and Clinical Practice in the New Era of Quality," published in the Journal for Nurse Practitioners. Kim is founder and director of the Multiple Chronic Conditions Resource Center.

Mary Lambert, DNP'11, presented "Experiences and Lessons Learned from a U.S. Army Nurse Who Has Served City Government to the White House" in February 2022, hosted by the VUSN Military/Veterans Student Nurses Affinity Group for Diversity Month. She was appointed director of community health for the City of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in April 2021, news of which was covered by Chattanooga Times Free Press, The Pulse and WRCB-TV, among other outlets. She was one of the speakers at a press conference hosted by the city in July 2021, announcing a Health and Human Services grant for COVID-19 mitigation. Mary is an associate professor at VUSN and adjunct faculty member at Kentucky State University in Frankfort.

Susie Leming-Lee, MSN'90, DNP'11, was elected to the Tennessee Nurses Association's Nominating Committee in November for 2023-2024. She was promoted to associate professor at VUSN in June 2021 and co-authored "Implementing Screening for Social Determinants of Health Using the Core 5 Screening Tool," published in BMJ Open Quality in September. She received VUSN's DAISY Award for Small Group Facilitator at the DNP Level in June 2020. Susie was guest co-editor for the March 2019 issue of Nursing Clinics, in which she was also published. In 2018, she received the VUSN Tradition Meets Innovation Award for Faculty and the March of Dimes Tennessee Chapter Quality and Risk Management Nurse of the Year Award. Susie accepted the VUSN Tradition Meets Innovation Award for Faculty and the Dean Colleen Conway-Welch Award from Doctor of Nursing Practice students, both in 2016.

Natasha McClure, MSN'11, is co-author of "Nurse Practitioner Transition to Practice: Recommendations and Strategies for Designing and Implementing a Nurse Practitioner Fellowship," published in the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development in January 2022. She co-presented, "Strategies to Adapting a Pediatric Abuse Simulation from the Face-to-face to the Virtual Environment for Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Specialties," at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties conference in April, and received the VUSN DAISY Award for Small Group Facilitator at the DNP Level in May. She co-authored "Exploration of Vaccination Attitudes among Parents and Caregivers in a Rural Appalachian Health Clinic," published in the Journal of Appalachian Health in July and " Adaptation to Virtual Format of an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Pediatric Physical Abuse Simulation," in the November issue of The Journal for Nurse Practitioners. Natasha is co-author of "Utilizing Academic-community Partnerships with Nursing Students to Improve Hand Hygiene in Elementary Students to Reduce Transmission of COVID-19," published by NASN School Nurse in January 2021, and "Interactive, Case-based Teaching Design Strategies for Nurse Practitioner Students," in June in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners. That month, she was promoted to associate professor at VUSN. Natasha received funding from the VUSN Faculty Scholarship Program for "Exploring Measurements of Competencies and Outcomes among Accredited NP Fellowships," in April 2020. She was featured in MyVU in July for her role as a resident life head of house at Vanderbilt University, and is lead author of "Child Abuse Response Simulation for Advanced Practice Nursing Students," published in the July/August issue of Clinical Nurse Specialist. That month, Natasha co-authored "Supporting Student Success: A Meaningful and Efficient Teaching Strategy to Document Practice Hours," in Nurse Educator and is in a video, "Strategies and Activities to Promote Inclusive Patient Interactions," in the same issue. In September, she was interviewed in a video made by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation regarding its Air Quality Flag Program. She is lead author of "Evaluation of Two Academic Practice Partnerships for Chronic Disease Management in Nursing Education," published in November in Public Health Nursing. Natasha co-wrote "Leveraging School Nurse Expertise to Meet Children's Health and Nutrition Needs in Afterschool Programs," published in NASN School Nurse in September 2019, and "Using Academic Community Partnerships to Improve Asthma Care in Elementary Schools with Limited School Nurse Services," in the Journal of School Health in December. She received funding from the Environmental Protection Agency for the Tennessee Asthma Coalition project "School Air Quality and Asthma Evidence-based Interventions" that month. Natasha was featured by the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching in its January 2018 Junior Teaching Spotlight and was appointed that April to serve as a faculty head at the Martha Rivers Ingram Commons on the Peabody campus. In 2017, she received the VUSN Tradition Meets Innovation Award for Faculty. She received the March of Dimes Tennessee Chapter Education Nurse of the Year award in December 2016, and successfully defended her doctor of nursing practice project on asthma care in schools, at Chicago's Rush University that year. 

Jocelyn Stauffer McGuire, MSN'11, is a nurse practitioner at Middle Tennessee Neurology Associates in Hermitage, caring for adult and adolescent patients with stroke, seizures, dementia, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, headache/migraine, neuropathy and other related issues (2017).

Kate McReynolds, MSN'11, was featured on the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's website in its Advanced Practice Provider Spotlight. She is a nurse practitioner at the Vanderbilt Hereditary Cancer Clinic (2017). 

Megan Merrigan, MSN'11, is a nurse practitioner specializing in urology at Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock (2021).

Susan Mogan, MSN'11, of Nashville, passed away January 9, 2020.

Elizabeth Morse, MSN'11, DNP'14, is on faculty at Belmont University School of Nursing and a nurse practitioner at East Nashville Family Medicine (2017).

Meredith Anne Morgan, MSN'11, got married in October 2015.  

Tara Mudd, MSN'11, was featured in a Norton Healthcare story in 2020 about using Apple Watches to detect irregular heartbeats. She is a nurse practitioner at the Norton Heart and Vascular Institute Atrial Fibrillation Clinic in Louisville, Kentucky.

Emily Williard Nardone, MSN'11, is a family nurse practitioner in Nashville (2017).

Ken Nelson, MSN'11, DNP'13, moderated the VUSN Alumni Board's annual DNP Know Your Value in March 2021 and in April, was a panelist for "Leadership in the Time of Coronavirus: Stories from the Top," part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. He was interviewed in January 2020 by WFRV about the early stages of coronavirus in the United States. He served as moderator for DNP Know Your Value that month, and was interviewed in September by Up North News about the rising number of COVID-19 cases in rural areas of Wisconsin. Ken is chief nursing officer at both HSHS Saint Vincent and Saint Mary's Hospitals in Green Bay.

Heather Whaley O'Dell, BA'09, MSN'11, MMHC'16, presented "Multispecialty Collaboration Benefits: Efforts at Expanding Donor Pools," during Vanderbilt University Medical Center's 2018 Octoberfest and spoke at VUMC Aprilfest in 2016. She is advanced practice manager for abdominal transplant in the Vanderbilt Transplant Center. 

Elizabeth Ogunnaike, MSN'11, DNP'17, was recognized in The World in a January 2018 story about Southern Coos Health Center in Bandon, Oregon, where she is nurse practitioner.

Sarah Osborne, MSN'11, is an advanced practice registered nurse with the Owensboro Health Medical Group in Kentucky (2021).

Shaunna Parker, MSN'11, is co-author of "Creating Collaborative Relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities: An Approach to Diversifying the Nursing Workforce," published in Nurse Educator in April 2021, and "Opioid Use Disorder Screening for Women across the Lifespan," published in Advances in Family Practice Nursing in May. She co-authored "Smoking and Maternal Health: Evidence that Female Infertility Can Be Attributed to Smoking and Improved with Smoking Cessation," in that same issue. Shaunna was moderator for "Building Organizational Resilience in Turbulent Times," in September, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and co-presented, "Opioid Use Disorder Screening across the Women's Health Lifespan," at the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health conference in October. She is co-author of "Generational Learning Preferences," published in American Nurse in December. Shaunna co-authored "Sexual Violence Screening for Women across the Lifespan," published in Advances in Family Practice Nursing in May 2020, and "A Summer Professional Immersion in Nursing Program for Underrepresented Minority Undergraduate Students," published in the Journal of Nursing Education in October. She was interviewed by VUMC Reporter in July 2018 for an article about VUSN hosting undergraduate students from Fisk and Vanderbilt universities and the Undergraduate Health Sciences Academy at Morehouse School of Medicine. The programs expose them to nursing as a career choice. Shaunna participated in a VUSN women's health nurse practitioner alumni panel in August 2017. She is an instructor at VUSN and a member of the VUSN Alumni Board.

Rachel Patso-Crosby, MSN'11, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022.

Mary Lauren Whitehead Pfieffer, MSN'11, is co-author of "Management of Mental Health Disorders in Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus," published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in February 2022. In April, she co-presented, "Maximizing the OSCE Simulation Experience: Evaluation of Oral Presentations, Clinical Reasoning and Documentation Skills of Family Nurse Practitioner Students," and "Strategies to Adapting a Pediatric Abuse Simulation from the Face-to-face to the Virtual Environment for Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Specialties," at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties conference. She is lead author of Recurrent Vulvovaginal Candidiasis: Implications for Practice," published in Advances in Family Practice Nursing in May, and was promoted to associate professor at VUSN in June. She is featured in the podcast, "Consequences of Dietary Sugar Consumption," hosted by The Nurse Practitioner. Mary Lauren co-presented, "Implications for Managing Coinciding Heart Failure and Liver Disease in Primary Care," at the American College of Nurse-Midwives conference in May 2022, and presented a poster, "Managing Coinciding Heart Failure and Liver Disease in Primary Care," at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference in June. In July, she co-presented, "Primary Care Management of Special Populations with Co-occurring Mental Health Disorders and HIV," at the National Nurse Practitioner Symposium. Mary Lauren co-presented a poster, "Diagnostic and Management Considerations for Co-occurring HIV and Mental Health Disorders for Psychiatric-mental Health Nursing Providers," in October at the American Psychiatric Nurses Association conference, and co-authored "Adaptation to Virtual Format of an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Pediatric Physical Abuse Simulation," published in the November issue of The Journal for Nurse Practitioners. Mary Lauren is co-author of "Suicide Detection and Treatment in a Nurse-led, Interprofessional Primary Care Practice: A 2-year Report of Quality Data," published in The Nurse Practitioner in April 2021, and welcomed a baby in September. She wrote "How to Care for Adults with Low Back Pain in the Primary Care Setting," published in Nursing in February 2020, and is co-author of "Update on Guidelines for Sexually Transmitted Infection Treatment and Management in the Adult and Adolescent Population," published in Nursing Clinics in September. Mary Lauren was featured on the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching website in May 2019 for her part in developing an innovative Pediatric Simulation Day at VUSN. That year, she was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN, published "Evaluating and Managing Low Back Pain in Primary Care," in The Nurse Practitioner, and co-authored "Assessment and Treatment of Dizziness and Vertigo," published in The Nurse Practitioner in October. Mary Lauren was featured by the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching in its January 2018 Junior Teaching Spotlight. She received the VUSN Sara K. Archer Excellence in Teaching Award from students in the Family NP specialty that August, and welcomed babies in June 2016 and November 2018. 

Courtney Young Pitts, MSN'09, DNP'11, co-authored "Forty Years of HIV Care: Optimism and Challenges," in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in January 2022 and wrote a guest editorial in the same issue. She was a panelist for "Supporting Nursing Students of Color: Success Strategies from Academia to Practice," in February, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and, in March, was quoted in the Fort Campbell Courier for "Vanderbilt, BACH Open Doors for Nursing Students through Leadership Tour." She co-presented, "Promoting Health Equity in Rural and Underserved Communities," at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties conference in April, and "Unravelling Bias and Building Cultural Sensitivity in Day-to-day Work Culture," at the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved STAR² Center's workforce symposium in May. Courtney co-authored "Building a Culturally Responsive Workforce: Faculty of Color in Nursing Education," published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners that month, and was promoted to professor at VUSN in June. Courtney co-presented, "Pharmacologic Management of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Common Chronic Conditions," at a preconference workshop of the National Nurse Practitioner Symposium in July. Courtney was named a 2021 Rising Star Nurse Leader in February by the Tennessee Action Coalition, Tennessee Nurses Association and Tennessee Hospital Association, and was inducted as a fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners in June. That month, she co-presented, "Bolstering Diversity in the Health Professions Applicants' Pool," at the Academic Units for Primary Care Training and Enhancement Conference. In August, Courtney was appointed for a four-year term to the National Advisory Council for Nursing Education and Practice by the U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, and co-presented, "Connecting with Readers through Diversity, Inclusivity and Equity," at the International Association of Nursing Editors conference. Courtney was interviewed in February 2020 by Diverse Issues in Higher Education about two Health Resources and Services Administration grants received by VUSN to grow the number of nurse practitioners in rural, underserved areas that lack primary care providers. She welcomed a baby in June and edited an e-book, Sexually Transmitted Infections, An Issue of Nursing Clinics, published by Elsevier Health Sciences in August. Courtney co-authored and "Pharmacologic Management of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Common Chronic Conditions," in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in March 2019, and presented "HIV and Primary Care: Clinical Updates for the Nurse Practitioner," and a poster, "Hand Pain during and after Pregnancy," at the AANP conference in June. That October, she co-authored "A Checklist for Faculty and Preceptor to Enhance the Nurse Practitioner Student Clinical Experience," published in Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. She co-authored "Writing a Diversity and Inclusivity Statement: Guidelines for Nursing Programs and Faculty," published in November by Nurse Educator. Courtney welcomed a baby in August 2017.

Leigh Guinn Powers, MSN'04, DNP'11, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Bluewater Behavioral Health in Niceville, Florida (2021).

Jennifer Prager, MSN'11, is an assistant in medicine specializing in endocrinology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (2020).

Angela Quinn, MSN'11, was elected to the American Health Council Nursing Board in 2018. She is owner and provider at Mobile Skin Screening in Phoenix. 

KarlaAnne Rella, MSN'11, joined the medical staff of Penobscot Community Health Care in Bangor, Maine, in July 2015, as a pediatric nurse practitioner.

Malinda Rivas, MSN'11, is an adult nurse practitioner at Murfreesboro Medical Clinic and Surgery Center in Tennessee (2020).

Jayme Rosenberger, MSN'11, is owner and provider at IRevive Health & Wellness in Nashville (2020).

Ben Smallheer, MSN'04, PhD'11, is consulting editor of Burnout in Nursing: Causes, Management and Future Directions, published by Elsevier in March 2022, and he received the Diversity, Inclusivity and Equity in Simulation Leadership Excellence Award from the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning in June. He was invited to join the advisory committee for the King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, College of Nursing—Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in early 2021. He was a panelist for "How the Media and Entertainment Industry Perpetuate Stereotypes of Nursing (and Why That Hurts Everyone)," in May, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and wrote a chapter, "Early Recognition of Preventable Factors Associated with Delirium Saves Lives and Costs," for the book, Best Practices in Nursing: An Issue of Nursing Clinics, published by Elsevier in September. Ben co-sponsored a challenge gift incentive during the 2019 Vanderbilt University Giving Day, and presented "Using the Revised INACSL Standards of Best Practice: Simulation SM," and "Strategies for Effective In-Situ Simulation," at the Saudi Health Simulation Conference, in November. Ben is lead faculty for the adult gerontology nurse practitioner-acute care program and an assistant professor at Duke University School of Nursing in Durham, North Carolina.

Doug Smith, MSN'11, is lead author of "What the American Journal of Critical Care Junior Peer Reviewers Were Reading during Year 2 of the Program," published by the American Journal of Critical Care in September 2022. He is lead author of "Brugada Syndrome: Fatal Consequences of a Must-not-miss Diagnosis," published in Critical Care Nurse in October 2021, and was selected for the American Journal of Critical Care Junior Peer Reviewer program in February 2020. Doug is an instructor at VUSN. 

Mary Rogers Sorey, MSN'11, is an assistant in medicine in the division of nephrology and hypertension at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (2016).

Tricia Stanley, DNP'11, was featured in VUSN professor Bonnie Pilon's blog, Healthcare in the Shadows, in August 2015, for her work as director of clinical operations for Wellness for Life Medical in Crawsfordsville, Indiana. 

Cameron Stephenson, MSN'11, is an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing in Lexington (2022).

Emily Rhea Swett, MSN'11, is a nurse practitioner at Middle Tennessee State University student health services, in Murfreesboro (2018). 

Jannyse Starks Tapp, MSN'09, DNP'11, co-presented, "Promoting Health Equity in Rural and Underserved Communities," at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties conference in April 2022, and presented the poster, "What's the SKINny? A look at Racial Disparities in Pediatric Atopic Dermatitis and Asthma," on behalf of Courtney Young Pitts, MSN'09, DNP'11, Julia Martin Steed, MSN'10, PhD'18, and herself at the National Nurse Practitioner Symposium in July. She was inducted as an inaugural fellow of the National League for Nursing/Walden University Institute for Social Determinants of Health and Social Change Leadership Academy in August. Jannyse welcomed a baby in August 2021 and is co-recipient of the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. Award, presented by VUSN and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, for her work educating students, faculty and staff about the effects of poverty on health. She published "Vaginal Irritation in Prepubertal Girls: Age-Specific Considerations in Primary Care," in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in September 2019, and was featured in November in a WTVF-NewsChannel 5 story about VUSN's poverty simulation, which she co-leads. Jannyse is an assistant professor at VUSN.

Lucy Tucker, MSN'11, completed her doctor of nursing practice at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in December 2018. Her project is "Apneic Oxygenation in the Emergency Department." 

Jordan Vaughan, MSN'11, is an in vitro fertilization nurse practitioner at Nashville Fertility Center and treasurer of the board of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health (2019).

Cindy Waller, MSN'97, PhD'11, was interviewed on Main Street Nashville "Mornings on Main Street" program in December 2021.

Ken Watford, MSN'96, DNP'11, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021.

Nicole Weihrauch, MSN'11, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Children's Minnesota in Minneapolis (2022).

Vanessa Wilson, MSN'11, is manager of population health at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia (2023).

Briana Witherspoon, MSN'11, DNP'13, co-presented "Advanced Practice Fellowship: Supporting Transitions to Practice," at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in May 2018 during Aprilfest, and presented at the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant Critical Care Bootcamp at VUMC that August. 

Katie Wright, MSN'11, presented at the American College of Nurse-Midwives annual meeting in May 2021.

Stephanie Abbu, MSN'12, was appointed a member of the VUSN Alumni Board in September 2022, and was interviewed for the Academy of Neonatal Nursing ANNTalks podcast, "Self Care Isn't Selfish," recorded in October 2021. She co-authored "Empowering Nurses: Creation of a Peer-reviewed Journal as a Catalyst for Innovative Nursing Research and Enhancing Evidence-based Nursing Practice," published in the July/August 2020 issue of The Journal of Nursing Administration. Stephanie co-presented "Creating PICO Questions, Searching and Synthesizing the Literature," and a poster, "Impact of the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic on NICU Length of Stay," at Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Nursing Virtual Research Day in October, and co-presented posters, "Implementing the Couplet Care Model When Not Every Baby is a 'Well Baby'," "Neonatal Staff Engagement Strategies," and "Nurses' Perceptions of Caring for the Substance Exposed Mother-infant Dyad," at that year's VUMC Nursing Research Day, where she presented a poster, "The Impact of NICU Graduate Reunions." She was published in the second issue of The Empowered Nurse: Peer-Reviewed Journal for Innovative VUMC Nursing Research November 2018 and is an editorial board member. Stephanie received the Graduate Student Nurse of the Year Award from the March of Dimes Tennessee Chapter in November 2017, and first place for a poster she co-presented at VUMC's Research Day in November 2016. Stephanie is manager of neonatal services at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.

Chance Allen, MSN'12, was moderator of "The Evolving Role of Nursing in Transgender Care," in March 2021, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and was featured in April on a Positive Sobriety Podcast episode, "Anxiety, Addiction and Recovery." He welcomed a baby in February 2020 and was highlighted in a June 2018 USA Today supplement featuring men in nursing. Chance is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Healing Arts Psychiatry in Nashville and an instructor at VUSN.

Amy Alspaugh, MSN'12, received the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health New Author Award at the American College of Nurse-Midwives annual meeting in May 2021, and is lead author of "Universal Health Care for the United States: A Primer for Health Care Providers," published in the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health in June. She was interviewed on WNCN's My Carolina Today in Durham, North Carolina, in October 2015, to share information about breast cancer.

Whitney Anderson, MSN'12, is an assistant in medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center specializing in advanced heart failure (2020).

Wendy Johnson Araya, MSN'96, DNP'12, was featured in a March 2020 VUMC Voice article about Leap Day babies born at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, where she is a neonatal nurse practitioner. She co-authored "Assessing and Addressing Practitioner Burnout: Results from an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Health and Well-being Study," published in November 2019 in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. Wendy started working at Vanderbilt in 1984 as a licensed practical nurse in the newborn nursery.

Trish Baise, MSN'12, DNP'16, was promoted to chief executive officer of Mountain States' Franklin Woods Community and Woodridge Hospitals, as well as administrator of Overmountain Recovery, all in Johnson City, Tennessee, in December 2017. She has served on the board of the Tennessee Nurses Association.

Lauren Barlew, MSN'12, is a women's health nurse practitioner at OBGYN Centre of Excellence in Chattanooga, Tennessee (2020).

Tisha Barzyk, MSN'07, DNP'12, is a Nexus legal nurse consultant in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, specializing in the field of wound management and wound care cases, and a wound care consultant for Integumetrix (2018).

Leslie Binford, MSN'12, is a psychiatric nurse practitioner and founder of PsychMed Solutions in Nashville, specializing in medication management for the adult population (2018).   

Imma Bramlage, MSN'12, was featured on Nashville's WTVF NewsChannel 5 in December 2018 for her work with South Sudanese refugees in Uganda.

Asa Briggs, MSN'12, was featured in the summer 2022 issue of Clemson World. He was a panelist in February 2021 for both the VUSN Alumni Board's annual MSN Know Your Value and for "Mental Health and Black America Today: Where Are We?" which is part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. He was elected to the Clemson University Alumni Association board of directors in June, and was a panelist for "Mental Health and Black America Today: Where Are We? (Part 2)," in July. Asa was featured in the "DNP Student Spotlight" on the Yale School of Nursing's website in May 2020, and in Vanderbilt News in August for his career path to become program director of rural psychiatric services for Prisma Health in Greenville, South Carolina. He was named to the external advisory council of Clemson University's Center for Research on Health Disparities in late 2020, where he offers counsel and seeks partnerships aimed at reducing population health disparities. Asa testified before the Council of the District of Columbia Committee on Health in support of the District of Columbia Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact Act of 2019, and is former adviser for President Barack Obama's My Brother's Keeper.

Taaka Cash, MSN'12, DNP'13, received the Thomas L. Christenbery Award for Diversity and Inclusion presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October 2022. She opened Privy Oasis, psychiatric mental health care for children, adolescents, adults and geriatric people in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Megan Childers, MSN'12, is a nurse practitioner at the Comprehensive Pain and Neurology Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee (2020).

Carol Ann Moseley Claeys, MSN'12, is the founder of Strategic Health Care Advisors in Dickson, Tennessee, and volunteers in a rural church health and wellness ministry (2018).

Colleen Clarke-Ariola, DNP'12, earned her director of nursing certification from the American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing and became a legal nurse consultant. She was promoted to senior vice president for patient care services at Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation in New Hyde Park, New York, in 2019. In 2016, she received the Queens Courier Power Women in Business Recognition Award, as well as the National Association for Directors of Nursing Administration in Long-term Care's Recognition for Excellence in Service and Dedication to the Long-term Continuum. Colleen is the co-chair of the New York State LeadingAge Doctors of Nursing Science Council.

Janeen Cook, MSN'12, is director of operations at VillageMD and executive clinical specialist at Syneos Health in Atlanta (2019).

Shawana Crawford, MSN'06, DNP'12, is a medical scientist with Gilead Sciences, studying liver disease (2017).

Melissa DeCapua, MSN'12, founded the blog, Modern Nurse, to "empower and inform nurses, create a dialogue among readers, and spread the word about the importance of the nursing voice" (2016).

Lori Denmark, MSN'12, is a nurse practitioner at Saint Thomas Heart West in Nashville (2020).

Debbie Drake-Davis, MSN'04, DNP'12, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, passed away November 6, 2018. She was an adjunct instructor at VUSN. 

Katherine Abraham Evans, DNP'12, was a panelist for "COVID, Quarantining and Geriatrics: How Can We Help Elders Stay Safe and Strong This Winter?" in December 2020, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and received the Alumni Award for National Leadership presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October 2019. She was named a fellow of the American Association for Nurse Practitioners in 2016, and delivered a talk about nursing's response to aging during VUSN Reunion Weekend's Patricia Meador Lecture and Continuing Education Program. Katherine was named president-elect of the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association in May 2015. She is chief nursing officer and senior vice president for clinical services at Novocardia Health in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Kate FitzPatrick, DNP'12, was listed by Becker's Hospital Review as one of "66 Chief Nursing Officers of Hospitals and Health Systems to Know," in February 2022, and was named associate dean for nursing health systems partnerships and innovation and professor at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia in August 2021. She was promoted to chief nurse executive officer at Jefferson Health in Philadelphia, in December 2020, where she had been senior vice president of nursing professional practice and clinical development. Kate was named chief nursing officer at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington in July 2015.  

Katherine Forsbach, MSN'12, is a family nurse practitioner at Tennessee Family Clinic in Savannah (2020).

Alicia Frasure, MSN'12, is president of the Northeast Tennessee Nurse Practitioners Association, and vice president of the Tennessee Nurse Foundation (2022).

Andrea Fuller, DNP'12, is lieutenant colonel and assistant professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland (2016).

Katherine Letzler Gee, MSN'12, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner in private practice in Nashville (2020).

Allie Gold, MSN'12, got married in May 2016. She is a women's health nurse practitioner at Physicians and Midwives Collaborative in Northern Virginia.

Carol Gray, DNP'12, joined volunteers from Emory University Medical Center Midtown in Atlanta to assist residents of Saint Croix with chronic kidney disease who were unable to receive dialysis due to damage from Hurricane Irma in 2017. Patients from the island were flown to Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia, where she provided vital care. Carol is a nurse practitioner at Emory Midtown.

Stacey Jackson Hall, MSN'12, and David Hall, BA'09, welcomed their second baby in January 2022. She is an advanced registered nurse practitioner at University of Florida in Gainesville. 

Lauren Hansen, MSN'12, DNP'15, opened Bloom Wellness and Aesthetics in November 2017, a boutique private practice in Nashville focusing on a comprehensive approach to women's wellness.

Lauren Gingles Harrison, MSN'11, PMC'12, was honored in May 2022 as one of 50 outstanding graduates of Belmont University School of Nursing in Nashville. She is a nurse practitioner at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's' Hospital at Vanderbilt.

Eileen Campbell Hart, MSN'12, was appointed to the Vanderbilt University Alumni Board in December 2014.

Kimberly Waldrop Hill, PMC'12, is a pulmonary nurse practitioner at Saint Thomas Medical Group in Nashville, as well as adjunct faculty at VUSN and Belmont University in Nashville and South College in Knoxville, Tennessee (2017).

Tamika Hudson, MSN'12, was moderator of "Supporting Nursing Students of Color: Success Strategies from Academia to Practice," part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and presented "Journey and Experiences in Academic Publishing as a WOC," to the VUSN DNP Diversity Affinity Group, both in February 2022. She co-authored, "Results of a National Survey: Ongoing Barriers to APRN Practice in the United States," published that month in Policy, Politics & Nursing Practice, and was nominated for the Nashville Cable ATHENA Award in March. She opened a diversity consulting firm called Equity Diagnostic in August and co-authored "Changes in Telehealth Experienced by Advanced Practice RNs during COVID-19," published in Computers, Informatics, Nursing in November. Tamika was appointed by Mayor John Cooper to the Healthy Nashville Leadership Council in March 2021 and, in April, to the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties' diversity committee. She is co-author of "Creating Collaborative Relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities: An Approach to Diversifying the Nursing Workforce," published that month in Nurse Educator. Tamika co-presented, "Connecting with Readers through Diversity, Inclusivity and Equity," at the International Association of Nursing Editors conference in August. She is author of "The Role of Social Determinates of Health in Discharge Practices," published in Nursing Clinics of North America, and was unanimously confirmed by the Nashville Metro Council to serve a five-year term on the Metropolitan Hospital Authority Board, both in September. She co-presented, "Identifying Barriers to APRN Practice: Results from a National Study," at the Tennessee Nurses Association conference in October. Tamika is co-recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. Award, presented by VUSN and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in February 2020, for her work educating students, faculty and staff about the effects of poverty on health, received the VUSN Award for Faculty Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion in June, and was named assistant dean for student affairs in October. She published "Vulnerable Patient Populations: The Role of Nurse Resilience," in the winter issue of National Black Nurses Association News. Tamika welcomed a baby in May 2019 and was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN. She co-authored "Writing a Diversity and Inclusivity Statement: Guidelines for Nursing Programs and Faculty," published in Nurse Educator in November, and was featured in a WTVF-NewsChannel 5 story about VUSN's poverty simulation, which she co-leads. Tamika was inducted into the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society and earned her doctor of nursing practice from Samford University in Homewood, Alabama, in May 2018. Her project is titled, "Evaluation of Distress Tolerance and Treatment Retention in Women with Substance Abuse Disorders." She was interviewed by the VUMC Reporter that July for an article about VUSN hosting undergraduate students from Fisk and Vanderbilt universities and the Undergraduate Health Sciences Academy at Morehouse School of Medicine.

Sarah Jenkins, MSN'12, is a women's health nurse practitioner at Women Obstetrics and Gynecology in Nashville (2017).

Tracy Jensen, MSN'12, is director of aesthetic services and a women's health nurse practitioner at Maxwell Aesthetics in Nashville (2020).

Kalisha Bonds Johnson, MSN'12, joined Emory University in Atlanta in September 2021 as an assistant professor in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. She is a fellow in the American Nurses Association Minority Fellowship Program and an instructor in the Oregon Health and Science University Layton Aging and Alzheimer's Disease Research Center in Portland. She is pursuing her PhD at OHSU School of Nursing.

LaVonne Johnson, DNP'12, is a nurse practitioner with DaVita Medical Group in Colorado Springs, Colorado (2018).

Ellie Kenemer, MSN'12, is a family psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at the Nashville Center for Hope and Healing (2016).

Kelsey Kent, MSN'12, is a board member of the Tennessee Nursing Foundation (2022).

Jen Kiggans, MSN'12, was featured in Daily Press, The Epoch Times, The Smithfield Times and Suffolk News-Herald in summer 2022 in articles about her campaign to run for a seat in Congress, and was elected to the U.S Congress in November, representing Virginia's Second Congressional District. She was elected to the Virginia State Senate in November 2019.

Maggie Kuch, MSN'12, got married in September 2015. She is a certified nurse-midwife at Women and Infants Hospital's New England Medical Group Women's Care in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Erin Kyle, MSN'12, DNP'14, was promoted to editor-in-chief of Guidelines for Perioperative Practice, a publication of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, in 2020, where she is a perioperative practice specialist.

Laurie Lackland, MSN'12, is an adult nurse practitioner with HouseCallsMobile in central California (2020).

Luisa Leal, MSN'12, DNP'14, opened a practice, New Horizon Clinic, in 2016 and moved to Smyrna, Tennessee, in January 2022. She and the clinic specialize in endocrinology and radiofrequency ablations.

Rene Love, MSN'98, DNP'10, PMC'12, presented at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties conference in April 2022, and was inducted as a fellow by the American Academy of Nursing in October. She was named associate dean for academic affairs—graduate clinical education at the University of Florida College of Nursing in Gainesville, starting in February 2020. She received a grant from the Health Resources and Service Administration in October 2018, funding a partnership between the University of Arizona and MHC Healthcare, to increase the pool of psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner doctor of nursing practice graduates able to assist patients with opioid use disorder. Rene was named a fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners in 2015, and is a member-at-large of NONPF's board of directors.

Alana Ludwick, MSN'05, DNP'12, was named director of nursing at Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Washington, in 2016.  

Lisa Lunsford, DNP'12, published "Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Pediatric Pain in Mongolian Nurses," in Pain Management Nursing in June 2015.  

Matt Martin, MSN'12, DNP'14, became assistant vice president of quality and patient safety at HCA Healthcare—North Florida Division in Tallahassee in April 2022. He had been director of regulatory and accreditation services at HCA Healthcare–Clinical Operations Group in Nashville, and is an instructor at VUSN and a member of the Alumni Board.

Cathy Maxwell, PhD'12, co-authored "Developing and Pilot Testing a Frailty-focused Education and Communication Training Workshop," in PEC Innovation in December 2021, and recorded a series of on-air spots for Nashville Public Television's Aging Matters in February 2022, including "Preventing Frailty as We Age." She is co-author of "Perspectives on Aging and End of Life among Lower Socioeconomic Status (SES) Older Adults," published in the Journal of Applied Gerontology in April, and "Affordable Housing Specialists' Perceptions of Advance Care Planning among Low-income Older Adult Residents: A Qualitative Study," in the Journal of Hospice & Palliative Care Nursing in August. Cathy was appointed to a planning committee of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine in August 2022, to conduct a workshop that explores the needs of the older adult population and the preparation of the health workforce needed to meet these needs. She is co-author of "Development of a Planning for Aging and Frailty Questionnaire," published in Research in Gerontological Nursing in September, and was a paper session chair at the Gerontological Society of America annual scientific meeting in November. She is lead author of "Health and Wellness for Disadvantaged Older Adults: The AFRESH Pilot Study," published in the December issue of  PEC Innovation. Cathy co-authored "'This Is Me!' Perceptions of Older Adult Simulated Participants in an Aging and Injury Simulation Experience," in the January/March 2021 issue of the Journal of Trauma Nursing, was featured in March in an episode of Nashville Public Television's Aging Matters about staying active to avoid frailty, and received the VUSN Dean's Award for Recognition of Faculty Achievement in Media in June. She is co-author of "Immigrants and Dementia: Literature Update," published in the September/October issue of Geriatric Nursing, and "Advance Care Planning among African Americans: A Review and Synthesis of Theory Application," in Palliative Supportive Care in December. Cathy co-authored "The Administration of Moderate Sedation and the Role of the Radiology Nurse," published in January 2020 by the Journal of Radiology Nursing, and was featured that summer by WMC-5 in Memphis, 12 News in Flint, Michigan, and WJET/WFXP in Erie, Pennsylvania, in a story about steps to prevent frailty. She is lead author of "Receptivity of Hospitalized Older Adults and Family Caregivers to Prognostic Information about Aging, Injury and Frailty: A Qualitative Study," published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies in September, and of "Development and Testing of a Frailty-focused Communication (FCOM) Aid for Older Adults," published in the November/December issue of Geriatric Nursing. In December, Cathy was featured in an Aging Matters documentary on fall prevention, was a panelist for "COVID, Quarantining and Geriatrics: How Can We Help Elders Stay Safe and Strong This Winter?" part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and co-authored "Moderate Sedation Education for Nurses in Interventional Radiology to Promote Patient Safety: Results of a National Survey," published in the Journal of Radiology Nursing. Cathy was named one of three Valere Potter Distinguished Dean's Faculty Fellows at Vanderbilt and received the VUSN Dean's Award for Faculty Achievement in Research Endeavors, both in June 2019. That summer, she spoke about frailty to the Tennessee Hospital Association and the Summer Geriatric Institute at Saint Louis University. Cathy co-presented a poster, "A Multi-modal Workshop to Teach Frailty-focused Communication," that received a blue ribbon at the Gotterer Health Professions Education Research Day at Vanderbilt University Medical Center that October. She was featured in a December interview in The Tennessee Tribune about the comprehensive handbook she wrote on aging called Aging & Injury. In 2018, Cathy was named a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. She co-authored both "Home Health Nurses' Perspectives and Care Processes Related to Older Persons with Frailty and Depression: A Mixed Method Pilot Study," published in the Journal of Community Health Nursing, and "Biological Processes and Biomarkers Related to Frailty in Older Adults: A State-of-the-Science Literature Review," published in Biological Research for Nursing. She was a featured guest for NPT's Aging Matters program, which first aired that November. Cathy received the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence Innovation Award in July 2017. She delivered a talk about frailty during the 2016 VUSN Reunion Weekend's Patricia Meador Lecture and Continuing Education Program, and received the American College of Surgeons 2016 Trauma Quality Improvement Program Best PI Abstract Award. Cathy is a former member of the VUSN Alumni Board.

Rachel McDowell, MSN'03, PMC'12, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022.

Kathryn Braunlin McNabb, BS'10, MSN'12, presented "Brain Basics: Tools for Non-contrast Head CT Interpretation," at the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses annual conference in April 2021, and was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in June. She presented "Cerebral Aneurysm Management," at the American Association of Nursing Practitioners conference in June 2019, and co-authored "Postintensive Care Syndrome," published in Critical Care Nursing Clinics in December. She is an assistant professor at VUSN.

Ellie Menefee Millan, MSN'12, was interviewed by The Bulletin in September 2020, about children missing regular vaccinations during the COVID-10 pandemic. She is pediatric medical director of Mosaic Medical, a federally qualified health center serving Central Oregon.

Dana Nelson-Peterson, DNP'12, was a panelist for "Compassion Fatigue during COVID-19: How Nurses and NPs Can Stay Grounded," in November 2020, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She wrote "Witnessing Characteristics of a Care Exemplar," featured on the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation's website. She is vice president of nursing and associate chief nursing officer of Virginia Mason Hospital and Seattle Medical Center.

Joanna Nolte, MSN'12, received the Florida Gateway College 2020–21 Nursing and Health Sciences Faculty of the Year Award. She started RenewNow CE, an online continuing education company for nursing that is nationally accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, and is a volunteer with Helping Hands, a clinic for the uninsured and homeless in Gainesville.

Ashley O'Barr, MSN'12, is a nurse practitioner at Children's Hospital at Erlanger Kennedy Outpatient Clinic in Chattanooga, Tennessee (2020).

Julie Omishakin, MSN'12, is a nurse practitioner at Neighborhood Health in Madison, Tennessee (2016).

Anna Prestwich, MSN'12, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021.

Patsy Ramey, MSN'12, was inducted as a fellow of the American Epilepsy Society, presented five posters at its annual conference and published three articles in various epilepsy magazines. She works at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in neurology/epilepsy (2018).

Mark Reinhardt, DNP'12, became professor and dean of the University of Lynchburg School of Nursing in Virginia in 2019, and delivered the keynote address at the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society induction in May 2018. He presented a poster about rural emergency department patients and alcohol abuse at the 2016 National Doctors of Nursing Practice Conference. Mark served as associate professor at Texas A&M University College of Nursing and Health Sciences in Corpus Christi, where he was also chair of the population health and health systems leadership department, and family nurse practitioner program coordinator.

Imelda Reyes, DNP'12, presented at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties conference in April 2022, and co-presented the VUSN DNP Know Your Value program in May. She joined the University of Nevada Las Vegas in September as associate dean of advanced education and professor in residence, and that month, was appointed a member of the VUSN Alumni Board. Imelda stars in a video on the Career Girls website about her experiences as nursing faculty and was named to the advisory committee of DNPs of Color in spring 2021. She co-authored "Alignment of Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Licensure, Accreditation, Certification and Education for Employers," published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in December. Imelda was named a fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners in June 2018. She had been pediatric acute specialty coordinator and doctor of nursing practice population health track coordinator at Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta, and is an associate editor of Advances in Family Practice Nursing.

Caitlin Nicholl Rissler, BA'10, MSN'12, is owner and provider at Music City Peds in Brentwood, Tennessee (2020).

Meghan Rowland, MSN'12, is a nurse practitioner at East Nashville Family Medicine clinic (2016).

Alice Sattler, MSN'12, presented "Red State Solutions for Transgender Healthcare Access: Provision in Low Resource Areas," in September 2017 at the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference.

Heather Sevcik, MSN'12, co-presented "A Tale of Two Births: Newborn Resuscitation and the Use of CPAP in the Out-of-hospital Setting," at the American College of Nurse-Midwives in May 2018. She is a certified nurse-midwife at Baby + Company in Nashville.

Barb Shultz, MSN'12, was quoted in the "Questions & Answers" section of Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Nursing newsletter in September 2018, and received the VUMC Five Pillar Leader Award in August 2016. She is administrative director of surgical services at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital.

Laura Sidlinger, DNP'12, was named chair of the Kansas Community Mental Health Centers' Organization of Medical Directors and Psychiatric Staff in August 2017. She is director of medical sales at Valeo Behavioral Health Care in Topeka, which assists adults with severe and persistent mental illness, treatment resistant depression, and opioid use disorder. She is in school for a Master's of clinical psychology degree.

Emily Partin Sitomer, MSN'12, is a nurse practitioner at Cool Springs Internal Medicine and Pediatrics in Franklin, Tennessee (2016).

Emily Cote Skotte, MSN'12, DNP'22, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021. She is co-author of "Optimization of Patient Scheduling in a Hematology Outpatient Setting," published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners that November/December.

Panayiota Smeathers, MSN'12, joined the Deaconess Clinic gastroenterology department in Evansville, Indiana, in July 2015 as an advanced practice registered nurse.  

Randy Smith, MSN'12, completed his doctor of nursing practice at the University of South Alabama in Mobile in December 2019.

Joshua Squiers, MSN'01, PhD'12, is director of the acute care nurse practitioner program and assistant professor at the Oregon Health and Science University School of Nursing in Portland, and assistant professor of anesthesiology and perioperative medicine in the OHSU School of Medicine (2020).

Joseph Sweat, MSN'12, is owner and clinic director at Revital Health and Wellness Clinic in Smyrna, Tennessee (2020).

Lisa Taylor, MSN'12, DNP'14, received the 2018 State Award for Nurse Practitioner Excellence for New Mexico from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. She is a family nurse practitioner in primary care and diabetes management at the U.S. Veterans Administration and an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico College of Nursing, both in Albuquerque.

Ferrol Thomas, MSN'12, became vice president of clinical education at HCA Healthcare's Tristar Division in Nashville in January 2022.

Joshua Thornsberry, MSN'12, was moderator of the VUSN Alumni Board's MSN Know Your Value program on "Salary and Contract Negotiation for New NPs," in April 2022. His image appeared on materials used to promote the American Association of Nurse Practitioners' election campaign in the spring, and he presented, "Untreated Sleep Apnea: The Heart of the Matter," at AANP in June. He was moderator for "Transition to APRN Practice," hosted by the VUSN Alumni Board Mentoring Committee in August 2021. He is an adult nurse practitioner at Wellstar Health System–Cardiovascular Medicine Department in Atlanta, an adjunct instructor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, and former president of the VUSN Alumni Board.

Sheila Umayam, MSN'12, DNP'14,  received a scholarship from the American Academy of Pediatrics' Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics to attend the 2022 Developmental-behavioral Pediatrics Course, An Intensive Clinical Update for Primary and Sub-specialty Care. She passed the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board's primary care pediatric mental health specialist examination, thereby becoming a pediatric mental health specialist. Sheila was featured in the Kennedy Krieger Institute Potential Magazine in an August 2021 story about one of her patients at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders in Baltimore, where she is a pediatric nurse practitioner. She got married in October 2016 and went on a medical mission trip to Colombia that year. Sheila was nominated for the Excellence in Clinical Care by a Nurse Practitioner Award.

Mia Wallin, MSN'12, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Saint Thomas Community Health Center in New Orleans, where she also provides adolescent care in a school clinic (2016).

Sarah Sexton Walters, MSN'12, received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in October 2021, where she is a nurse practitioner in the pediatric otolaryngology—head and neck surgery division.

Brian Widmar, PhD'12, was inducted as a fellow of the Society of Critical Care Medicine in March 2022. He was featured by NP Schools for an interview, "An Expert's Bona Fide Guide: Life as an Acute Care NP," in spring 2021, and was named a Visionary Leader by the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing in April. He was appointed assistant dean for academics, advanced nursing practice, at VUSN in August 2019, and presented at the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses National Teaching Institute meeting in May 2018. Brian is a member-at-large of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties board of directors.

Brandi Wilkerson, MSN'12, joined the Carthage Pediatric Clinic in New York in August 2016, as a pediatric nurse practitioner.

Ty Williams, MSN'03, DNP'12, co-presented, "DNP Project Matching Strategies," at the National Organization of Nursing Practitioner Faculties conference in April 2022, and is lead author of "Linking Process Improvement with DNP Projects: Strategies to Advance Clinical Leadership Initiatives," published in Nurse Leader in May. He is co-author of "Identifying Mental Health Issues Associated with Infertility," published in the November issue of The Journal for Nurse Practitioners. Ty wrote the chapter, "Herbal Supplements: Precautions and Safe Use," for the book, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Part II: Herbal Supplements and Vitamins, published by Elsevier in March 2021. He received the DAISY Award for Recognition of Small Group Facilitator at the DNP Level from VUSN in June, which he also received in 2019. He is co-author of "Supporting Student Success: A Meaningful and Efficient Teaching Strategy to Document Practice Hours," published in Nurse Educator in July 2020. Ty is an assistant professor at VUSN and a member of the Alumni Board.

Katrina Anderson Wu, MSN'12, is director of the nurse-midwifery program at Bethel University in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Carol Ziegler, MSN'06, DNP'12, was a panelist for "Supporting Nursing Students of Color: Success Strategies from Academia to Practice," part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and for "Climate Change and Social Justice," presented by the Vanderbilt Global Health and Environmental Justice Club, both in February 2022. She spoke at the Tennessee Interfaith Power and Light webinar, "Climate Change and Children's Health," in April and received the VUSN Tradition Meets Innovation Award for Faculty in May. Carol was a panelist for "Hot in Here: Nashville's Urban Heat Island, Impacts and Mitigation Efforts," hosted by Cumberland River Compact in July, and for "Climate and Health Equity," in August, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum . In August, she was interviewed by Nashville's NewsChannel 5 for "Are Infectious Diseases Linked to Climate Hazards?" and, in October, she spoke about trends in public health and climate change at an event hosted by the Lancet Countdown U.S. Policy Brief authors and the American Public Health Association. In November, she was a panelist for "Decarbonization Opportunities with FutureVU Sustainability and Vanderbilt University Medical Center," at the Impact Tennessee Symposium hosted by U.S. Green Building Council—Tennessee, and was interviewed by Nashville Public Radio's This is Nashville about solar energy. Carol was a panelist for a discussion around the documentary, Unbreathable: The Fight for Healthy Air, hosted by the Tennessee Asthma Coalition in honor of Air Quality Awareness Week in May 2021. She received the VUSN Dean's Award for Faculty Achievement in Social Justice that same month. She was welcomed by The Vanderbilt Hustler as a head of house in Vanderbilt's undergraduate residential program and, in September, was invited to chair the new Planetary and Global Health Committee of the American Nurse Association's Innovation Advisory Committee, expected to launch in 2022. Carol was a speaker for the VUMC Discover podcast, "Climate Is Us: Why Climate Change Is Healthcare's Lane," in October, and, in December, gave the keynote for "Environmental Health and Justice: The Challenges Our Population is Facing," presented by the Shade Tree Clinic in Nashville. Carol was promoted to professor at VUSN in January 2020 and appointed to the Vanderbilt University Sustainability Advisory Council that February. She was selected to create and teach one of Vanderbilt's new interdisciplinary courses that spring, "Planetary Health, Policy and Social Justice," which was open to students from across campus. She received a Southeastern Conference faculty travel grant to collaborate with the University of Tennessee on climate change and inter-professional education, and was quoted in NP Schools for "Tennessee NPs: The Fight for Full Practice Authority." In April, Carol was quoted in the Clarksville Leaf Chronicle about the effects of air quality on health and, in May, she presented at the Nursing Summit on Environmental Health hosted by the Alliance of Nurses of Healthy Environments. She received the VUSN Tradition Meets Innovation Award for Faculty in June. In 2018, Carol was featured by the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching in its Junior Teaching Spotlight, and was on the faculty of "Climate Change and Human Health: Impacts and Adaptation Strategies," an interprofessional series taught by five instructors at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Vanderbilt. Carol opened Thrive Holistic Care and is the Vanderbilt representative for the Lancet Commission on Climate and Health, as well as a professor at VUSN and co-director of the Climate, Energy and Health Equity Lab at the Wond'ry.

Jane Abanes, DNP'13, PhD'20, is lead author of "Acupuncture for Sleep Disturbances in Post-deployment Military Service Members: A Randomized Controlled Trial," published in Clinical Nursing Research in July 2021.

Susie Adams, PMC'13, was interviewed in February 2021 by Psychiatry Advisor for "Interventions and Other Suicide Prevention Measures Employed or Adapted in the Context of COVID-19." She gave a presentation at the annual conference of the Tennessee chapter of American Psychiatric Nurse Association in April and co-authored "The Impact of an Educational Intervention on Nursing Staff Attitudes toward Patients Experiencing Homelessness and Mental Illness," published in the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association in May. That month, she was awarded the status of professor emerita at Vanderbilt. Susie co-authored "Associations between Changes in Resilient Coping and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms," published in Research in Nursing and Health in February 2020, and was inducted into the University of Kentucky College of Nursing Hall of Fame in September. She co-authored "Advancing Community-engaged Research through Partnership Development: Overcoming Challenges Voiced by Community-academic Partners," published that fall by Project MUSE, and co-presented a poster, "Nursing Staff Attitudes toward Medically Hospitalized Patients who are Homeless and Have Mental Illness," at APNA's annual conference in October. Susie was named 2019 Psychiatric Nurse of the Year by APNA and was quoted in NP Schools for "Tennessee NPs: The Fight for Full Practice Authority" in 2018.

Caitlin Allen, MSN'13, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at the Lovelace Medical Group in Albuquerque (2019).

Soheyl Asadsangabi, MSN'04, DNP'13, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021. She manages and staffs the Vanderbilt Center for Women's Health clinic that opened in July 2016 in Thompson's Station, Tennessee.  

Sara Atteberry, MSN'13, and her husband were featured on NBC's Today Show website in May 2015 for the organization they started, the Sing Me a Story Foundation.  

Bronwyn Backstrom, MSN'13, is a pediatric nurse practitioner in Ochsner Health System in New Orleans (2016).

Stephanie Grose Bell, BS'03, MSN'13, is vice president of operations at Curana Health, headquartered in Easley, South Carolina, where she supervises advanced practice providers and physicians who deliver post-acute care to a mostly geriatric population in skilled nursing and long-term care, in multiple states (2022).

Jeffrey Boone, MSN'13, is co-author of "Health and Wellness for Disadvantaged Older Adults: The AFRESH Pilot Study," published in December 2022 in  PEC Innovation.

Stacey Browning, MSN'13, DNP'15, is assistant professor at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro in the Department of Nursing and the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences (2018). 

Britney Hagy Broyhill, BS'06, MSN'08, DNP'13, was a panelist for "Capturing APP Value: Industry Leaders Share Their Experiences," hosted by the Chartis Group in March 2021, and is featured in the NP Pulse: The Voice of Nurse Practitioners podcast, "NP Leadership: Going the Extra Mile," recorded in November. She co-authored "Developing and Expanding APRN and PA teams," published by American Nurse in December 2020, and received the Pinnacle Award from Atrium Health in November 2019. Brittany presented at the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses National Teaching Institute meeting and at the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant Critical Care Bootcamp at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, both in 2018. She received the Alumni Award for Excellence in Nursing presented by the VUSN Alumni Association at the school's annual ceremony in 2016

Pamela Bruce, MSN'13, DNP'15, was a panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's annual DNP Know Your Value in January 2020. She is director of quality and clinical transformation for Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network.

Eterial Burrell, MSN'13, was a panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's annual MSN Know Your Value in February 2021 and participated in a VUSN women's health nurse practitioner alumni panel in August 2017. She is a clinician in the Nashville and Davidson County Metro Public Health Department's family planning program.

Grace Appert Campbell, BS'12, MSN'13, is program director of Mission Santa Maria in Olon, Ecuador (2021).

Barbara Carden, MSN'13, is an advanced practice registered nurse specializing in endocrinology at the Health First Medical Group in Viera, Florida (2021).

Mollie Carter, MSN'13, is an emergency department nurse practitioner at Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia, South Carolina (2016).

Taaka Cash, MSN'12, DNP'13, received the Thomas L. Christenbery Award for Diversity and Inclusion presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October 2022. She opened Privy Oasis psychiatric mental health care for children, adolescents, adults and geriatric people in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. 

Melissa Chaney , MSN'13, works at Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas (2016).

Avni Cirpili, DNP'13, returned to Nashville in December 2018 to become chief nursing officer for Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital and Vanderbilt Behavioral Health. 

Lydia Rice Colin, MSN'13, is a family nurse practitioner at Lawndale Christian Health Center in Chicago (2016).

Courtney Cook, DNP'13, co-authored "Incorporating the Lived Experience into Graduate Nursing Education," published in the Journal of Nursing Education in April 2021, and was promoted to associate professor at VUSN in June. She is co-author of "Development and Implementation of a Trauma Team Education Program in Georgetown, Guyana," published in July in The Nurse Practitioner. Courtney co-authored "Acute Pericarditis: Best Practices for Nurse Practitioners," published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in November 2020.

Kathleen Danhausen, MSN'13, co-presented, "Building Bridges across Practice Sites: Improving Interprofessional Communication and Client Satisfaction with Birth Center to Hospital Transfers," at the American College of Nurse-Midwives conference in May 2022. She is lead author of "Strengthening Interprofessional Collaboration to Improve Transfers between a Freestanding Birth Center and an Academic Medical Center," published in the November issue of the  Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health.

John Derrick, MSN'13, was appointed in 2020 as the first clinical director for MedFest in Washington State, an event during which athletes are medically evaluated for participation in Special Olympics. He is a nurse practitioner specializing in neonatology, autism spectrum disorders and neurodevelopmental delays at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital and Health Network in Tacoma.

Jessica DiNisco, MSN'13, presented "Compassionate Presence: A Mindful Approach to Care," in May 2017 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She is community facilitator at Wild Heart Meditation Center in Nashville.

Angela Douglas, MSN'13, joined the faculty at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio, as an assistant professor in August 2021. She was honored by the Girl Scouts in May 2019 as one of the North East Ohio Women of Distinction for her work mentoring aspiring nurses, completing medical missions and serving as a coach and science Olympiad volunteer. She has been an assistant lecturer at Cleveland State University and a nurse practitioner at the Cleveland Clinic.

Kellie Douglas, BS'12, MSN'13, is a nurse practitioner at Rose Pediatrics in Denver (2020).

Stuart Downs, MSN'10, DNP'13, was inducted as a fellow by the American Academy of Nursing in October 2022, and was honored with Atlanta's Executive Nursing Leadership Excellence Award in 2018. He is chief operating officer and vice president of WellStar Atlanta Medical Center.

Lauren Watts Drukenbrod, BA'11, MSN'13, is a nurse practitioner in the Metro Public Health Department of Nashville and Davidson County's occupational health and wellness clinic where she cares for civil service employees (2021).

Sara Dalby Drysdale, MSN'13, is a neonatal nurse practitioner at Carle Hospital, in Champaign, Illinois (2016).

Dionne Duplantier, MSN'13, presented, "Technology to Ready Responders," on the American Nurses Association's COVID-19 Nurse Innovation Stories blog, posted in 2021. She is a nurse practitioner at Saint Thomas Community Health Center in New Orleans.

Samantha Eagle, MSN'08, PMC'13, presented at the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant Critical Care Bootcamp at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in August 2018.

Nancye Feistritzer, DNP'13, was interviewed by Health Leaders in May 2021 for "Emory Chief Nurses Embrace the Benefits of Rapid Decision-making."

Valerie Garcia, MSN'13, is the founder of Chosen Medical Staffing, a nurse-owned staffing agency in Nashville (2020).

Jessica Gardner, MSN'13, became an adjunct clinical faculty member at Louisiana State University of Alexandria in July 2015.  

Sarah Davis Gast, PMC'13, DNP'15, co-authored "Using a Standardized Rounding Tool to Improve the Incidence of Spontaneous Awakening and Breathing Trials," published in Critical Care Nurse in April 2022, and lead author of "Critical Care Nurses' Experiences of Caring for Patients with COVID-19: Results of a Thematic Analysis," in the American Journal of Critical Care in July. She welcomed a baby that month and received the Sara K. Archer Award from students in the VUSN Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner specialty in August. Sarah is co-author of "Brugada Syndrome: Fatal Consequences of a Must-not-miss Diagnosis," published in Critical Care Nurse in October 2021. She received the Sara K. Archer Award from AGACNP students in August 2020, and presented "Evaluation, Assessment and Differential Diagnosis of the Acute Abdomen," at the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association conference in October 2019. Sarah is co-director of VUSN's doctor of nursing practice Critical Care Fellowship and an assistant professor.

Beth Ann Gist, DNP'13, and her husband, Bill, of Black Mountain, North Carolina, passed away September 5, 2022.

Brittney Goldfarb, MSN'13, is a nurse practitioner in cardiac surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago (2018). 

Amber Greeno, MSN'13, was profiled as a Pioneer of Hope at Monroe Carrell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt (2018). 

Teri Greer, MSN'13, is a women's health nurse practitioner at the Women's Health Group of Franklin, Tennessee (2016).

Ali Grubbs, MSN'13, co-directs a bachelor's in emergency nursing program for nurses at Georgetown Public Hospital Corp. in Guyana, in collaboration with the University of Guyana and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (2018). 

Margaret Hamilton, MSN'13, DNP'15, is a nurse practitioner in dermatology at the Murfreesboro Medical Clinic in Tennessee (2016).

Megan Wenk Hammerbeck, MSN'13, is a nurse practitioner at Regional Health in Rapid City, South Dakota (2018). 

Karen Hande, DNP'13, is lead author of "Nurse Practitioner Transition to Practice: Recommendations and Strategies for Designing and Implementing a Nurse Practitioner Fellowship," published in the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development in January 2022,and co-author of "Results of a National Survey: Ongoing Barriers to APRN Practice in the United States," in Policy, Politics & Nursing Practice, and "Utilizing Patient Reported Outcomes and Quality of Life Measures in the Management of Obesity," in the Journal of Doctoral Nursing Practice, both in February. She co-wrote "Cancer Antigen," a chapter in the book, Laboratory Screening and Diagnostic Evaluation: An Evidence-based Approach for Advanced Practice Nurses and Physician Assistants, published by Springer in May, and "Linking Process Improvement with DNP Projects: Strategies to Advance Clinical Leadership Initiatives," published in Nurse Leader. She was promoted to professor at VUSN in June. Karen presented, "CBD: All Hype or a Novel Way to Manage Symptoms?" at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference in June, and co-authored "Exploration of Vaccination Attitudes among Parents and Caregivers in a Rural Appalachian Health Clinic," published in the Journal of Appalachian Health in July . In September, she presented, "Cannabinoids for Patients with Cancer," at the Oncology Nursing Society Bridge conference, and wrote "Oncology Nurses: What Cannabinoid Is Your Patient Taking?" published by Dabbin' Dad. She received the Colleen Conway-Welch Alumni Award for National Leadership presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October, and co-authored "A Scoping Review of Measures Utilized to Assess Patient Satisfaction with Acupuncture Treatments within Randomized Controlled Trials," published in Medical Acupuncture. She co-authored "Changes in Telehealth Experienced by Advanced Practice RNs during COVID-19," in Computers, Informatics, Nursing in November. Karen 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 2021. In September, she became the first Vanderbilt faculty member inducted as a fellow of the National League for Nursing's Academy of Nursing Education, and, in October, Karen co-presented, "Identifying Barriers to APRN Practice: Results from a National Study," at the Tennessee Nurses Association conference. She co-authored "Optimization of Patient Scheduling in a Hematology Outpatient Setting," published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, and "Implementing a Hematology-Oncology Nurse Practitioner Fellowship," published in Oncology Issues, both in November. Karen received funding from the VUSN Faculty Scholarship Program for "Exploring Measurements of Competencies and Outcomes among Accredited NP Fellowships," in April 2020. She is lead author of "Supporting Student Success: A Meaningful and Efficient Teaching Strategy to Document Practice Hours," published in Nurse Educator in July, and received the VUSN Ingeborg Mauksch Award for Excellence in Faculty Mentoring the same month. In August, she accepted an Oncology Nursing Foundation award as well as an NLN scholarship. An article Karen co-authored, "Social Boundaries in Young Adult Females with Down Syndrome as a Foundation for Sexuality Education," was published in October in the American Journal for Sexuality Education, and she presented at the NLN Summit about her experience as an American Nurses Credentialing Center Practice Transition Accreditation Program fellow. She was elected to the board of trust of the Tennessee Nurses Foundation in December 2020. Karen was interviewed in April 2019 by CBS News about cannabidiol (aka CBD) oil and was inducted as a fellow of the American Association of Nursing Practitioners that June. She co-wrote "Leveraging School Nurse Expertise to Meet Children's Health and Nutrition Needs in Afterschool Programs," published in NASN School Nurse, and "Mentoring Nursing Faculty: An Inclusive Scholarship Support Group," published in Nurse Educator, both in September. In 2018, Karen published in Vanderbilt University Medical Center's The Empowered Nurse: Peer-Reviewed Journal for Innovative VUMC Nursing Research, Volume 1, Issue 2, and co-authored "Developing Best Practices to Mitigate Opioid Abuse Is a Priority in Cancer Care," published in Oncology Live. (It appeared on the front cover.) That year, she co-authored "Appreciative Advising Pilot Study: An Innovative Approach to Advising Doctor of Nursing Practice Students," published in Nurse Educator with a podcast on the same subject. She was interviewed for a Nurse Educator video about the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching's Nursing Junior Faculty Teaching Fellowship. Karen was selected by VUSN students to receive the Doctor of Nursing Practice program's Dean Colleen Conway-Welch Faculty Award in October 2017. She received the 2016 VUSN Dean's Award for Faculty Achievement in Academic Endeavors and was named a 2015 American Nurses Advocacy Institute fellow by the TNA. Karen is chair of the Wellness, Populations and Health Systems Community at VUSN, an adult oncology pain management nurse practitioner and a board member of TNF.

Nicole Herndon, MSN'92, DNP'13, presented a poster, "Reducing Modifiable Factors that Contribute to Preventable Birth Injury," at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Patient Safety Congress in May 2022. was elected to two terms as Tennessee state chair of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. She is corporate director of women's and pediatric services at Community Health Systems in Nashville where she, among other things, serves as expert resource in maternal-child, women's health and pediatric/newborn services. She is a member of the American Nurses Association Nursing Scope and Standards advisory council and the American Nurses Association's Workplace Violence and Incivility Professional Issues Panel (2016). 

Christin Huff, MSN'13, is an instructor at VUSN (2018). 

Linda Hughlett, MSN'04, DNP'13, co-moderated "Educators, Leaders and Nurses: Resetting Relationships," presented in April 2022 to VUSN students, alumni, faculty and staff. She is chief nursing officer and senior vice president at Regional One in Memphis, Tennessee, where she had been director of women's services. 

Craig Hutto, MSN'13, was interviewed by the Wilson County Post (Tennessee) in June 2016 regarding his experience surviving a shark attack. 

Skyler Jacobs, BS'11, MSN'13, is an assistant in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (2019).

Therese Jamison, DNP'13, was recognized in Crain's Detroit Business in November 2016 for her position as founding director of the nursing program at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan.

Kimberle Jones, PMC'13, is a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Mercy Community Healthcare in Franklin, Tennessee (2016).

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.

Keri Jordan, MSN'13, is a neonatal nurse practitioner at Pediatrix in Nashville (2016).

Amanda Jurls , MSN'13, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, specializing in children and adolescents at Centerstone Clinic in Nashville (2017).

Florencia Kantt, MSN'13, completed an adolescent medicine fellowship through Harvard Medical School/Boston Children's Hospital in June 2022 and was accepted into the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She co-authored a chapter on sexual and reproductive health in a textbook and accepted a position as assistant professor of pediatrics at Oregon Health and Sciences University's School of Medicine and the OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland. Florencia published "A Letter to a Suicidal Transgender Teen," on the @kevinmd blog, and received an award from Lane County, Oregon, for her post "Straightforward Office Visit with a Teenager Turns to Something Much More," on the @KevinMD blog in December 2015. 

April Kapu, MSN'05, DNP'13, was interviewed in January 2022 on Fox News for "Nurses Face Burnout as COVID Enters Third Year," and by CNBC for "Here Are the Top Jobs in the U.S. and How to Land Them." That month, she was featured on the RN-Mentor Podcast, quoted in Clinical Advisor, HealthLeaders and MedPage Today, and published "New Year, New Commitment to Nurse Practitioner (NP) Excellence," in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners. She was interviewed by Contemporary Clinic and HealthLeaders in February, and, in March, spoke again with Contemporary Clinic and twice with HPCLive (and here). April published "Choosing the Ideal Advanced Practice Leader for Your Organization," in The Journal of Nursing Administration in April. That month, she was interviewed by Forbes and HealthLeaders, and presented at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties conference. April is lead author of "Encouraging and Facilitating Research Opportunities for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses: The Role of the Chief Nursing Officer," published in May in JONA, was featured in Contemporary Clinic and presented "How the American Association of Nurse Practitioners Can Support You in Your Career: A Visit with President April Kapu, DNP'12, MSN'05," to VUSN students, alumni, faculty and staff. That month, she also presented the Vanderbilt Mobile Vaccine Program with an American Association of Nurse Practitioners award (covered by Nashville Post and Vanderbilt University Research News). In June, she was quoted in the American Journal of Nursing, Contemporary Clinics and the Nashville Scene, and was recognized as one of Modern Healthcare's 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives. April was interviewed by Nurse.com in July regarding states with full practice authority. That month, she was on a Facebook Live panel called "A Conversation with Dr. Loretta C. Ford and Dr. April Kapu," hosted by Nurses Care Hub. In August, she spoke about monkeypox with Clinical Advisor Online, and was nominated for the Modern Healthcare 100 Most Influential People in Health Care list in September. April is author of "Nurse Practitioner Leadership Essential: Ensuring a Positive Onboarding Experience for New Nurse Practitioners," published in the September issue of The Journal of Nursing Administration, and co-author of "Promoting Adaptation in Female Inmates to Reduce Risk of Opioid Overdose Post-release through HOPE," in Nursing Science Quarterly in October. In December, she was interviewed by HealthLeaders and MedpageToday about issues affecting NPs. April was interviewed in a Vanderbilt Magazine article in February 2021 about the emotional impact of caring for COVID patients had on Vanderbilt University Medical Center providers. In March, she was a panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's annual DNP Know Your Value, and for "Capturing APP Value: Industry Leaders Share Their Experiences," a webinar hosted by the Chartis Group. That April, she spoke before the Tennessee Nurse Practitioners Association and was a panelist for "Leadership in the Time of Coronavirus: Stories from the Top," part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She was also active in VUSN/VUMC's efforts to get COVID-19 vaccines to refugees, immigrants and other underserved communities in Nashville, which covered by Fox 17, Nashville Post, Nashville Scene, NewsChannel 5, Tennessean, Tennessee Tribune and WSMV. In July, April became president of AANP and VUSN's associate dean for clinical and community partnerships. The news was picked up by many outlets, including Fierce Healthcare, The Hill and The Tennessee Tribune. She co-presented, "Advanced Practice: State and Federal Updates," in July during VUMC Advanced Practice grand rounds, and, in October, gave the Viana McCown Lectureship hosted by the Center for Nursing Leadership at the University of South Carolina College of Nursing. Hers was the lead story in HealthLeaders; she appeared July to December in interviews by HealthLeaders, Wall Street Journal, WSMV, HealthTech, GoodRX, Advisory Board, Clinical Advisor, WRCB, HealthLeaders, Hematology Advisor, NewsChannel 9, Clinical Advisor, Vice and the Modern Medicaid Alliance website. In the fall, she was interviewed on a variety of nursing, staffing, COVID and health care topics, including 17 times in November around Nurse Practitioner Week. In September, she published "Patients are Choosing Nurse Practitioners as Their Primary Care Provider in Many Communities across the U.S.," in the  Journal of Nursing Administration, and is lead author of "Development and Testing of an Advanced Practice Clinical Advancement Program within an Academic Medical Center," in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. An opinion piece April wrote about full practice authority in Tennessee was published in the Tennessean in May 2020. She was interviewed by Medical Ethics Advisor for "Burnout Prevention Is Central Ethical Concern for Hospitals," both that July. She presented "Crisis and DNP Opportunity: Practice and Policy during COVID," in October at the DNP Summit hosted by the University of Rochester School of Nursing, and co-authored "Developing and Expanding APRN and PA Teams," published by American Nurse in December. April received a Society of Critical Care Medicine Presidential Citation in February 2019, and presented "NP Value: Know Your Why and Know Your Worth," at the TNPA conference in March. She co-presented "Preventing Burnout," and "Deployment of NPs to Combat America's Opioid Crisis," at the AANP conference in June, and co-authored "Dedicated, Proactive, Nurse Practitioner Rapid Response Team Eliminating Barriers," published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, and "Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants in Acute and Critical Care: A Concise Review of the Literature and Data 2008–2018," in Critical Care Medicine. April was inducted as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in October, and shared the spotlight with Dean Linda Norman to receive the American Association of Colleges of Nursing New Era for Academic Nursing Award for a partnership between VUSN and VUMC. She co-authored "Assessing and Addressing Practitioner Burnout: Results from an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Health and Well-being Study," published in November in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. In 2018, April was appointed by Governor Bill Haslam to the Tennessee Commission on Pain and Addiction Medicine Education. She was director of the VUMC Acute Care Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant Critical Care Bootcamp, and was published in VUMC's The Empowered Nurse: Peer-Reviewed Journal for Innovative VUMC Nursing Research, Volume 1, Issue 2. She received funding from the Fellows of the AANP to recruit participants and conduct an expanded advanced practice registered nurses Choosing Wisely collaborative study in 2017, and co-directed the sixth annual ACNP/PA Critical Care Boot Camp at VUMC that September. She co-presented "Optimized Efficiency and Effectiveness: Impact of an Academic Medical Center APRN Workflow Analysis," at the National Magnet Conference, and received the Tennessee Hospital Association's Clinical Nurse of Distinction Award, both in 2015.   

Cathy Karunaratne, MSN'13, is a clinician at AdventHealth's Center for Sleep Disorders in Central Florida (2020).

Rachel Kromer, MSN'13, co-authored "Imagining an Orientation Built on Trust," published in the January/February 2020 issue of the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, and was quoted in a December VUMC Reporter story about the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's biennial Nursing Staff Bylaws Convention, the first to be held virtually. She is an editorial board member of The Empowered Nurse: Peer-Reviewed Journal for Innovative VUMC Nursing Research and was published in its second issue in November 2018. 

Jessica Bell Luckman, MSN'13, is a women's health nurse practitioner at Providence Urogynecology Center in Medford, Oregon (2019).

Misti Lynn, MSN'13, started an integrative health practice, Halcyon Health of the Southwest, in Las Cruces, New Mexico (2018). 

Jasmyne Lyons, MSN'13, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Psychiatric Consultants of Tennessee in Clarksville, an outpatient facility serving primarily Tricare/military-based individuals. She also practices at Pennyroyal Community Mental Health Center in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, treating children and adolescents (2017).

Misti Martinez, MSN'13, is a nurse practitioner with Gastroenterology and Hepatology Associates in Hendersonville, Tennessee (2018). 

Travis McCall, MSN'13, received the VUSN DAISY Award for Small Group Facilitator at the MSN Level in May 2022, and the Sara K. Archer Award from students in the VUSN Emergency Nurse Practitioner specialty in August. He is lead author of "Was Definitely Different Because They Were Kids: Caring for Patients from a School Shooting," published in the September/October issue of the Journal of Trauma Nursing. Travis received support from the VUSN Faculty Scholarship program in October 2021 for his project, "Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Peer Support Program for Vanderbilt LifeFlight." He published "Caring for Patients from a School Shooting: A Qualitative Case Series in Emergency Nursing," in the Journal of Emergency Nursing in September 2020, and presented a poster, "Caring for Patients from a School Shooting: A Qualitative Case Study in Emergency Nursing," at the 2019 Vanderbilt University Medical Center Nursing Research Day. Travis is an assistant professor at VUSN.

Sarah McGuire, MSN'13, is a nurse practitioner at Stillwater Medical Center in Blackwell, Oklahoma, where she specializes in internal medicine for patients twelve years and older (2022).

Karen McIntosh, MSN'13, was recognized in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette in April 2020 for her new position on the board of WelcomeHealth in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She was named vice president of care transition at Washington Regional Medical System in Fayetteville in 2017.

Maggie McLoughlin, MSN'13, is a nurse practitioner at Centric Physicians in Boerne, Texas, where she provides psychiatric care for a mostly geriatric population in assisted living and skilled nursing facilities (2018). 

Mary Muchendu, MSN'13, DNP'15, was photographed for the June 2018 issue of Vanderbilt Magazine for an article about the university's 'Dores of Distinction program. 

Liz Munoz, MSN'13, DNP'21, was inducted as a fellow of the American College of Nurse-Midwives, gave a workshop on her doctor of nursing practice project, "Clinical Pathways to Expanding Midwifery Care and Increasing Vaginal Birth for Individuals of Size," and co-presented, "Addressing Weight Bias in Clinical Conversations," at the ACNM conference in May 2022. She was featured by the Nashville Scene in January 2020 for a story about the Vanderbilt Volunteer Doula Program she and VUSN faculty started when she was a student, and where she is the nurse-midwifery liaison. She received the March of Dimes Tennessee Chapter Women's Health Nurse of the Year Award in December 2016.

Hilary Murphy, MSN'13, is a family nurse practitioner at STRIDE Community Health Center in Wheat Ridge, Colorado (2020).

Kaitlin Neary, MSN'13, moved to Austin, Texas, in November 2018, where she is a heart failure nurse practitioner at Seton Hospital, working on an inpatient heart failure team. 

Ken Nelson, MSN'11, DNP'13, moderated the VUSN Alumni Board's annual DNP Know Your Value in March 2021 and in April, was a panelist for "Leadership in the Time of Coronavirus: Stories from the Top," part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. He was interviewed in January 2020 by WFRV about the early stages of coronavirus in the United States. He served as moderator for DNP Know Your Value that month, and was interviewed in September by Up North News about the rising number of COVID-19 cases in rural areas of Wisconsin. Ken is chief nursing officer at both HSHS Saint Vincent and Saint Mary's Hospitals in Green Bay.

Nicole Mercer, MSN'13, is a family nurse practitioner and certified nurse-midwife at Vanderbilt Nurse-Midwives Melrose and West End Women's Health Center. She was interviewed by My Southern Health in December 2018 for an article about the advantages of seeing a nurse practitioner. 

Joseph Ojibway, MSN'13, is a nurse practitioner at Neighborhood Health in Nashville (2020).

Zoe Harran Panizzi, MSN'13, joined FirstHealth Behavioral Services in Southern Pines, North Carolina, as a nurse practitioner in February 2018.

Sam Paris, MSN'13, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Mercy Community Healthcare in Franklin, Tennessee (2016).

Brittany Powell, MSN'13, is a nurse practitioner at Health Central Women's Care in Dallas (2016). 

Jacqueline Renner-Bangura, DNP'13, is owner and practitioner at Cape Sierra Family Clinic with her husband in Murfreesboro, Tennessee (2017).

Bethany Andrews Rhoten, MSN'09, PhD'13, co-authored "Association of Inventory to Measure and Assess imaGe Disturbance—Head and Neck Scores with Clinically Meaningful Body Image-related Distress among Head and Neck Cancer Survivors," published by Frontiers in Psychology in December 2022. She co-authored "Perceived Effects of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms on Functional Status in Early-stage Huntington Disease," published in February 2021 in the Western Journal of Nursing Research, and "Perceived Benefits of a Brief Acupuncture for Sleep Disturbances in Post-deployment Military Service Members," in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine in March. She is lead author of "Impact of an LGBTQ Cultural Competence Training Program for Providers on Knowledge, Attitudes, Self-efficacy and Intensions," published in the Journal of Homosexuality in April. She co-authored "First Data from OUT: The National Cancer Survey of LGBTQ+ Survivors," published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in May, and "Acupuncture for Sleep Disturbances in Post-deployment Military Service Members: A Randomized Controlled Trial," published in Clinical Nursing Research, and "Factors Associated with Risk of Body Image-related Distress in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer," in JAMA Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery in July. Bethany is lead author of "A Qualitative Examination of Patient Priorities and Preferences during Treatment Decision-making for Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer," published in Supportive Care in Cancer in May 2020, and "Priorities and Preferences of Patients with Head and Neck Cancer for Discussing and Receiving Information about Sexuality and Perception of Self-report Measures," in The Journal of Sexual Medicine in August. She co-authored "Randomized Clinical Trial of a Legacy Intervention for Quality of Life in Children with Advanced Cancer," published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine in September, and "Measuring Functional Status in Huntington's Disease," published in Movement Disorders, and "Assessing Preferences in Patients with Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Phase I and II of Questionnaire Development," in Cancers, both in October. That month, VUSN announced that she is co-primary investigator for OUT: The National Cancer Survey, a research project to document experiences of LGBTQI+ people with cancer. Bethany was named one of three Valere Potter Distinguished Dean's Faculty Fellows at Vanderbilt in June 2019. That year, she received the Sexual Tipping Point Mental Health Award from the Sexual Medicine Society of North America and the MAP Education and Research Foundation, and co-authored "A Comparison of Symptoms among Patients with Head and Neck or Truncal Lymphedema and Normal Controls," published in Lymphatic Research and Biology. She received the March of Dimes Tennessee Chapter Nurse of the Year Award for research and was selected by VUSN doctoral students to receive the Dean Colleen Conway-Welch Award for PhD faculty, both in 2018. She was awarded an American Cancer Society grant in 2017 to investigate the impact of head and neck cancer treatment on a patient's sexuality. Bethany is an assistant professor at VUSN.

Helen Ramsey Rominiecki, MSN'13, joined the Sanger Heart and Vascular Institute at Atrium Health in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2019, as a nurse practitioner.   

Lydia Rotondo, DNP'13, was co-moderator of "Educators, Leaders and Nurses: Resetting Relationships," presented in April 2022 to VUSN students, alumni, faculty and staff. She is the associate dean for education and student affairs and director of the doctor of nursing program at the University of Rochester School of Nursing in New York and a member of the Systems-Based Practice Working Group of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.  

Michelle Ruslavage, MSN'10, DNP'13, was the moderator for "The American Indian Health Care Delivery System: How and Why it Works," in June 2021, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and a panelist for "Loan Repayment Programs: What Are They and How Do They Work?" hosted by the VUSN Alumni Board Mentoring Committee in July. She received the Alma Gault Award for Public Service presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October 2020, and was deployed earlier in the year to operationalize and perform COVID-19 screenings in Massachusetts at the Boston Logan International Airport quarantine station. Michelle is a captain in the U.S. Public Health Service, a public health analyst with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and an instructor at VUSN.

Denise Savage-Desai, MSN'13, is a nurse practitioner at Vanderbilt Student Health, specializing in the care of young adults (2021).

Michele Sazama, DNP'13, is an adult nurse practitioner at Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center Clinic in Gilbert, Arizona (2018). 

Laurel Kagan Schaefer, MSN'13, DNP'19, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022.

Jessica Rogers Searcy, MSN'13, DNP'15, welcomed a baby in March 2018 and received the VUSN Sara K. Archer Excellence in Teaching Award from students in the Women's Health Nurse Practitioner specialty that year and in 2017.

John Shields, DNP'13, received the Clinical Excellence Award from Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia in Madison, in June 2016. He is a nurse anesthetist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Erin Black Shankel, MSN'03, PMC'13, was honored in May 2022 as one of 50 outstanding graduates of Belmont University School of Nursing in Nashville, where she is an associate professor and family nurse practitioner coordinator.

Lauren Barber Shurson, MSN'13, co-wrote "Development of an Interprofessional Home Healthcare Management Service within an Urban Housing Development," published in the September/October 2019 issue of Home Healthcare Now. She is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing in Tucson.

Rebecca Silvers, MSN'13, DNP'21, co-received a Best Abstract Honor at the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies conference in July 2022, where she presented a poster, "Capacity Building in Northern Laos: An Evaluation of the Pediatric Nursing Training Program at Laos Friends Hospital for Children." She is lead author of "Capacity Building in Low- and Middle-income Countries: The Essentials of Sustainable Education Programs," published in the August issue of The Nurse Practitioner. In September, Rebecca was named inaugural director of the Center for Global Nursing at the University of California San Francisco, where she is a pediatric neurosurgery and critical care nurse practitioner at the Benioff Children's Hospitals, and assistant clinical professor in the School of Nursing. She is lead author of "Capacity Building in Northern Laos: An Evaluation of the Pediatric Nursing Training Program at Laos Friends Hospital for Children," published in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine in November. Rebecca is VUSN's Founder's Medalist for 2021.

Megan Simmons, MSN'05, PMC'13, DNP'13, presented at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties conference in April 2022 and wrote "Older Adult Mental Health," for the May issue of Tennessee Nurse. She was named academic director of the VUSN psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner specialty, effective August, and was featured in Nurse.com in the article, "Mental Health Nursing Fast-growing Field with Diverse Possibilities," published in October. Megan co-presented, "Innovative Strategies for Optimizing Virtual Learning and Telehealth Simulation Experiences for PMHNP Students," at the American Psychiatric Nurses Association conference in October 2021. She welcomed babies in July 2020 and in March 2018. Megan spoke about mental and emotional health in older adults during Vanderbilt's January 2017 Boomers, Elders and More series, and earned the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association's first-ever Rising Star Award in August 2015.  

Edward Sizemore, DNP'13, is a family nurse practitioner for KentuckyOne Health Primary Care Associates in Clay City, and an instructor at University of Kentucky College of Nursing in Lexington (2018). 

Ben Small, MSN'13, is a research nurse at the Vanderbilt Center for Undiagnosed Diseases (2020).

Ebony Smith, MSN'13, is a nurse practitioner at Regional One Health in Memphis, Tennessee, where she works in ambulatory and inpatient care for high-risk pregnancies (2020).

Jud Smith, MSN'13, received the 2020 VUSN Tradition Meets Innovation Award for Faculty in July 2020.

Andrea Sporck, MSN'13, is an in vitro fertilization nurse practitioner at Nashville Fertility Center (2020).

Shannon Morris Stevenson, BA'11, MSN'13, joined Emory University in Atlanta in September 2021 as an assistant professor in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. She welcomed a baby in November 2020.

Meredith Stringer, MSN'13, is a nurse practitioner in the neurosurgery section of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and an instructor in surgery at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, both in Lebanon, New Hampshire (2020).

Jennifer Tourville, MSN'13, DNP'16, is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Tennessee Knoxville College of Nursing (2020).

Dawn Vanderhoef, MSN'00, PMC'13, is co-author of "The Impact of an Educational Intervention on Nursing Staff Attitudes toward Patients Experiencing Homelessness and Mental Illness," published in the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association in May 2021. She co-authored "Implementation of a Collaborative Smoking Cessation Referral Process in a Psychiatric Setting," published in the Journal for Interprofessional Education & Practice in March 2020, and received the VUSN Sara K. Archer Excellence in Teaching Award from the students in the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner specialty in August. Dawn presented "Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: A Treatment Team Approach," at the Tennessee Nurse Practitioner Association conference in March 2019. She was selected to participate in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's 2018 Leadership for Academic Nursing Program, and was interviewed about the role of neuropsychology nurses in mental health treatment that April on SiriusXM's Doctor Radio. She presented "Wait, What Mood Disorders are on a Spectrum? Identification of Mood Disorders in Primary Care," at the TNPA conference that year. Dawn received the Sara K. Archer Award in August 2017, was selected as a fellow of the American Association for Nurse Practitioners in 2016, and received the 2015 Award for Excellence in Education from the American Psychiatric Nurses Association.  

Jade Ward Vergara, MSN'13, received the Excellence in Community Service Award from the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association, and support from the VUSN Faculty Scholarship Program for the project, "Examining Quality of Life in Older Adults Living Near a Rock Quarry in a Historically Black Community," both in September 2022. She received the Alma Gault Alumni Award for Public Service presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October. Jade received the DAISY Award for Recognition of Small Group Facilitator at the PreSpecialty Level at VUSN in June 2021, and co-presented a poster, "Structured Debrief: From Theory to Integration," at the American Psychiatric Nurses Association annual conference in October. She is an instructor at VUSN.

Lauren Watts, MSN'13, is a nurse practitioner at Unity Medical Center in Antioch, Tennessee (2017).

Tim Wilson, MSN'13, DNP'14, is in the PhD program at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland as a William Randolph Hearst Scholar (2016). 

Briana Witherspoon, MSN'11, DNP'13, co-presented "Advanced Practice Fellowship: Supporting Transitions to Practice," at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in May 2018 during Aprilfest, and presented at the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant Critical Care Bootcamp at VUMC that August. 

Kathy Davis Yoder, DNP'13, gave a presentation to the public in Bloomington in February 2019 about the effects of opioid abuse. She is the coroner for McLean County, Illinois.

Sarah Allen, MSN'14, is a family nurse practitioner at the Family Health Center in Ashland City, Tennessee (2016).

Sean Anderson, MSN'14, was recognized in Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Discover blog in 2019 for a reference tool he created to help nurses care for stroke patients.

Ally Thompson Bateman, BA'12, MSN'14, DNP'16, was a panelist for "Kids and Navigating the Pandemic: A Lesson in Resilience," in January 2021, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She and her husband, Yates, BE'14, are listed on a Vanderbilt Development and Alumni Relations Valentine's Day website about couples who met while students at the university. Ally is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Green Hills Family Psych in Nashville.

Brooklyn Beaupre, MSN'14, is a cardiology nurse practitioner at Mountain States Medical Group in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Cindy Blalock, MSN'14, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021. She was featured in the April 2016 issue of Dr. Oz The Good Life magazine for her inspiring weight loss story.  

Sarah Bloom, MSN'14, was interviewed by the Nashville Scene in December 2020 in an article honoring health care workers as Nashvillians of the Year. In August 2018, she presented at the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant Critical Care Bootcamp at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she is a nurse practitioner in the medical intensive care center.

Laura Bowling, BA'12, MSN'14, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at VIP Midsouth Children's Clinic in Hendersonville and Portland, Tennessee (2021).

Debra Burch, MSN'14, is a neonatal nurse practitioner at Children's Minnesota in Minneapolis (2022).

Jessica Burke, MSN'14, is a nurse practitioner working with liver transplant patients in the Henry Ford Health System in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan (2018).

Rachelle Burleson, DNP'14, was named chief nursing officer of Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center in Enid, Oklahoma, in December 2016.

Brynn Atchley Byers, MSN'14, was named among Champions of Health Care by the Chattanooga Times Free Press in September 2021.

Meagan Hingle Casey, MSN'14, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at the Children's Hospital in New Orleans, where she was the first PNP in its emergency department fast track program (2016).

Melody Castillo, MSN'14, co-authored a chapter in the book, Best Practices in Midwifery, 2^nd ed., published by Springer Publishing in August 2016. She is a family nurse practitioner and certified nurse-midwife at Golden Valley Health Center's women's health clinic in Merced, California.

LaTonia Chalmers, MSN'14, is president of the North Carolina Chapter of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (2021).

Meredith Chin, MSN'14, is a family nurse practitioner at Scripps Health in Solana Beach, California (2020).

Susan Butler Ching, MSN'14, is a certified acute care pediatric nurse practitioner at Phoenix Children's Medical Group (2018).

Holly Cline, MSN'14, was a panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's annual MSN Know Your Value in January 2020, and co-authored a chapter on hepatitis C treatment in an e-book, Sexually Transmitted Infections, An Issue of Nursing Clinics, published by Elsevier Health Sciences that August. She was featured in a WKRN-Nashville story in July 2019 about her experience with Nurse Corps and the nursing shortage. Holly is an adult nurse practitioner at Neighborhood Health in Nashville.

Beverly Cotton, DNP'14, was a panelist for a discussion that followed a presentation by U.S. Congressperson Lauren Underwood to members of the VUSN community, and for "Advancing Health Equity for Native Americans," hosted by the VUSN Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in November, part of Vanderbilt University's celebration of Native American Heritage Month. She was a panelist for two VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forums, "The American Indian Health Care Delivery System: How and Why it Works," in June 2021, and "SANE: Improving Outcomes for Survivors of Sexual Assault," that October. She was quoted by the Neshoba Democrat and WTOK-TV for leading an Indian Health Service critical response team from Tennessee at the Choctaw Health Center near Philadelphia, Mississippi, in June 2020, to assist in COVID-19 care. Beverly was named director of the Nashville Area of the IHS in February 2019. 

Jenny Cotton, MSN'14, received the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Nursing Professional Development Award in May 2018.

Julie Craig, MSN'14, moved to Georgetown, Texas, in 2019, where she works at Concentra.

Cindy Cunningham, PMC'14, joined Fellowship Health Resources in Georgetown, Delaware in May 2016 as a nurse practitioner. She was named as the state's top mental health nurse by the Delaware Nurses Association.

Colleen Cusick, MSN'14, DNP'17, is director of materials management and general services at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore (2021).

Joni Bauguss Cutshall, MSN'14, is a family nurse practitioner at the Family Health Center in Ashland City, Tennessee (2016).

Stefani Davis, MSN'14, DNP'16, is a women's health nurse practitioner at Ohio Breast and Cancer Surgeons in Columbus (2016).

Christa DeGrazia, MSN'14, is a women's health nurse practitioner at Peak Medical Clinic in Medford, Oregon (2017).

Stacey Denver, DNP'14, is executive director for pediatric outpatient services for the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (2021).

Mira Desai, MSN'14, was a panelist for "COVID, Quarantining and Geriatrics: How Can We Help Elders Stay Safe and Strong This Winter?" in December 2020, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She is lead telehealth nurse practitioner at Oak Street Health in Washington, D.C.

Sarah Dietrich, MSN'14, was a panelist for "Transition to APRN Practice," hosted by the VUSN Alumni Board Mentoring Committee in August 2021. She is a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Professional Care Services of West Tennessee in Covington.

Jenna Dillon, MSN'14, is a women's health nurse practitioner at Swan Urogynecology in Nashville, Dickson and Mount Juliet, Tennessee (2020).

Marjorie Eiland, MSN'14, was named the 2021 Preceptor of the Year by the VUSN Pediatric Nurse Practitioner-Primary Care specialty. She is a nurse practitioner at Ross Bridge Medical Center Pediatrics in Hoover, Alabama.

Ekom Essien, BS'10, MSN'14, was named president-elect of the VUSN Alumni Board in September 2022. She served as moderator of "Kids and Navigating the Pandemic: A Lesson in Resilience," in January 2021, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and was a panelist for "Transition to APRN Practice," hosted by the VUSN Alumni Board Mentoring Committee in August. She is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Maple City Health Care Center and on faculty at Goshen College, both in Indiana.

Claire Harper, MSN'14, presented, "Advocacy as a Tool for Growth and Diversity in the Midwifery Workforce," at the American College of Nurse-Midwives conference in May 2022.

Megan Harvey, PMC'14, is a pediatric intensive care unit advanced practice provider at the Children's Medical Center Dallas, working with critically ill newborns to age 21, in the areas of respiratory, neurology, neurosurgery, trauma, cardiac, gastrointestinal, renal, hematology/oncology, endocrine and chronic disease processes and services. She is an acute care pediatric nurse practitioner clinical faculty member at Texas Technological University Health Sciences Center (2019).

Brittany Hollibaugh Haskell, MSN'14, published "Identification and Evidence-based Treatment of Post–acute Withdrawal Syndrome," in January 2022 in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, and presented, "Creating Healthy Work Environments," at the Sigma conference in March. She co-represented VUSN at a plenary session at the Creating Healthy Work Environments conference in April on how the school was deemed a Sigma Academic Healthy Work Environment Award workplace. She co-authored "Simulated Home Visit to Promote Chronic Disease Management Competencies in Prelicensure Nursing Students," published in June in Nurse Educator, and presented, "Identification and Evidence-based Treatment of Post-acute Withdrawal Symptoms," at the American Psychiatric Nurses Association conference in October. Brittany was named a Rising Star Nurse Leader in February 2021 by the Tennessee Action Coalition, Tennessee Nurses Association and Tennessee Hospital Association. She presented at the Tennessee chapter of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association at its annual conference in April, and was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in June. In October, Brittany co-presented a poster, "Structured Debrief: From Theory to Integration," and spoke on, "Mental Health Virtual Escape Room," at the APNA annual conference. She is author of "Suicide Assessment and Follow Up Care," published in American Nurse and co-author of "Remembering and Honoring Tennessee Nurses Who are Deceased as a Result of the COVID-19 Pandemic," in Tennessee Nurse, both in December. Brittany was featured in February 2020 on the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching website in its Junior Faculty Spotlight. She is lead author of "Easing the Psychological Impact of COVID-19 for Nurses," published in April in American Nurse, "Impact of a Standardized Patient Simulation on Behavioral Health Nurse Resident Confidence and Satisfaction in Learning," in the July/August Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, and "Easing the Psychological Impact of COVID-19 for Nurses: An Update for Tennessee Nurses," published in the summer issue of Tennessee Nurse. Brittany co-authored "Treating Child and Adolescent Depression and Anxiety in Primary Care," and "Treating Child and Adolescent Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Behavioral Disorders in Primary Care," both in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in September. She was a panelist for "Compassion Fatigue during COVID-19: How Nurses and NPs Can Stay Grounded," in November, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. Brittany was named to the CFT Junior Faculty Fellows program in August 2019 and received her doctor of nursing practice from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in October 2018. Her project is titled "Bridging the Gap: A Standardized Patient Facilitated Simulation for Behavioral Health Nurse Residents." Brittany is treasurer of the Tennessee Nurses Foundation.

Kimberly Hatchel, DNP'14, was named senior vice president of the Bronson Healthcare system and chief operating officer of Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in October 2022. The news was covered by Becker's Hospital Review, Grand Rapids Business Journal, M Live, WKZO and WWMT. She was featured on the Stirring the Shot podcast, "#AskTheCNO," in November 2021. She has served as chief nursing officer at Blake Medical Center in Sarasota, Florida, and of KentuckyOne Health in Lexington.

Tanicia Washington Haynes, MSN'14, is the author of "The Importance of Skincare," published in the February/March 2022 issue of the Vanderbilt Connection newsletter. She is a nurse practitioner at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center occupational health clinic.

Aaron Hirsch, MSN'14, received the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Five Pillar Leader Award in May 2016.

Elizabeth Huggins, MSN'14, co-authored "Dedicated, Proactive, Nurse Practitioner Rapid Response Team Eliminating Barriers," published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in September 2019.

Josh Hughes, MSN'14, is the star of the 2017 Nurse Corps Loan Repayment video. He is a nurse practitioner at Tri-Cities Community Health in Pasco, Washington.

Kelsey Skillas Hunger , MSN'14, is a nurse practitioner at CHI Saint Luke Hospital in Houston, Texas, caring for patients who have undergone heart transplant or left ventricular assist device surgery (2017).

Katie Dremann Justice, MSN'93, PMC'14, is on staff at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City (2017).

Melanie Keiffer, DNP'14, is vice chair of graduate programs and a clinical professor at the University of Vermont in Burlington. She had been an associate professor at the University of San Francisco School of Nursing and Health Professions (2021).

Nancy Kendall, MSN'14, is an advanced practice registered nurse at University Health Services Manoa in Honolulu, treating University of Hawaii students and staff (2019).

Janna Jones Kersh, MSN'14, is a certified nurse-midwife at Beaufort Memorial Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialists in South Carolina (2016).  

Hannah Wachtmeister Kestner, MSN'14, DNP'16, welcomed a baby in May 2022, and is one of eighteen Vanderbilt University faculty members named a Junior Faculty Teaching fellow in June 2021. She welcomed a baby in August 2020, and her proposal was accepted for funding from the VUSN Faculty Scholarship Program in October for the project, "Assessing the Value of Interprofessional Simulation and Home Visits in Improving the Level of Nursing and Pharmacy Student's Core Competencies in Interprofessional Education Collaboration." Hannah is an instructor in the PreSpecialty program at VUSN.

Christian Ketel, DNP'14, co-received the Vanderbilt Martin Luther King Jr. Award in January 2022 for developing and leading the Vanderbilt Mobile Vaccine Program, and was a panelist for "COVID Perspectives, Values and Vaccination Hesitancy," presented by the VUSN Diversity and Inclusion Committee. He presented, "Resilience in a New Normal," at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center's Community Outreach and Engagement Program in February and was featured that month in Daily Nurse. He was inducted as a fellow of the National Academies of Practice in March, and presented, "Academic Practice Partnerships," at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties conference in April. In May, the VMVP co-founders received an American Association of Nurse Practitioners award (covered by Nashville Post and Vanderbilt University Research News), and Christian was honored as a Nurse Hero by the University of Tennessee Health Science Center's College of Nursing. He co-authored "Integrating Behavioral Health into Primary Care for Women," published in Advances in Family Practice Nursing, and was promoted to associate professor at VUSN in June. Christian contributed to Advances in Family Practice Nursing, E-Book 2022 published by Elsevier in 2022. He co-presented "Suicide Detection in a Nurse-led, Interprofessional Primary Care Practice: A Two-year Report of Quality," at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference in June, and was featured on the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance website in July. He was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal in  September for "Some People Are Finally Getting Their First Dose of a Covid-19 Vaccine." Christian is co-founder and co-leader of the VUSN/VUMC Mobile Vaccine team that has been actively providing COVID-19 vaccines and boosters throughout Middle Tennessee, covered in 2021 by Fox 17, NewsChannel 5, Tennessee Tribune and WSMV. He is lead author of "Suicide Detection and Treatment in a Nurse-led, Interprofessional Primary Care Practice: A 2-year Report of Quality Data," published in The Nurse Practitioner in April, and, "Nurse Practitioners as Gatekeepers for Suicidality: Asking Can Save a Life," on The Nurse Practitioner blog, published in June. He co-authored "Education to Improve Point of Care Documentation in Home Care Nurses: A Quality Improvement Project," in CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing in July. Christian spoke at the VUSN Alumni Board's annual DNP Know Your Value in January 2020 and was a panelist for "Public Health in the COVID Era: Community Driven Response + Equity-Driven Changes," hosted by the Vanderbilt University Alumni Office in July. He was named co-director of interprofessional education and inter-institutional collaborative learning for the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance in September. Christian received both the VUSN Ingeborg Mauksch Excellence in Faculty Mentoring Award and the Dean's Award for Faculty Achievement in Clinical Practice in June 2019. He co-wrote "Development of an Interprofessional Home Healthcare Management Service within an Urban Housing Development," published in the September/October issue of Home Healthcare Now, and received the Nursing Excellence Award from the Tennessee Nurses Association in October. Christian co-authored "Evidence-based Development in Nurse-led Interprofessional Teams," published in Nursing Management in May 2015. 

Mirini Kim, BMUS'12, MSN'14, is the head of nursing for Pocket RN, headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

Kathleen Kinser, MSN'14, DNP'17, is a nursing instructor at Northeast State Community College's Regional Center for Health Professions in Kingsport, Tennessee (2021).

Serena Knoop, MSN'14, co-authored "Outcomes after Implementing Restrictive Blood Transfusion Criteria in Extremely Premature Infants," published in Journal of Perinatology in June 2019. She is a neonatal nurse practitioner at Spectrum Health in Caledonia, Michigan.

Katie Krill, MSN'14, welcomed a baby in June 2017 and earned her doctor of nursing practice from the University of Utah College of Nursing in 2016. She is a nurse practitioner at Meridien in Salt Lake City.

Melanie Scott Krishnamurthy, MSN'14, got married in July 2016. She is on staff at Womens Group of Franklin in Tennessee.

Erin Kyle, MSN'12, DNP'14, was promoted to editor-in-chief of Guidelines for Perioperative Practice, a publication of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, in 2020, where she is a perioperative practice specialist.

Van Lam, MSN'14, is a nurse practitioner at Middle Tennessee Family Care in Mount Juliet (2017).

Luisa Leal, MSN'12, DNP'14, opened a practice, New Horizon Clinic, in 2016 and moved to Smyrna, Tennessee, in January 2022. She and the clinic specialize in endocrinology and radiofrequency ablations.

Clint Leonard, MSN'14, received the VUSN DAISY Award for Small Group Facilitator at the PreSpecialty Level in June 2020. He presented a poster, "Implementing Virtual Reality as a Non-Pharmacologic Adjunct for Burn Care," at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Chronic Pain Conference in April 2019, and was named to the Center for Teaching Junior Faculty Fellows program at Vanderbilt University in August. Clint is an instructor at VUSN. 

Caché Longmire, MSN'14, became the first nurse practitioner at the University of Mississippi Medical Center's Cooperative for Innovation Research and Clinical Engagement Clinic in Jackson, in March 2021. The clinic provides research into the human immunodeficiency virus.

Allison Lorenzi, MSN'14, is a nurse practitioner at the Vancouver Clinic in Washington (2017).

Hannah Carroll Lowe, MSN'14, moderated the VUSN Alumni Board's annual MSN Know Your Value event, "Best Practices for Virtual Interviewing," in March 2022, and sessions one and two of "Nutrition Update for Nurses: Research, Recommendations and References You Can Use," in May and June, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She served as moderator in February 2021 for MSN Know Your Value, and moderated "Loan Repayment Programs: What Are They and How Do They Work?" hosted in July by the Alumni Board's Mentoring Committee. She moderated the MSN Know Your Value program in January 2020 and welcomed a baby in October. Hannah is past-president of the Alumni Board, a family nurse practitioner at Premise Health PRN, and owner of Nutritional Medical Solutions in Huntsville, Alabama.

Buffy Lupear, DNP'14, PMC'22, co-presented, "Prioritizing Wellness from Within," in February 2022 as part of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Advanced Practice Grand Rounds, and is co-author of "Development and Testing of an Advanced Practice Clinical Advancement Program within an Academic Medical Center," published in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners in September 2021. She is mentioned in a January 2020 Overton County News story about Vanderbilt researchers studying noise levels during critical times of surgery, and the impact on patient safety and employee well-being, and is co-author of "Development and Testing of an Advanced Practice Clinical Advancement Program within an Academic Medical Center, published in July in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. She presented that year at the National League for Nursing Summit about her experience as an American Nurses Credentialing Center Practice Transition Accreditation Program fellow. Buffy co-authored "Assessing and Addressing Practitioner Burnout: Results from an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Health and Well-being Study," published in November 2019 in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. She was published in VUMC's The Empowered Nurse: Peer-Reviewed Journal for Innovative VUMC Nursing Research, Volume 1, Issue 2, in November 2018, and received the March of Dimes Tennessee Chapter Advanced Practice Nurse of the Year Award in December 2016.

Orlin Marques, MSN'14, DNP'16, is on the advisory committee of DNPs of Color (2021).

Matt Martin, MSN'12, DNP'14, became assistant vice president of quality and patient safety at HCA Healthcare—North Florida Division in Tallahassee in April 2022. He had been director of regulatory and accreditation services at HCA Healthcare–Clinical Operations Group in Nashville, and is an instructor at VUSN and a member of the Alumni Board.

Julia McDaniel, MSN'14, is an assistant in medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center's division of geriatric medicine (2022).

Caitlyn McIntyre, MSN'14, is a nurse practitioner specializing in behavioral health at Confluence Health in North Central Washington State (2020).

Renate Meier, MSN'14, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022. She is an assistant in obstetrics and gynecology at Vanderbilt Health.

Whitney Burnie Middleton, MSN'14, was featured in Worldwide Leaders in Healthcare in September 2017.

Rosemarie Milano, DNP'14, is assistant professor of nursing at the Oregon Health and Science University School of Nursing in Portland (2022).

Elizabeth Morse, MSN'11, DNP'14, is a nurse practitioner at East Nashville Family Medicine (2016).

Paula Murphy, MSN'14, is a family nurse practitioner at Axis Medical in White House, Tennessee (2016).

Lucas Neufeld, MSN'14, is a wound care consultant for Integumetrix in Nashville (2018).

Katie Fischer Oetjens, BA'12, MSN'14, was a panelist for "Transition to APRN Practice," hosted by the VUSN Alumni Board Mentoring Committee in August 2021. She is a family nurse practitioner at the Geisinger-Bucknell Autism and Developmental Medicine Institute in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

Jo Susan Offutt-Blackaby, MSN'14, is a psychiatric nurse practitioner at the Evelyn Frye Center in Nashville (2017).

Kassie Padgett, MSN'14, is on staff at the Children's Hospital of San Antonio and an instructor at Baylor College of Medicine (2016).

Kelly Peterson, MSN'14, is a nurse practitioner in the craniofacial/plastic surgery center at Seattle Children's Hospital, where she treats both inpatients and outpatients in site and in several area clinics (2018).

Elaine Dauwalder Porter, DNP'14, was elected to serve on the Society of Vascular Nursing's board of directors for the 2021-23 term. She joined the staff at Washington Regional Hospitalists in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in October 2021.

Stefanie Porter, MSN'14, was interviewed in February 2020 by My Southern Health for the article, "What to Expect from Cardiac Rehab." She is a cardiac surgery nurse practitioner at the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute.

Carly Prentice, BA'12, MSN'14, is a nurse practitioner at Faith Family Medical Center in Nashville (2020).

Gabrielle Quirao, MSN'14, is a family nurse practitioner at the Kirkland Air Force Base in Albuquerque (2016).

Lindsay Smith Ramsey, MSN'14, spoke at Vanderbilt University Medical Center's 2016 Aprilfest.

Carrie Reale, MSN'14, received the Harriet H. Werley Award from the American Medical Informatics Association in November 2020. She is an informatics nurse specialist in the Center for Research and Innovation in Systems Safety at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Laura Reviere, MSN'14, is a women's health nurse practitioner at Womens Group of Franklin in Tennessee (2020).

Amanda Rhoads, MSN'14, is a nurse practitioner at One Medical's The Works Office in El Segundo, California (2020).

Jennifer David Ridgway, MSN'14, DNP'17, was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in June 2022, and is lead author of "Interactive, Case-based Teaching Design Strategies for Nurse Practitioner Students," published in June 2021 in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners. She was featured on the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching website in April 2020 for her work leading VUSN students to continue with clinical interaction while away from campus due to COVID-19. Jennifer led a group of VUSN students in March 2019 to teach children at the KIPP Kirkpatrick School in Nashville how to better manage asthma. That summer, she received the VUSN DAISY Award for Small Group Facilitator at the PreSpecialty Level and was named to the CFT Junior Faculty Fellows program. Jennifer presented a poster at the May 2018 Nurses Week Research Nurses Poster Session at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Kristen Hall Riley, MSN'14, is a nurse practitioner in child neurology at the University of Louisville Physicians in Kentucky (2019).

Ann Spofford Ripley, BS'11, MSN'14, is a nurse practitioner at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond (2019).

Ashley Ritter, MSN'14, joined New River Health District in Virginia in July 2019 as a nurse practitioner, focusing on women's reproductive health.

Susanna Rudy, MSN'14, DNP'16, is among the organizers of VUSN's participation in a mass-vaccination event at Nashville's Nissan Stadium in March 2021. She was a panelist for "How the Media and Entertainment Industry Perpetuate Stereotypes of Nursing (and Why That Hurts Everyone)," in May, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and is a contributing author for the first edition of Emergency Nurse Practitioner Core Curriculum, published by Springer in August. Susanna received the VUSN Sara K. Archer Excellence in Teaching Award from students in the Emergency Nurse Practitioner specialty in May 2020, and co-authored "Boarding of Critically Ill Patients in the Emergency Department," published in July in the Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open (and featured by JournalFeed in October). She presented "Point-of-care Ultrasound," at the American Association of Nursing Practitioners conference in June 2019, and co-wrote "Expanding Virtual Reality to Teach Ultrasound Skills to Nurse Practitioner Student," published in Studies in Health Technology and Informatics that July. She was featured in Research News@Vanderbilt in October 2016. Susanna is a provider for the Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Patrol, critical care and emergency medicine advanced practice nurse in the Federal Emergency Medical Administration Disaster Relief, and advanced practice ultrasound coordinator at VUSN.

Lorraine Shields, DNP'14, is an associate professor and director of the doctor of nursing practice program at California Baptist University in Riverside (2022).

Lauren Siniscalchi, MSN'14, is a family nurse practitioner specializing in neurology and cognitive disorders at Foothills Neurology in Phoenix (2020).

Lauren Skibiel, BA'12, MSN'14, is a registered nurse at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto, California (2018).

Kelly Smerling, BA'12, MSN'14, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Longwood Pediatrics in Boston (2020).

Carolyn Smith, BS'13, MSN'14, is a pediatric nurse practitioner in the rheumatology clinic at Children's of Alabama in Birmingham (2018). 

Erica Smith, MSN'14, is nursing director at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Houston, Texas (2022).

Nikita Smith, MSN'14, joined Adventist Health Physicians Network in Hanford, California, in March 2016 as a family nurse practitioner.

Sarah Stein Smith, MSN'14, is highlighted on the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's website for her research on "Outcomes of Heart Transplantation Using HCV Donors" (2018).

Nicole Erridge Sovey, MSN'14, DNP'16, presented a poster of her doctor of nursing practice project at the Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health national conference in October 2017. She is a nurse practitioner at Detroit Medical Center Hartland Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Marcy Stoots, DNP'14, is general manager of electronic health record applications for Geisinger Health System's xG Health in Florida (2016). 

Derrick Stratton, MSN'14, received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in October 2021.

Allison Sullivan, MSN'14, received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in October 2021.

Charleen Tachibana, DNP'14, is senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle (2016).

Lisa Taylor, MSN'12, DNP'14, received the 2018 State Award for Nurse Practitioner Excellence for New Mexico from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. She is a family nurse practitioner in primary care and diabetes management at the U.S. Veterans Administration and an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico College of Nursing, both in Albuquerque.

Paula Tucker, DNP'14, was inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners in September 2021, and presented "Could This Headache Kill Me?" at the AANP conference in June 2019. She is featured on the American Academy of Emergency Nurse Practitioners website. She is AAENP Practice Committee co-chair, AANP emergency NP special interest group co-chair, and clinical assistant professor at Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta.

Sheila Umayam, MSN'12, DNP'14, received a scholarship from the American Academy of Pediatrics' Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics to attend the 2022 Developmental-behavioral Pediatrics Course, An Intensive Clinical Update for Primary and Sub-specialty Care. She passed the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board's primary care pediatric mental health specialist examination, thereby becoming a pediatric mental health specialist. Sheila was featured in the Kennedy Krieger Institute Potential Magazine in an August 2021 story about one of her patients at the Center for Autism and Related Disorders in Baltimore, where she is a pediatric nurse practitioner. She got married in October 2016 and went on a medical mission trip to Colombia that year. Sheila was nominated for the Excellence in Clinical Care by a Nurse Practitioner Award.

Julie Vasher, DNP'14, co-authored "Safety Assessment of a Large-scale Improvement Collaborative to Reduce Nulliparous Cesarean Delivery Rates," published in the April 2019 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and "Reduction of Severe Maternal Morbidity from Hemorrhage Using a State Perinatal Quality Collaborative," published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in March 2017. She helped to create the California Material Quality Care Collaborative toolkit to support vaginal birth and reduce primary cesareans and was honored as the 2016 Outstanding Alumnus of Northland Pioneer College in Holbrook, Arizona. 

Dina Velocci, DNP'14, was named president of the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology starting August 2021. The news was reported in the Daily Herald.

Barbara Wadsworth, DNP'14, was listed by Becker's Hospital Review in May 2020 as one of "50+ hospital and health system CNOs to know," while she was serving as senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Main Line Health in Philadelphia. In October, she was promoted to become the system's first chief operating officer. Barbara was honored as the commencement speaker for the Immaculata University College of Graduate Studies in May 2019 in East Whiteland, Pennsylvania.

Marita Walton, MSN'14, is an acute care nurse practitioner in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson (2017).

Kyli Riehl Whitehead, MSN'14, is lead author of "Updated Pediatric Developmental Milestones: Implications for Pediatric Providers," published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in October 2022.

Cherise Williams, MSN'14, is a cardiothoracic surgery nurse practitioner at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital in Pennsylvania (2016).

Molly Tashiro Williams, MSN'14, is co-author of "Improving Medical and Nurse Practitioner Student Confidence and Clinical Skill in Advance Care Plan Development: A Multidisciplinary Mentorship Model," published in the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine in May 2021. She was on the faculty of the Palliative Care to You conference in April 2018 at Vanderbilt University. 

Reese Williams, MSN'14, received her doctor of nursing practice from Drexel University in Philadelphia, in August 2019. She is chief clinical practitioner in the division of cardiothoracic surgery at Commonwealth Health in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where she works in pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative care.

Tim Wilson, MSN'13, DNP'14, is in the PhD program at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland as a William Randolph Hearst Scholar (2016). 

Lydia Yeager, BA'12, MSN'14, DNP'16, was a panelist for "Kids and Navigating the Pandemic: A Lesson in Resilience," in January 2021, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and was published in the March 2019 issue of Nursing Clinics. She is director of care management, director of school-based health at Ryan Health in New York.

Sam Younger, MSN'14, is author of "Leveraging Advanced Practice Nursing in Complex Health Care Systems," published in the April/June 2020 issue of Nursing Administration Quarterly. He is director at Claro Healthcare in Chicago, where he manages a team responsible for clinical performance improvement in hospitals across the country.

Stefani Davis Yudasz, MSN'14, DNP'16, was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in June 2022. She received the VUSN Sara K. Archer Excellence in Teaching Award from students in the Women's Health Nurse Practitioner specialty in August 2021, and presented "Benign Breast Conditions: The Role of the WHNP," at the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health conference in October. She welcomed a baby in March 2020, co-authored "Sexual Violence Screening for Women across the Lifespan," published in Advances in Family Practice Nursing in May, and wrote "Assessment and Management of Benign Breast Lesions: Role of the WHNP," published in Women's Healthcare: A Clinical Journal for NPs in December. Stefani authored a chapter on breast pain in the 2^nd edition of Adult-Gerontology Practice Guidelines, published by Springer in December 2018.

Joseph Bailey, MSN'15, is a nurse practitioner at Crestwood Medical Center in Huntsville, Alabama (2021).

Marcia Spear Barnes, MSN'99, DNP'15, wrote "Does TNA Need a Political Action Committee (PAC)?" published in the August 2022 issue of Tennessee Nurse. She is director of government affairs for the Tennessee Nurses Association and District 15 president, as well as treasurer of the Tennessee Nurses Political Action Committee.

Ashley Bernard, MSN'15, DNP'17, is a nurse practitioner at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, serving on a team that provides cardiology-focused care for acutely decompensated heart failure and cardiogenic shock patients in the cardiac care unit (2019).

Maggie Logan Berghoff, MSN'15, founded Higher Health Solutions, a virtual practice for functional medicine consulting (2015).

Stephanie Hunt Boyd, MSN'11, DNP'15, was named among the About Stark Twenty Under 40 list in June 2018, and received the Northeast Ohio Organization for Nurse Executives 2015 Aspiring Nurse Leader Award.  

Megan Breyer, MSN'15, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Nurture Pediatrics in Smyrna, Tennessee (2020).

Stacey Browning, MSN'13, DNP'15, is assistant professor at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro in the Department of Nursing and the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences (2018).

Vania Brown-Small, DNP'15, is the associate director of behavioral services and psychiatric nursing at Stony Brook University Hospital in New York (2017).

Pamela Bruce, MSN'13, DNP'15, was a panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's annual DNP Know Your Value in January 2020. She is director of quality and clinical transformation for Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network.

Alex Alford Brunhoeber, MSN'15, DNP'17, is an instructor at VUSN (2018).

Gretchen Burchett, MSN'15, is a family nurse practitioner at the Family Health Center in Ashland City, Tennessee (2016).

Desireé Clement, PMC'15, DNP'17, was promoted in February 2022 to assistant dean of graduate clinical programs at Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta, where she has oversight of all masters of science in nursing and doctor of nursing practice advanced practice specialty programs. She was co-chair of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties conference in April, and received the National Teaching Award from the American College of Nurse-Midwives in May. That month, she co-presented at the VUSN alumni Board's annual DNP Know Your Value, and, in June, was inducted as a fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. She presented at the Sigma International Research Conference in Scotland in July, and was inducted as a fellow by the American Academy of Nursing in October. Desireé received the Heart of the Students Award for the masters of science in nursing programs at Emory in January 2021, where she was named family nurse practitioner specialty coordinator a year prior. She served as moderator of "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. Desiree is a dual family nurse practitioner and certified nurse midwife at Clarkston Community Health Center and Harriet Tubman Women's Clinic, co-director of the Georgia Coalition of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, and member of the VUSN Alumni Board.

Ali Sevilla de Cocco, MSN'15, was named to the editorial board of the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health in March 2022. She was quoted in a July 2017 Shelbyville Times-Gazette story about a local model of group prenatal care presented to local women and babies and supported by Vanderbilt University Medical Center, March of Dimes, Tennessee Department of Health and UnitedHealth Group.

Jessica Criser, MSN'15, is on staff at Community Health Centers of Lane County, Oregon (2015). 

Lacey Cross, MSN'15, is co-author of "Utilization of Phone Simulations to Assess Competency within Nursing Education," published in the July 2022 issue of  Nurse Educator, and "Evolving the Assessment of Clinical Judgment: An Individual or Collective Competency?" in the September Nurse Educator. A poster she and colleagues created, "Evaluating Collective Competence to Promote Safe, Effective Care," received first place in the research category at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's Transform 2022 conference in December. Lacey is co-recipient of the VUSN Dean's Award for Recognition of Faculty Achievement in Academic Endeavors, presented in June 2021, and co-presenter of a poster, "Cracking the Code: Building an Escape Room Challenge Using Innovative Strategies through a Team-building Approach," at the National League for Nursing Summit in September. She is on the team whose project, "Educational Innovation to Assess PreSpecialty Students' Ability to Demonstrate Clinical Judgment, Effective Communication, and Teamwork during an Escape Room Simulation," was accepted for funding from the VUSN Faculty Scholarship Program in March 2020. Lacey became a PreSpecialty instructor at VUSN in 2019 after having been a family nurse practitioner with Vanderbilt Health at Metro Nashville Public Schools, a health center serving MNPS employees and their dependents.

Allison Davis, DNP'15, was named interim associate dean for the undergraduate nursing program at Union University in Hendersonville, Tennessee, in 2019.

Taylor DeBoer, MSN'15, DNP'17, is a nurse practitioner specializing in obstetrics and gynecology at the Everett Clinic in Washington state (2021). 

M. Elizabeth Deel, MS'12, MSN'15, was named the assistant clinical director at Austin State Hospital in Texas in May 2020. She manages the clinical departments of psychology, social work, nutrition, and education and rehabilitation.

Marja Hanks Dempsey, DNP'15, is a cardiology nurse practitioner at the Swedish Medical Group in Seattle (2017).

Kelly DeWyer, BA'10, MSN'15, is a nurse practitioner at Northern Virginia Hematology & Oncology Associates (2020).

Kaitlin Divinnie, MSN'15, got married in October 2016. She is an adult-gerontology nurse practitioner in the Gastroenterology Clinic at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta.

Lydia Elliott, MSN'15, was a panelist for "Transition to APRN Practice," hosted by the VUSN Alumni Board Mentoring Committee in August 2021. She is a certified nurse-midwife and family nurse practitioner at Women's Healthcare Associates in Athens, Georgia.

Misty Evans, DNP'15, received the Sara K. Archer Award from students in the VUSN Pediatric Nurse Practitioner-Acute Care specialty in August 2022, and co-authored "Capacity Building in Northern Laos: An Evaluation of the Pediatric Nursing Training Program at Lao Friends Hospital for Children," published in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine in November. She was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in June 2021, and co-authored "Comparison of Hickman versus Proline Central Venous Catheters in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant," published in Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation in March 2020. She was named to the Center for Teaching Junior Faculty Fellows program at Vanderbilt University in August 2019, and received the VUSN Sara K. Archer Award from students in the PNP-AC specialty in 2017 and 2018. Misty had an abstract accepted for poster presentation at the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation conference in February 2016 and started a local chapter for the Association of Pediatric Hematology Oncology Nurses. 

Melissa Ferniz, MSN'15, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at the Children's Hospital in New Orleans (2016).

Emily Fischer, MSN'15, is an orthopedic nurse practitioner at Medstar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., where she specializes in hand and upper extremities and is cross trained in total joints and spine.

Erin Fish, MEd'12, MSN'15, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner in private practice in Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee (2020).

Kaitlyn Fredrick, MSN'15, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Madrona Recovery in Tigard, Oregon (2020).

Chantal Fremont, DNP'15, is vice president for practice and quality for the American Gastroenterological Association, headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland (2022).

Sarah Davis Gast, PMC'13, DNP'15, co-authored "Using a Standardized Rounding Tool to Improve the Incidence of Spontaneous Awakening and Breathing Trials," published in Critical Care Nurse in April 2022, and lead author of "Critical Care Nurses' Experiences of Caring for Patients with COVID-19: Results of a Thematic Analysis," in the American Journal of Critical Care in July. She welcomed a baby that month and received the Sara K. Archer Award from students in the VUSN Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner specialty in August. Sarah is co-author of "Brugada Syndrome: Fatal Consequences of a Must-not-miss Diagnosis," published in Critical Care Nurse in October 2021. She received the Sara K. Archer Award from AGACNP students in August 2020, and presented "Evaluation, Assessment and Differential Diagnosis of the Acute Abdomen," at the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association conference in October 2019. Sarah is co-director of VUSN's doctor of nursing practice Critical Care Fellowship and an assistant professor.

Jane Geyer, MSN'15, is editor of the book, NASPAG's Protocols for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology: A Ready-Reference Guide for Nurses, published by Springer in October 2020, and author of "Contraceptive and Reproductive Care in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus," published in the December 2019 issue of Women's Healthcare. She co-presented at the Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health conference in October 2018, and received second place for her poster presentation at the 2016 NPWH conference. That year, she co-presented about sexual health in teens at the Texas Children's Hospital Advanced Practice Provider Conference. Jane is an instructor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Gordon Gillespie, DNP'15, was named interim dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing in June 2022. He was a panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's annual DNP Know Your Value in March 2021, and was published in the March 2019 issue of Nursing Clinics. He was named a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 2016. Gordon is an associate professor and dean of research at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing and a director on the Emergency Nurses Association's board.

Brenna Gillis, MSN'15, DNP'17, welcomed a baby in November 2022 and is the 2018 Vanderbilt University Founder's Medalist for the School of Nursing. She is a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Genesis Psychiatric Services in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Justin Groce, MSN'15, founded a weight-loss coaching program that was a finalist for the Wilson County Post (Tennessee) Main Street Awards in June 2018. He manages an online personal training and nutrition coaching business, and his articles have been published in STACK Magazine, MidLevelU and the International Society of Sports Nutrition's Scoop. Justin is a nurse practitioner at Bradshaw Health in Lebanon, Tennessee.

Lisa Hachey, DNP'15, is an associate professor in the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing (2022).

Natalie Johnson Hall, MSN'15, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021. She was featured on the VUMC website in its Advanced Practice Provider Spotlight, and is a neurosurgery nurse practitioner in cerebrovascular and brain tumor services. 

Julie Hannah, MSN'15, co-presented, "Implications for Managing Coinciding Heart Failure and Liver Disease in Primary Care," at the America College of Nurse-Midwives conference in May 2022.

Lauren Hansen, MSN'12, DNP'15, opened Bloom Wellness and Aesthetics in November 2017, a boutique private practice in Nashville focusing on a comprehensive approach to women's wellness.

Rebecca Heimburger, MSN'15, spoke during the "Ask the Doctor: Woman to Woman" event in Saint Louis in January 2017, where she is a women's health nurse practitioner at Saint Anthony's Medical Center.

Mary Pullias Henderson, MSN'15, is a nurse practitioner in occupational health at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (2021).

Connie Hill, MSN'15, was named vice president of patient services at Saint Bernards in Jonesboro, Arkansas, in November 2015.  

Elisha Hill, DNP'15, was a panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's annual DNP Know Your Value in January 2020. She is the owner of the Better You Spa and an associate professor of nursing at Union University, both in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

Adrian Hitt, MSN'15, is a care ambassador at Better Therapeutics, a company that develops prescription digital therapeutics for treating chronic disease (2018). 

Sharon Hodges, MSN'15, joined Mercy Urology in Paducah, Kentucky, as an adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner in December 2017.

Katelin Hollingsworth, MSN'15, is a nurse practitioner at East Arkansas Family Health Center in Memphis (2017).

Sarah Holmgren, MSN'15, is a nurse practitioner at Stanford Health Care Associated Internal Medicine in Oakland, California (2017).

Brittany Hooks, MSN'15, is a certified nurse-midwife at Carolina Women's Specialists in Sumter, South Carolina (2017).

Krystal Howard, DNP'15, is a nurse practitioner at the DePaul Community Health Center in Metairie, Louisiana (2022).

Carole Weddington Hunt, PMC'15, DNP'17, was a panelist for "Mental Health and Black America Today: Where Are We?" in February 2021, and a panelist for "Mental Health and Black America Today: Where Are We? (Part 2)" in July, both part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She received the Saint Louis March of Dimes Behavioral Health Nurse of the Year Award in November 2016. Carole is a family psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Genoa Psychiatry, adjunct faculty at Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts, and owner of Dr. Nurse Carole.

Nancy Husson, PMC'15, DNP'18, is lead author of "Education to Improve Point of Care Documentation in Home Care Nurses: A Quality Improvement Project," published in CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing in July 2021.

Denise Isibel, DNP'15, is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington School of Nursing (2017).

Polly Jackson, MSN'15, is a nurse practitioner within a hospitalist group at Mercy Hospital Washington in Missouri (2017).

Marshay James, PMC'15, DNP'17, received the VUSN Sara K. Archer Excellence in Teaching Award from students in the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner-Acute Care specialty in August 2021. She is an instructor at VUSN.

Veronica Johnson, PMC'15, is owner and provider at Moonflower Psychiatry in Asheville, North Carolina (2020).

Melissa Kalensky, DNP'15, presented at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties conference in April 2022, and is the instructor of "Skin, Bones, Hearts and Private Parts," hosted by SkinBonesCME.com. She was featured in Clinical Advisor in November 2021 for "Shelter-based Care NP Dr. Melissa Kalensky Shares COVID-19 Experiences." She presented "Referral to Emergency Medicine," at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference in June 2019, was a panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's annual DNP Know Your Value, and co-authored "Gender Affirmation in Adult Primary Care," published in the November/December issue of The Journal for Nurse Practitioners. Melissa was featured in a May 2017 Chicago Tribune story about her leadership in encouraging the Illinois state legislature to accept full-practice authority. She wrote "More Than 'Minions': Nurses Deserve More Respect from Doctors," published in Stat that November. She is a family nurse practitioner at Rush Oak Park Hospital in Chicago as well as an assistant professor at Rush University College of Nursing.

Kaitlin Kinney, MSN'15, is a pediatric nurse practitioner in Rockwall, Texas, at Lake Ray Hubbard Pediatrics (2017).

Morgan Kleine, MSN'15, joined Goshen Birth Center in Indiana in August 2015 as a certified nurse midwife.

Danielle Boudreaux Knox, MSN'15, co-authored "Building a Safe and Healthy America: Eliminating Corporal Punishment via Positive Parenting," published in the March/April 2020 issue of the Journal of Pediatric Health, and "Child Abuse Response Simulation for Advanced Practice Nursing Students," published in the July/August issue of Clinical Nurse Specialist. She co-presented "Child Abuse and Neglect," in May 2018 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center during Aprilfest. 

Carolyn Latham, MSN'15, is featured on the American Nephrology Nurses Association online library for multiple continuing education topics (2022).

Dana Stann Manning, BA'12, MSN'15, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022.

Christy Golden Mars, MSN'92, DNP'15, is an acute care nurse practitioner at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee (2017).

Rishi Mistry, MSN'15, was a panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's MSN Know Your Value, "Best Practices for Virtual Interviewing," in March 2022. He received the Catherine Hanley Class of 1912 Rising Star Alumni Award presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October 2021. He was named clinical site director of Community Health of Central Washington—Yakima Pediatrics in June 2019, and appointed to the Washington chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics board of trustees as its first nurse practitioner/advanced practice provider member.

Mary Muchendu, MSN'13, DNP'15, was photographed for the June 2018 issue of Vanderbilt Magazine for an article about the university's 'Dores of Distinction program. 

Kimberly Mullins, DNP'15, is an assistant professor of clinical nursing and coordinator of the adult/gerontology nurse practitioner distance-learning program at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing (2017).

Brittany Nicosia, MSN'15, is a women's health nurse practitioner at Ashe Memorial Hospital in Jefferson, North Carolina (2016).

Danica Ninkovic, PMC'15, is the first recipient of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Advanced Practice Emergency Medicine Fellowship in September 2017. She has worked at VUMC since 2010, first in surgical intensive care, and, since 2015, in the adult emergency department.

Yasmin Nuru, BA'09, MSN'15, is a family nurse practitioner at Sentara Family and Internal Medicine Physicians, in Williamsburg, Virginia (2018). 

Laura Odom, DNP'15, is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Tennessee Knoxville College of Nursing (2017).

JoAnne Phillips, DNP'15, was published in the March 2019 issue of Nursing Clinics.

Leslie Miller Price, MSN'15, was selected as the first Planned Parenthood clinician to serve a three-year term on the Planned Parenthood Federation of America National Medical Committee, a rotating panel of reproductive health providers and researchers who determine medical protocols for affiliates nationwide. She is lead clinician of specialty services at Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest in San Diego, specializing in colposcopy, transgender care and family planning for a rural Spanish-speaking population (2021).

Rachael Prusha, MSN'15, got married in September 2017. She is an adult-gerontology nurse practitioner at the Vanderbilt Center for Medical Weight Loss.

Paul Raymond, MSN'15, was featured in June 2019 on Nashville Public Radio for his innovative work to curb drug abuse among patients at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Phyllis Raynor, PMC'15, was selected for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration-funded American Nurses Association Minority Fellowship Program in 2016. That year, she earned her PhD as a first honor graduate from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Clinta Ché Reed, PhD'15, is one of six U.S. Veteran Administration practitioners to earn the Secretary's Award for Nursing Excellence, presented in May 2022. She is with the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.

Shelza Rivas, BA'12, MSN'15, DNP'17, was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in June 2022, and received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November. She co-authored "Opioid Use Disorder Screening for Women across the Lifespan," published in Advances in Family Practice Nursing in May 2021, and co-presented, "Opioid Use Disorder Screening across the Women's Health Lifespan," at the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health conference in October. She is co-author of "Sexual Violence Screening for Women across the Lifespan," published in Advances in Family Practice Nursing in May 2020. Shelza mentored VUSN PreSpecialty students on a medical mission trip to Guatemala in March 2019. She is an assistant professor at VUSN.

Alethea Robbins, MSN'15, joined PeaceHealth's obstetrics and gynecology team in Bellingham, Washington, in October 2017, as a women's health nurse practitioner.

Javier Rodriguez, MSN'15, is a nurse practitioner at Norton Healthcare in Louisville, Kentucky, specializing in inpatient and outpatient vascular surgery (2021).

Raymond Romano, MSN'15, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021.

Clayton Savage, MSN'15, is a nurse practitioner at Saint Thomas Heart in Nashville (2020).

Karla Schroeder, DNP'15, is manager of advanced practice and advanced practice fellowship director at Stanford Health Care's Center for Advanced Practice in California (2018).

Jessica Rogers Searcy, MSN'13, DNP'15, welcomed a baby in March 2018 and received the VUSN Sara K. Archer Excellence in Teaching Award from students in the Women's Health Nurse Practitioner specialty that year and in 2017.

Gaither Smith, MSN'15, is a certified nurse-midwife with the Virginia Hospital Center Physician Group in Arlington.

Amanda Fullerton Squires, MSN'08, DNP'15, is a nurse practitioner at Las Vegas Urology (2022).

Natalie Studdard, BA'13, MSN'15, is a nurse practitioner at the Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital Midtown Joint Replacement Institute in Nashville (2020).

Sarah Taylor, MSN'15, is a family nurse practitioner at the Hope Clinic in Nashville (2017).

Shelley Thibeau, MSN'07, PhD'15, is director of the Mothers' Milk Bank of Louisiana at Ochsner Baptist, providing donor human milk to critically ill infants (2018).

Tamera Thoener, MSN'15, is the 2019 legislative chair-elect on the board of directors of Middle Tennessee Advanced Practice Nurses.

Jason Tillman, MSN'15, is a family and acute care nurse practitioner at Mercy Community Healthcare in Franklin, Tennessee (2017).

Ashley Haynes Tomlinson, MSN'15, is a family nurse practitioner at Medical Home Primary Care in Lewisburg, Tennessee (2017).

Candice Summers Vaden, MSN'15, is co-author of "Integrating Behavioral Health into Primary Care for Women, published in Advances in Family Practice Nursing in May 2022.

Jessica Van Meter, MSN'07, DNP'15, is co-author of "Capacity Building in Low- and Middle-income Countries: The Essentials of Sustainable Education Programs," published in The Nurse Practitioner in August 2022. She and colleagues received Best Abstract Honor at the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies conference for "Capacity Building in Northern Laos: An Evaluation of the Pediatric Nursing Training Program at Laos Friends Hospital for Children," published in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine in November. Jessica was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in June 2021, and shared a Children's Emergency Care Alliance EMS Star of Life Award that month for saving the life of a baby as a Vanderbilt University Medical Center flight nurse. She is co-author of "Development and Implementation of a Trauma Team Education Program in Georgetown, Guyana," published in The Nurse Practitioner in July. Jessica was a panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's annual DNP Know Your Value in January 2020 and was named coordinator of the global perspectives column for The Nurse Practitioner that June. She presented "Sustainable Emergency Nursing Education in a Global Health Setting," in September at the Vanderbilt Institute of Global Health and was interviewed in October by VUMC Reporter about staff from Vanderbilt's Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital and emergency medicine department who provided education in obstetrics and neonatology for all emergency medical services providers in the nation of Guyana. Jessica was a panelist for DNP Know Your Value in January 2019, and co-presented "VUMC Advanced Practice: Making a Difference around the World," at a VUMC advanced practice workshop that October. In 2018, she received VUMC's Inspiring Global Nurse Award and the VUSN Alumni Award for National Leadership presented by the Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony. Jessica and her mother, Jade Van Meter Forlidas, BSN'73, MSN'90, were profiled in the Medical Center's VUMC Voice in November 2017. Jessica co-directs a bachelor's in emergency nursing program for nurses at Georgetown Public Hospital Corp. in Guyana, in collaboration with the University of Guyana and VUMC. She is featured in a podcast, "Global and Public Health," hosted by The Nurse Practitioner.

Sarah Vann, MSN'15, is a nurse practitioner at NorthCrest Health in Springfield, Tennessee (2020).

Heather Venrick, MSN'15, DNP'17, is co-author of "Leveraging School Nurse Expertise to Meet Children's Health and Nutrition Needs in Afterschool Programs," published in NASN School Nurse in September 2019.

Allison Walker, MSN'15, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021.

Jessica Walker, MSN'15, PMC'17, DNP'17, co-authored "Management of Mental Health Disorders in Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus," published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in February 2022, and was honored in May as one of 50 outstanding graduates of Belmont University School of Nursing in Nashville. She presented at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference in June. Jessica co-presented, "Primary Care Management of Special Populations with Co-occurring Mental Health Disorders and HIV," at the National Nurse Practitioner Symposium in July, and a poster, "Diagnostic and Management Considerations for Co-occurring HIV and Mental Health Disorders for Psychiatric-mental Health Nursing Providers," at the American Psychiatric Nurses Association conference in October. She presented "Care for the Unhoused/Unstably Housed," during Vanderbilt University's Lefkowitz Hour in November. Jessica is lead author of "The Impact of an Educational Intervention on Nursing Staff Attitudes toward Patients Experiencing Homelessness and Mental Illness," published in the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association in May 2021. She was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in June, and co-authored "Showcasing Nursing Leadership and Contributions to a University's COVID-19 Student Contact Tracing Process," published in the October/December Nursing Administration Quarterly. She co-presented "Homeless Health Care in the Medical Setting," at Vanderbilt University Medical Center's advanced practice grand rounds in July 2020, and co-authored "Surreptitious Opioid Misuse in the General Hospital via Rectal Administration: A Case Report," published in Psychosomatics in July/August. She co-presented a poster, "Nursing Staff Attitudes toward Medically Hospitalized Patients who are Homeless and Have Mental Illness," at the APNA annual conference, and co-authored "Radiation Therapy Adherence among Patients Experiencing Homelessness," in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, both in October. She was featured by Belmont University in November for receiving the Catherine Hanley Class of 1912 Rising Star Alumni Award presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October. Jessica presented "Attitudes of Inpatient Nursing Staff toward Patients Who Are Homeless and Have Mental Illness," in May 2018 at VUMC during Aprilfest. She received third place for a poster she presented at VUMC's Research Day in November 2016, and was on a panel at VUMC, "The Call of the Street: How One Homeless Man Continuously Declines Chronic Healthcare," that December. Jessica is chair of the APNA practice council, member of the quality committee at the Park Center in Nashville, and board member for the Mental Health Cooperative in Nashville. She is featured on the VUMC website in its Advanced Practice Provider Spotlight.

Lucy Wall, MSN'15, is a nurse practitioner at Hermitage Family Practice in Tennessee (2018). 

Charla Walston, MSN'15, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022.

Jodie Ward, MSN'15, earned her doctor of nursing practice from Maryville University in Saint Louis in 2019, and was able to implement a practice change at her clinic in Clarksville, Tennessee, based on her DNP project, "Reducing Polypharmacy in the Elderly by Implementing the Beers Criteria during Meditation Reviews: A Retrospective Chart Review."

Emilie Wilson, MSN'15, is a primary care pediatric nurse practitioner at Tennessee Pediatrics in Franklin (2020).

Emily Woods, BA'13, MSN'15, is a family nurse practitioner at Joseph Woods, MD, Plastic Surgery, working with plastic and restorative surgery patients, most of whom are women ages 18-70, and at Grady Memorial Hospital, both in Atlanta (2019).

Kari Wujcik, MSN'15, is featured on the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's website in its Advanced Practice Provider Spotlight. She is a pediatric heart transplant nurse practitioner (2017).

Siddhida Acharya, MSN'16, is a nurse practitioner at Aquino Pediatrics in Clarksville, Tennessee (2020).

Chelsea Arata, MSN'16, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at West Springs Hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado (2020).

Anna Armistead, MSN'16, is a family nurse practitioner at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in an orthopaedic nurse practitioner fellowship program (2016).

Gail Armstrong, PhD'16, was named as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in August 2021. She is a member of the Quality and Safety Working Group of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and a professor at Oregon Health and Science University School of Public Health in Portland.

Trish Baise, MSN'12, DNP'16, was promoted to chief executive officer of Mountain States' Franklin Woods Community and Woodridge Hospitals, as well as administrator of Overmountain Recovery, all in Johnson City, Tennessee, in December 2017. She was interviewed for a story about Franklin Woods while, at the time, she was chief nursing officer and associate administrator, and she served on the board of the Tennessee Nurses Association.

Sunny Bartholomew, MSN'16, DNP'17, is a certified nurse-midwife in the U.S. Navy (2017).

Ally Thompson Bateman, BA'12, MSN'14, DNP'16, was a panelist for "Kids and Navigating the Pandemic: A Lesson in Resilience," in January 2021, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She and her husband, Yates, BE'14, are listed on a Vanderbilt Development and Alumni Relations Valentine's Day website about couples who met while students at the university. Ally is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Green Hills Family Psych in Nashville.

Sarah Bochner, BS'15, MSN'16, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, where she practices in pediatric general surgery. She had been a research nurse coordinator at Saint Joseph's Children's Hospital in Tampa, Florida (2022).

Leanne Boehm, MSN'09, PhD'16, co-authored "Characteristics of Post-ICU and Post-COVID Recovery Clinics in 29 U.S. Health Systems," published in Critical Care Explorations in March 2022. She was on the planning committee for the American Delirium Society's annual conference held in June, and is co-author of "An Educational Strategy for the Implementation of a Delirium Assessment Tool," published in the Journal of Clinical Intensive Care and Medicine in August. Leanne is co-author of "Patients' and Caregivers' Perceptions of Intensive Care Unit Hospitalization and Recovery," published in the July issue of the American Journal of Critical Care, and lead author of "Factors Influencing Engagement with In-person Intensive Care Unit Recovery Clinic Services," in the September issue of the Journal of Intensive Care Medicine. She co-authored "Association of Incident Delirium with Short-term Mortality in Adults with Critical Illness Receiving Mechanical Ventilation," published in JAMA Network Open in October, and "Symptom Clusters Seen in Adult COVID-19 Recovery Clinic Care Seekers," in November in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Leanne co-authored "Peer Support for Post Intensive Care Syndrome Self-management (PS-PICS): Study Protocol for Peer Mentor Training," published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing in January 2021, and both "Benefits of Peer Support for Intensive Care Unit Survivors: Sharing Experiences, Care Debriefing and Altruism," and "Establishing a Peer Support Program for Survivors of COVID-19: A Report from the Critical and Acute Illness Recovery Organization," published in the American Journal of Critical Care in March. She co-authored a chapter, "The Role of the Volunteer across the Critical Care Recovery Arc," for the book, Improving Critical Care Survivorship: A Guide to Prevention, Recovery, and Reintegration, published by Springer Nature in April, and, in May, received the Borten Family Foundation Junior Investigator Award from the American Delirium Society. Leanne is co-author of "Assess, Prevent, and Manage Pain; Both Spontaneous Awakening and Breathing Trials; Choice of Analgesia/Sedation; Delirium: Assess, Prevent and Manage; Early Mobility; Family Engagement and Empowerment Bundle Implementation: Quantifying the Association of Access to Bundle-enhancing Supplies and Equipment," published in Critical Care Explorations in September, and lead author of "Delirium-related Distress in the ICU: A Qualitative Meta-synthesis of Patient and Family Perspectives and Experiences," in the October International Journal of Nursing Studies. An overview of that study is in a video. In February 2020, Leanne co-authored "Monitoring for Delirium in Critically Ill Adults," published by Delirium, and is lead author of "Implementation of a Patient and Family-centered Intensive Care Unit Peer Support Program at a Veterans Affairs Hospital," published in Critical Care Clinics of North America that June. She co-authored "Implementation of an Intensive Care Unit Diary Program at a Veterans Affairs Hospital," published in Nursing Care Quality in August. She is lead author of "A Multisite Study of Multidisciplinary ICU Team Member Beliefs toward Early Mobility," published in Heart and Lung, and co-author of "Institutional Challenges and Solutions to Evidence-based, Patient-centered Practice: Implementing ICU Diaries," in Critical Care Nurse, both in October. That month, Leanne co-presented "Introduction to Implementation Science: Examples from Clinical Operations," at Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Nursing Virtual Research Day, and, in November, co-authored "Facilitating Posttraumatic Growth after Critical Illness," in the American Journal of Critical Care. Leanne is co-author of "Implementation Science Training and Resources for Nurses and Nurse Scientists," published in the September 2019 issue of Journal of Nursing Scholarship. That year, she received an American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Impact Research Grant and a Vanderbilt University Provost Discovery Grant in support of her research into interventions for post-intensive care syndrome problems, and co-authored "Caring for Survivors of Critical Illness: Current Practices and the Role of the Nurse in Intensive Care Unit Aftercare," published by American Journal of Critical Care. She was featured in Vanderbilt University's MyVU in November 2018 as a new faculty member. Leanne earned the Best Poster Award from ADS in June 2017, and presented a poster at the American Delirium Society meeting in June 2016.

Sarah Bridge, MSN'16, received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in October 2021.

Daniel Burke, MSN'16, is a nurse practitioner at the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio (2017).

Sally Callaway, MSN'16, got married in July 2016.

Jesi Campbell, MSN'16, was hired by her preceptor site, the Saint Louis Women's Healthcare Group in Chesterfield, Missouri (2016).

Christina Cardy, MSN'16, DNP'17, received a Certified Nurse Award from the American Nurses Credentialing Center in 2020. She was a panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's annual DNP Know Your Value in January 2019 and received the Catherine Hanley Class of 1912 Rising Star Alumni Award presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October. Christina is director of advanced practice providers at University of South Florida Health in Tampa.

Will Carpenter, MSN'16, co-authored "Practical Guidelines for the Use of Electronic Applications by Advanced Practice Nurses in the Emergency Department," published in the November 2016 issue of the Journal of Emergency Nursing.

Carissa Caryotakis, MSN'16, is a family nurse practitioner at Elica Health Centers in Sacramento, California (2020).

Duke Chenault, MSN'00, DNP'16, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022. He wrote about thyroid awareness in the December 2020 issue of Health & Wellness, the Vanderbilt faculty and staff newsletter. He was interviewed for "Don't Get Tricked by Halloween Treats," in the October-November 2017 issue of Vanderbilt's Connection newsletter, and about skin exposure safety in its June-July 2016 issue. 

Gina Clarkson, MSN'09, PhD'16, co-authored "Factors Affecting Time NICU Nurses Spend with Fathers: Results from a Larger Study," published in the October 2019 issue of Advances in Neonatal Care.  

Colleen Conway-Edwards, MSN'16, joined Brattleboro Internal Medicine in Vermont, a division of Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, as a nurse practitioner (2020).

Maria Elena Ramirez Cruz, MSN'16, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022.

Katie Davidson, MSN'16, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Centerstone in Nashville (2017).

Mackenzie Davis, BA'13, MSN'16, is a nurse practitioner at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tullahoma, Tennessee, where she specializes in pediatric primary care. She had been an NP at Smyrna Pediatrics (2022).

Stefani Davis, MSN'14, DNP'16, is a women's health nurse practitioner at Ohio Breast and Cancer Surgeons in Columbus (2016).

Janelle Delle, DNP'16, received the VUSN DAISY Award for Small Group Facilitator at the PreSpecialty Level in May 2022, and is lead author of "Evolving the Assessment of Clinical Judgment: An Individual or Collective Competency?" published in the September issue of Nurse Educator. She was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN and is one of eighteen Vanderbilt University faculty members named a Junior Faculty Teaching fellow, both in June 2021. She co-presented a poster, "Cracking the Code: Building an Escape Room Challenge Using Innovative Strategies through a Team-building Approach," at the National League for Nursing Summit, and co-authored "Advocating for Multimodal Pain Management and Reducing the Need for Opioids in the Acute and Chronic Pain Setting," published by Nursing Clinics in September. In November, she was subject of both the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching Junior Faculty Spotlight and of a CFT article about her work style. Janelle was lead on a team whose project, "Educational Innovation to Assess PreSpecialty Students' Ability to Demonstrate Clinical Judgment, Effective Communication and Teamwork during an Escape Room Simulation," was accepted for funding from the VUSN Faculty Scholarship Program in March 2020. She co-authored "Assessing and Addressing Practitioner Burnout: Results from an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Health and Well-being Study," published in November 2019 in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Kara Earthman, MSN'16, got married in October 2019 and participated in a VUSN women's health nurse practitioner alumni panel in August 2017.

Justin Ellison, MSN'16, co-authored "Practical Guidelines for the Use of Electronic Applications by Advanced Practice Nurses in the Emergency Department," published in the November 2016 issue of the Journal of Emergency Nursing.

Amanda Kohls Enestvedt, MSN'16, was interviewed in October 2019 by KSFY-TV about a program she manages for children with anxiety. She is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Avera Medical Group in Marshall, Minnesota.

Sarah Estopinal, BA'12, MSN'16, stars in a naloxone training video for the Jefferson County Department of Health in Birmingham, Alabama (2020).

Olivia Garcia, MSN'16, was featured in Buffalo Business First in May 2020 for a story about states that temporarily reduced physician oversight requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ericka Gianotto, MSN'16, joined Farmington Community Health Center in New Mexico, in November 2016, as a nurse practitioner.

Jessie Sellers Gibson, MSN'16, PhD'19 , is co-author of "A Qualitative Examination of Patient Priorities and Preferences during Treatment Decision-making for Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer," published in Supportive Care in Cancer in May 2020, and lead author of "Measuring Functional Status in Huntington's Disease," published in October in Movement Disorders. She co-authored "A Systematic Review of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms and Functional Capacity in Huntington's Disease," published in the August 2019 issue of The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience.

Anna Goddard, PhD'16, was named Pediatric Nursing Certification Board's Kelly Reed Advanced Practice Community Impact Award recipient in May 2020, and received the Rising Star Award from the School-Based Health Alliance that year. She is an assistant professor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, and a representative on the Connecticut Association of School-Based Health Centers board of directors.

Mattie Godfrey, MSN'16, was showcased by the Tennessean in June 2020 for her dedication to delivering a continuation of care for COVID-19 patients at home.

Victoria Morgan Golden, MSN'16, was deployed with the California Medical Assistance Team to help Princess Cruise passengers who were quarantined in Asilomar State Park due to a COVID-19 outbreak onboard their ship. She was the only provider on duty during the first 24 hours before she was joined by another for 24/7 care.

Susan Grant, DNP'16, was listed by Becker's Hospital Review in February 2022 as one of "66 chief nursing officers of hospitals and health systems to know," and in Becker's Hospital Review in May 2020 as one of "50+ hospital and health system CNOs to know."

Rachael Grenfell-Dexter, BA'14, MSN'16, is an acute care nurse practitioner in the neurological intensive care unit at New York University Langone Medical Center (2018).  

Stephanie Gustman, DNP'16, is an assistant professor at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan (2017).

Bekah Hayes, MSN'16, DNP'20, was a panelist for "Supporting Nursing Students of Color: Success Strategies from Academia to Practice," in February 2022, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and received the Thomas L. Christenbery Alumni Award for Diversity and Inclusion presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October. She was a panelist for "The Power of Diversity in Nursing and Initiatives to Increase Diversity and Inclusion," hosted by the VUSN DNP Student Diversity Affinity Group in February 2021. She welcomed her first child that November. She was a panelist for "COVID, Quarantining and Geriatrics: How Can We Help Elders Stay Safe and Strong This Winter?" part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, in December 2020.

Lisa Heap, MSN'16, is a family nurse practitioner at the Oregon Medical Group Internal Medicine Clinic in Eugene (2020). 

Jordan Plaxico Hedges, BA'14, MSN'16, is co-author of "Suicide Detection and Treatment in a Nurse-led, Interprofessional Primary Care Practice: A 2-year Report of Quality Data," published in The Nurse Practitioner in April 2021, and received the Catherine Hanley Class of 1912 Rising Star Alumni Award presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October 2018. She is a nurse practitioner at Athena Consulting and Psychological Services in Nashville.

Kimin Huang, MSN'16, was named a Rising Star Nurse Leader in February 2021 by the Tennessee Action Coalition, Tennessee Nurses Association and Tennessee Hospital Association.

Jonathan Igo, MSN'16, is a nurse practitioner at Pacific Dermatology in Southern California (2022).

Jason Jean, MSN'00, DNP'16, is an instructor in the Nursing and Health Care Leadership and doctor of nursing practice programs at VUSN (2021).

Joanna Jhant, MSN'16, co-authored "Practical Guidelines for the Use of Electronic Applications by Advanced Practice Nurses in the Emergency Department," published in the November 2016 issue of the Journal of Emergency Nursing.

Kayla Pelfrey Johnson, MSN'16, is a family nurse practitioner at a CVS Minute Clinic in Hixson, Tennessee (2021).

Mindy Johnson, MSN'16, DNP'18, co-taught two, four-hour workshops titled "Basic to Advanced HEENT Procedures Used in Primary and Emergency Care Settings," at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference in June 2022. She was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN and is one of eighteen Vanderbilt University faculty members named a Junior Faculty Teaching fellow, both in June 2021. She is a contributing author of the book, Emergency Nurse Practitioner Core Curriculum, published in August by Springer. Mindy authored "Impetigo," published in the Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal in October/December 2020, and "Nursemaid's Elbow Reduction," published in its October/December 2019 issue.

Chrisy Kamm, PMC'16, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, passed away December 2, 2018. 

Sarah Kelsey, MSN'16, is a certified nurse-midwife at Baby + Company in Nashville (2020).

Hannah Wachtmeister Kestner, MSN'14, DNP'16, welcomed a baby in May 2022 , and is one of eighteen Vanderbilt University faculty members named a Junior Faculty Teaching fellow in June 2021. She welcomed a baby in August 2020, and her proposal was accepted for funding from the VUSN Faculty Scholarship Program in October for the project, "Assessing the Value of Interprofessional Simulation and Home Visits in Improving the Level of Nursing and Pharmacy Student's Core Competencies in Interprofessional Education Collaboration." Hannah is an instructor in the PreSpecialty program at VUSN.

Rachel Kime, MSN'16, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at the Harrisonburg Community Health Center in Virginia, where she sees primarily immigrant and refugee populations, both with Medicaid and privately insured (2019).

Olivia Kirkpatrick, MSN'16, was interviewed by the Nashville Scene in December 2020 in an article honoring health care workers as Nashvillians of the Year. She is a nurse practitioner in the medical intensive care center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Emily Kritzler, MSN'16, is a family nurse practitioner and certified nurse-midwife at the Federico F. Pena Southwest Family Health Center and Urgent Care in Denver (2020).

Tenecia Lancaster, MSN'16, is a family nurse practitioner with a special interest in family care at Summit Medical Group in Surgoinsville, Tennessee (2020).

Caroline Leithner , MSN'16, MDiv'16, is a family nurse practitioner at SeaMar Community Health Centers in Seattle (2016).

Sarah Lizotte, MSN'16, is a psychiatric mental-health nurse practitioner at Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville. She is in the general medical setting as a member of the psychiatric consult team (2020).

Orlin Marques, MSN'14, DNP'16, is on the advisory committee of DNPs of Color (2021).

Erica May, MSN'16, DNP'18, co-authored "Dental Pain Relief in the Age of ALTO," published in the July/September 2019 issue of Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal. She is an instructor in the Emergency Nurse Practitioner specialty at VUSN.

Courtney McLean, MSN'16, is a nurse practitioner at Neighborhood Health in Nashville (2020).

Jessica McMillan, BA'13, MSN'16, DNP'17, is featured in the Alumni Spotlight on the American Nurses Association Minority Fellowship Program website.

Jessi-Ann Michaelson , MSN'16, is a cardiology nurse practitioner at Saint Thomas Heart in Nashville (2017).

Alyssa Huddleston Miller, MSN'16, received the VUSN Dean's Award for Recognition of Faculty Achievement in Clinical Practice in June 2021 for her work as director of the Vanderbilt Contact Tracing Program. She was called upon in March 2020 to be co-supervisor of a hotline for Vanderbilt University Medical Center patients and employees with questions and concerns about COVID-19.

Victoria Morgan, MSN'16, co-authored "Practical Guidelines for the Use of Electronic Applications by Advanced Practice Nurses in the Emergency Department," published in the November 2016 issue of the Journal of Emergency Nursing.

Aubrey Mowery, MSN'16, joined Essentia Health—Fargo in North Dakota as a pediatric nurse practitioner in January 2022. She had been a pediatric primary care NP at Elbowoods Memorial Health Center on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in New Town, N. Dak.

Janet Mulroy, PMC'04, DNP'16, joined the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses board of directors in July 2021.

Morgan Murray, BA'14, MSN'16, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at the Elkton Clinic in Kentucky, where she provides primary care at three rural health clinics, sees mostly Medicaid and uninsured patients, and instructs family NPs in pediatric care. 

Adrienn Myers-Woods, MSN'16, is a women's health nurse practitioner at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine's division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility, in Springfield (2017).

Robb Nash, MSN'07, PhD'16, was hired in April 2021 as the first executive/medical director of The Village at Glencliff, a medical respite community in Nashville that serves people who would otherwise recover on the street after hospitalization. He co-wrote "Suboptimal HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Awareness and Willingness to Use among Women Who Use Drugs in the United States: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis," published in October 2019 in AIDS and Behavior.

Ariel Newton, MSN'16, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Athena Consulting and Psychological Services in Nashville (2020).

Danielle Nicholls, MSN'16, is a nurse practitioner at Pediatric Associates in Franklin, Tennessee (2020).

Amanda Stefancyk Oberlies, PhD'16, was inducted as a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in October 2021. She is chief executive officer of the Organization of Nurse Leaders.

Maggie Spreitzer O'Block, MSN'16, is a nurse practitioner at Genesys Family Medicine in Murfreesboro, Tennessee (2020).

Natalie Paul, MSN'16, gave a talk in March 2021 to Kaiser Permanente providers about LGBTQI inclusive primary care. She was interviewed in 2018 by Clark County Talk for her work as a nature photographer as well as nurse practitioner focusing on LGBTQI health and marginalized and underserved communities at the Family Health Center in Longview, Washington. Natalie was awarded a Washington State Student Achievement Council Health Professional Loan Repayment Program grant. She is a family nurse practitioner at Zoom+Care in Vancouver.

Susan Piras, PhD'16, co-authored "A Multisite Study of Multidisciplinary ICU Team Member Beliefs toward Early Mobility," published in Heart & Lung in October 2020.

Caroline Reid, MSN'16, got married in December 2016.

Lara Rivera, DNP'16, is a certified nurse-midwife at Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Kansas (2017).

Elizabeth Rodgers, MSN'16, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Personal Growth Counseling in Cookeville, Tennessee (2020).

Susanna Rudy, MSN'14, DNP'16, is among the organizers of VUSN's participation in a mass-vaccination event at Nashville's Nissan Stadium in March 2021. She was a panelist for "How the Media and Entertainment Industry Perpetuate Stereotypes of Nursing (and Why That Hurts Everyone)," in May, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and is a contributing author for the first edition of Emergency Nurse Practitioner Core Curriculum, published by Springer in August. Susanna received the VUSN Sara K. Archer Excellence in Teaching Award from students in the Emergency Nurse Practitioner specialty in May 2020, and co-authored "Boarding of Critically Ill Patients in the Emergency Department," published in July in the Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open (and featured by JournalFeed in October). She presented "Point-of-care Ultrasound," at the American Association of Nursing Practitioners conference in June 2019, and co-wrote "Expanding Virtual Reality to Teach Ultrasound Skills to Nurse Practitioner Student," published in Studies in Health Technology and Informatics that July. She was featured in Research News@Vanderbilt in October 2016. Susanna is a provider for the Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Patrol, critical care and emergency medicine advanced practice nurse in the Federal Emergency Medical Administration Disaster Relief, and advanced practice ultrasound coordinator at VUSN.

Sarah King Ryan, MSN'16, is a nurse practitioner with Geriatric Consulting Group in Hendersonville, Tennessee (2021).

Shannan Cantu Santoli, MSN'16, is a certified nurse-midwife at Ascension Wisconsin in Glendale (2020).

Kimberly Savage, MSN'16, was named the 2021 Preceptor of the Year by the VUSN Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner specialty, and was a panelist for "COVID, Quarantining and Geriatrics: How Can We Help Elders Stay Safe and Strong this Winter?" in December 2020, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She is owner and provider at Psychiatric Care and Consulting in Franklin, Tennessee.

Jennifer Scroggie, MSN'97, PMC'16, received the DAISY Award for Small Group Facilitator at the MSN Level at VUSN in May 2021.

Wren Sherrill, MSN'16, was featured in Belmont Vision in February 2021 for her work as a nurse practitioner in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's COVID-19 intensive care unit. She was interviewed by the Nashville Scene in December 2020 in an article honoring health care workers as Nashvillians of the Year.

Christine Shoaf, MSN'16, is a family nurse practitioner at Rockbridge Area Health Center in Lexington, Virginia (2017).

Nicole Erridge Sovey, MSN'14, DNP'16, presented a poster of her doctor of nursing practice project at the Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health national conference in October 2017. She is a nurse practitioner at Detroit Medical Center Hartland Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Sherin Tahmasbi, DNP'16, co-authored a chapter, "Herbal Medicine to Enhance or Modulate Viral Infections," for the book, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Part II: Herbal Supplements and Vitamins, published by Elsevier in March 2021.

Victoria Taylor, MSN'16, is an assistant in medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (2019). 

Kelsey Tincher, MSN'16, is a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Mercy Community Health Care in Franklin and Lewisburg, Tennessee (2020).

Jennifer Tourville, MSN'13, DNP'16, is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Tennessee Knoxville College of Nursing (2020).

Armando Varela, MSN'16, co-authored "Practical Guidelines for the Use of Electronic Applications by Advanced Practice Nurses in the Emergency Department," published in the November 2016 issue of the Journal of Emergency Nursing.

Sharon Weintraub, MSN'16, is a certified nurse-midwife at Baystate Health in Springfield, Massachusetts (2018). 

Shantel White, MSN'16, is a neonatal nurse practitioner at Mednax in Houston (2017).

Nancy Wilfong, MSN'16, got married in August 2016. She manages high-risk pregnancies at Tennessee Maternal Fetal Medicine in Nashville.

Shelby Smith Wilcox, MSN'16, is a nurse practitioner in trauma and acute care surgery at The Queen's Medical Center in Kailua, Hawaii (2018).

Lydia Yeager, BA'12, MSN'14, DNP'16, was a panelist for "Kids and Navigating the Pandemic: A Lesson in Resilience," in January 2021, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and was published in the March 2019 issue of Nursing Clinics. She is director of care management, director of school-based health at Ryan Health in New York.

Stefani Davis Yudasz, MSN'14, DNP'16, was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in June 2022. She received the VUSN Sara K. Archer Excellence in Teaching Award from students in the Women's Health Nurse Practitioner specialty in August 2021, and presented "Benign Breast Conditions: The Role of the WHNP," at the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health conference in October. She welcomed a baby in March 2020, co-authored "Sexual Violence Screening for Women across the Lifespan," published in Advances in Family Practice Nursing in May, and wrote "Assessment and Management of Benign Breast Lesions: Role of the WHNP," published in Women's Healthcare: A Clinical Journal for NPs in December. Stefani authored a chapter on breast pain in the 2^nd edition of Adult-Gerontology Practice Guidelines, published by Springer in December 2018.

Christina Alexander, BS'16, MSN'17, works in interventional cardiology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago (2021).

Annie Austin, MSN'17, is lead author of "Detecting and Preventing Post-hematopoietic Cell Transplant Relapse in AML," published by Current Opinion in Hematology in November 2021.

Aubrey Austin, MSN'17, was named the 2021 Preceptor of the Year by the VUSN Women's Health Nurse Practitioner specialty. She is a WHNP at Women's Health Specialists in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Sunny Bartholomew, MSN'16, DNP'17, is a certified nurse-midwife in the U.S. Navy (2017).

Lydia Belcher, MSN'17, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021.

Melissa Belluomini, PMC'17, joined After Hours Pediatrics in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in April 2019 as a nurse practitioner.

Ashley Bernard, MSN'15, DNP'17, is a nurse practitioner at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, serving on a team that provides cardiology-focused care for acutely decompensated heart failure and cardiogenic shock patients in the cardiac care unit (2019). 

Katherine Bowen, MSN'17, is a certified nurse-midwife specializing in midwifery, obstetrics and gynecology at Samaritan Health Services in Corvallis, Oregon (2020).

Abby Boynton, MSN'17, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at the Pediatric Health Care Alliance in the Tampa, Florida, area (2017).

Kaitlin Brown, BA'14, MSN'17, is nursing and medical assistant supervisor at Janian Medical Care in New York, serving as primary care provider for the currently street homeless and formerly homeless now living in supportive housing (2019).

Karen Brown, MSN'17, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021.

Margaret Brown, DNP'17, presented "Improving Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) Clinician Utilization Rates in a Primary Care Behavioral Health Setting," at the American Psychiatric Nurses Association conference in October 2018. She is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner in the U.S. Veterans Administration Boston Healthcare System in West Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Alex Alford Brunhoeber, MSN'15, DNP'17, is an instructor at VUSN (2018). 

Christina Cardy, MSN'16, DNP'17, received a Certified Nurse Award from the American Nurses Credentialing Center in 2020. She was a panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's annual DNP Know Your Value in January 2019 and received the Catherine Hanley Class of 1912 Rising Star Alumni Award presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October. Christina is director of advanced practice providers at University of South Florida Health in Tampa.

Sarah Carpenter, MSN'17, welcomed a baby in February 2022.

Adele Caruso, DNP'17, was inducted as a 2020 fellow in the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. She is a nurse practitioner specializing in urology at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia.

Desireé Clement, PMC'15, DNP'17, was promoted in February 2022 to assistant dean of graduate clinical programs at Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta, where she has oversight of all masters of science in nursing and doctor of nursing practice advanced practice specialty programs. She was co-chair of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties conference in April, and received the National Teaching Award from the American College of Nurse-Midwives in May. That month, she co-presented at the VUSN alumni Board's annual DNP Know Your Value, and, in June, was inducted as a fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. She presented at the Sigma International Research Conference in Scotland in July, and was inducted as a fellow by the American Academy of Nursing in October. Desireé received the Heart of the Students Award for the masters of science in nursing programs at Emory in January 2021, where she was named family nurse practitioner specialty coordinator a year prior. She served as moderator of "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. Desiree is a dual family nurse practitioner and certified nurse midwife at Clarkston Community Health Center and Harriet Tubman Women's Clinic, co-director of the Georgia Coalition of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, and member of the VUSN Alumni Board.

Erin Coale, MSN'17, joined Lourdes Behavioral Health and Mercy Medical Associates in Paducah, Kentucky, in November 2017, as a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner.

Allyson Cole, MSN'17, is a nurse practitioner at Elite Primary Care in Cumming, Georgia (2018). 

Kathryn Conn, MSN'17, is chief operating officer of The Women's Storytelling Salon in Baltimore (2022).

Madeline Crego, MSN'17, is an advanced practice registered nurse at the Vanderbilt Heart & Vascular Institute in Nashville (2020).

Kristin Cummins, DNP'17, was published in the March 2019 issue of Nursing Clinics. She is vice president of quality and patient safety at Children's Health System in Dallas, where she is responsible for developing the vision and strategy for pediatric quality and patient safety across the system.

Colleen Cusick, MSN'14, DNP'17, is director of materials management and general services at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore (2021).

Kathleen Cylkowski, MSN'17, is a certified nurse midwife at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas (2017). 

Kristian Dambrino, MSN'17, and Fish Michie released their third album, Change of Heart, as a 2021 online fundraiser for The Oasis Center in Nashville. She performed in Have Yourself a Delta Little Christmas!, a live-streamed benefit concert for the GRAMMY Museum Mississippi in December 2020. Kristian is a psychiatric nurse practitioner in Nashville and a former Miss Mississippi (who was featured in the Vanderbilt Nurse article, "What I Did Before," in June 2017).

Taylor DeBoer, MSN'15, DNP'17, is a nurse practitioner specializing in obstetrics and gynecology at the Everett Clinic in Washington state (2021). 

Kendra Osborn Delaney, BA'15, MSN'17, PhD'21, presented, "It Starts with the Gut: A Functional Medicine Approach to Mental Health and Wellness," in March 2022, hosted by the VUSN School Life Committee. She completed her PhD at Vanderbilt in May; her dissertation is, "The Association between COVID-19 Anxiety, Drinking to Cope, Alcohol Self-medication and Alcohol Use in Young Adults: A Cross-sectional Descriptive Study." She was a panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's annual MSN Know Your Value in January 2020. Kendra is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Sterling Primary Care in Nashville.

Madalene Dawson Drummond, MSN'17, DNP'19, is lead author of "Utilizing Patient Reported Outcomes and Quality of Life Measures in the Management of Obesity," published in the Journal of Doctoral Nursing Practice in February 2022, and received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November. She received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021.

Domenique Edwards, BA'15, MSN'17, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at TMS Washington in Seattle (2022).

Nora Elderkin, BA'15, MSN'17, is a nurse practitioner at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte in California (2020).

Shannon Ellrich, MSN'17, DNP'20, PMC'20, was featured in a March 2020 story in the Tennessean explaining how she and another Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurse practitioner created and are managing COVID-19 assessment sites for the medical center. She co-presented "VUMC Advanced Practice: Making a Difference around the World," at a VUMC advanced practice workshop in October 2019.

Luyan Zhao Emfinger, BA'11, MSN'17, was a panelist for "Kids and Navigating the Pandemic: A Lesson in Resilience," in January 2021, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She is a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Mercy Community Healthcare in Franklin, Tennessee.

Anne Arbegust Eshelman, MSN'17, is a women's health nurse practitioner at Womens Group of Franklin, Tennessee (2020).

Daniel Ferguson, MSN'17, joined Bolivar Family Health Care Center in Missouri as a nurse practitioner in July 2019.

Anna Froelich, MSN'17, was featured in May 2018 in the Herald Review as the lead provider of a suboxone therapy program while serving as the sole primary care provider at her clinic in Sierra Vista, Arizona. 

Anna Funsten, MSN'17, is a nurse practitioner at Children's National in Washington, D.C. (2020).

Ashley Geppert, MSN'17, is a neonatal nurse practitioner at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, South Dakota (2018). 

Kristin Gigli, PhD'17, was selected to serve on the National Academy of Medicine's Committee on the Pediatric Subspecialty Workforce and Its Impact on Child Health and Well-Being in early 2022. She co-authored "Navigating Population Foci and Implications for Nurse Practitioner Scope of Practice," published in The Journal of Nurse Practitioners in May 2021, and is lead author of "Implications of State Scope-of-practice Regulations for Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Nurse Practitioner Roles," published in June in Policy, Practice & Nursing Practice. She is co-author of "PICU Provider Supply and Demand: A National Survey," published in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine in August 2018. Kristin is an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, where she studies the pediatric nurse practitioner workforce and health policies that influence pediatric health outcomes, and practices as an NP in the pediatric intensive care unit.

Brenna Gillis, MSN'15, DNP'17, welcomed a baby in November 2022 and is the 2018 Vanderbilt University Founder's Medalist for the School of Nursing. She is a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Genesis Psychiatric Services in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Chris Harville, MSN'17, is a nurse practitioner at University of North Carolina Rex Healthcare, working with an interventional cardiologist who performs carotid angiograms and complex percutaneous coronary interventions and another who specializes in complex percutaneous coronary intervention and peripheral angiography (2019).

Courtney Heard, BA'15, MSN'17, is a resident in the department of neurology at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, where she is featured on its website in the APP Resident Spotlight (2020).

Jami Hicks, MSN'17, is head of the Children's Clinic of Rusk, Texas, which opened in February 2018. 

Kimberly Higginbotham, DNP'17, wrote "Pursuing Advanced Practice: Inspiring Graduate Education," published by Cedarville University in Ohio, where she is assistant dean of the school of nursing and director of graduate programs. She was published in the March 2019 issue of Nursing Clinics. She has been an assistant professor of nursing at Cedarville for 18 years.

Casey Marie Hillenbrand, MSN'17, worked with businesses and health care organizations in Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky to develop COVID-19 preparedness, response and control plans in 2020. She is director of nursing at Brentwood Springs Hospital, a mental health and addiction treatment facility, in Newburgh, Indiana, and a double board-certified women's health and adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner. 

Abby Howe-Heyman, PhD'17, is director of the midwifery program at University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (2022).

Elizabeth Howland, MSN'17, is a clinician at Planned Parenthood in San Diego (2017).

Dana Hughes, MSN'17, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021. She is an assistant in medicine specializing in adult primary care and human immunodeficiency virus.

Cerrissa Hugie, MSN'17, DNP'18, opened a psychiatric practice in January 2022 in Charleston, South Carolina. She was a panelist for three Dore to Door Alumni Forum events in 2020: "Mental Health and Black America Today: Where Are We?" in February, "Mental Health and Black America Today: Where Are We? (Part 2)," in July, and "SANE: Improving Outcomes for Survivors of Sexual Assault," in October. She and her husband are the featured speakers for the Pressure Points Unpacked podcast, "Understanding the Dynamics of Race Based Trauma," recorded in July. She is author of the book, Cultivating and Creating Healthy MyNDSpaces: 9 Strategies to Emotional Wellness and Personal Growth, published in August, and welcomed twins in early 2020. Cerrissa is founder and owner of MyNDSpace, a company in Charleston that provides mental health education and consulting to promote mental health awareness in underserved communities.

Lila Humbert, MSN'17, is a certified nurse-midwife at Baby + Company in Nashville (2020).

Carole Weddington Hunt, PMC'15, DNP'17, was a panelist for "Mental Health and Black America Today: Where Are We?" in February 2021, and a panelist for "Mental Health and Black America Today: Where Are We? (Part 2)" in July, both part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She received the Saint Louis March of Dimes Behavioral Health Nurse of the Year Award in November 2016. Carole is a family psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Genoa Psychiatry, adjunct faculty at Regis College in Weston, Massachusetts, and owner of Dr. Nurse Carole.

Abi Ibrahim, MSN'17, is a nurse practitioner at Neighborhood Health in Nashville (2020).

Chinassa Iwuoha, BS'16, MSN'17, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. She had been an NP at Children of Joy Pediatrics in Hackensack, New Jersey (2022).

Marshay James, PMC'15, DNP'17, received the VUSN Sara K. Archer Excellence in Teaching Award from students in the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner-Acute Care specialty in August 2021. She is an instructor at VUSN. 

Alvin Jeffery, PhD'17, MS'21, is co-author of "Data Science Trends Relevant to Nursing Practice: A Rapid Review of the 2020 Literature," published in January 2022 in Applied Clinical Informatics. In February, he co-presented, "Prescribing PrEP in Primary Care," during VUSN's Diversity Month, and co-authored "A Comparison of Methods to Identify Antenatal Substance Use within Electronic Health Records," published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology in March. He received a $450,000 Betty Irene Moore Fellowship for Nurse Leaders and Innovators from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and published "Data Science for Nurses," in American Nurse in May. Alvin co-authored "Accelerating Opioid Use Disorders Research by Integrating Multiple Data Modalities," published in May in Complex Psychiatry, and, in July, was re-elected as a director on the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses board. In September, he was featured in Vanderbilt's Research News  and was quoted in the Nashville Post. Alvin is co-author of "Data Science Methods for Nursing-relevant Patient Outcomes and Clinical Processes: The 2019 Literature Year in Review," published in CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing in May 2021, and had his first invited editorial, "Can Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Help Us Treat Sepsis?" published online in August in Intensive and Critical Care Nursing. He was a speaker at the Sepsis Alliance Summit in September and is lead author of "Assess, Prevent and Manage Pain; Both Spontaneous Awakening and Breathing Trials; Choice of Analgesia/Sedation; Delirium: Assess, Prevent and Manage; Early Mobility; Family Engagement and Empowerment Bundle Implementation: Quantifying the Association of Access to Bundle-enhancing Supplies and Equipment," published that month in Critical Care Explorations. Alvin co-authored "Imagining an Orientation Built on Trust," published in the January/February 2020 issue of the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development. He was elected to a three-year term as a director on the national board for AACN that July, and wrote "ANI Emerging Leader Project Resources for Learning Data Science," published that month in CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing. Alvin spoke at Binghamton University in New York for Nursing Data Science Research Day in March 2019, and presented "Nursing Considerations for Biomedical Informatics Research," and at a Vanderbilt University Medical Center informatics seminar in April. That year, he received the Circle of Excellence Award from the AACN, co-authored "Implementation Science Training and Resources for Nurses and Nurse Scientists," published in Journal of Nursing Scholarship, and spoke about "Challenges in Data Science," as part of Duke University School of Nursing's Data Science Seminar webinar series. In September, he was interviewed for—and made the cover of— AACN Bold Voices, and received a K12 Institutional Career Development award from the Vanderbilt Learning Health System Scholars Program. Alvin was selected in January 2018 by the Alliance for Nursing Informatics to participate in the Nursing Informatics Emerging Leaders program, and was highlighted in a USA Today supplement in June, featuring men in nursing. He is a post-doctoral research fellow with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Nashville, a member of AACN's Essentials Tool Kit Working Group on information and healthcare technologies, and an assistant professor at VUSN.

Alicia Johnson, MSN'17, is a certified nurse-midwife at Lone Tree OB/GYN and Midwives in Lone Tree and Castle Rock, Colorado. She had been a nurse practitioner and certified nurse-midwife at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare–Iowa at the Covenant Midwives and Women's Health Center in Waterloo.

Stephanie Johnson, MSN'17, is a nurse practitioner at Ascent Healthcare in Beaverton, Oregon, where she specializes in geriatric medicine and community-based primary care services (2022).

Taylor Johnson, MSN'17, is a fellow at Nemours Children's Hospital in Newark, Delaware (2017).

Melissa Kanter, MSN'17, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Maine Health—Memorial Hospital in North Conway, New Hampshire, where she treats psychiatry patients ages three and older, serves as consult liaison for emergency departments, and conducts case reviews for nursing homes (2019).

Kathleen Kinser, MSN'14, DNP'17, is a nursing instructor at Northeast State Community College's Regional Center for Health Professions in Kingsport, Tennessee (2021).

Elissa Ku, MSN'17, is a nurse practitioner in family medicine at Dignity Health Medical Group Inland Empire in San Bernardino, California (2020).

Courtenay Lahey, MSN'17, joined Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital in Saint Johnsbury in February 2018, as a women's health nurse practitioner. 

Laura Laine, MSN'17, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Nashville Child and Family Wellness Center (2020).

Billie Ford Lancaster, MSN'17, DNP'20, is lead author of "Using a Standardized Rounding Tool to Improve the Incidence of Spontaneous Awakening and Breathing Trials," published in Critical Care Nurse in April 2022. She presented at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference in June.

Danielle Lenz, MSN'17, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner for Indiana University Health in Fishers where she provides inpatient services (2017).

Charlotte Linville, MSN'17, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at University of Florida Health Shands Children's Hospital in Gainesville (2018). 

Courtney Lombardi, MSN'17, is a nurse practitioner at O'Hana Women's Center in Yakima, Washington (2020).

James Longmire, MSN'17, is a nurse practitioner at Baptist Memorial Health Care's Adult and Adolescent Medicine Clinics in Memphis, Tennessee (2022).

Margaret Macon, BA'16, MSN'17, is a nurse practitioner at Kennesaw Gynecology in Georgia (2017). 

Beth McCraw, DNP'17, is vice president of nursing and clinical services at Jennie Stuart Medical Center in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, where she leads a nonprofit, acute care community hospital's nursing and clinical administration (2020).

Jessica McMillan, BA'13, MSN'16, DNP'17, is featured in the Alumni Spotlight on the American Nurses Association Minority Fellowship Program website.

Robin Mickelson, PhD'17, and her co-author received the Alphonse Chapanis Student Paper Award from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society in October 2017 for "Capturing the Medication Management Work System of Older Adults Using a Digital Diary Method." She is a Quality Scholar Fellow at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Nashville, where she studies the design of tools and technologies for older adults. 

Alys Moore, MSN'17, is a certified nurse-midwife, licensed family nurse practitioner and trained birth doula at Baby + Company in Nashville (2018). 

Deonna Moore, MSN'07, PhD'17, is administrative director of clinical services in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Transplant Center (2017).

Ember Moore, MSN'17, is a nurse practitioner in palliative care at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire (2022).

Alexandra Moran, MSN'17, DNP'20, co-authored "Incorporating a Nurse Practitioner into a Vascular Medicine Program," published in Vascular Medicine in October 2019.

Alexis Myers, BA'14, MSN'17, was named president of the Arizona National Association of Nurse Practitioners in August 2022. She was the keynote speaker at the virtual Pittsburgh Schweitzer Fellows Celebration of Service in May 2021, presenting about Ronald McDonald Care Mobile and the Schweitzer project at the Homewood Early Learning Hub and Family Center. She received Pittsburgh Magazine's Excellence in Nursing–Community Award that November. Alexis a certified pediatric nurse practitioner at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Children's Hospital, a PhD student at Rush University School of Nursing in Chicago, and a member of the VUSN Alumni Board.

Lynnea Myers, PhD'17, is lead author of "Family-centered Care: How Close Do We Get When Talking to Parents of Children Undergoing Diagnosis for Autism Spectrum Disorders?" published in November 2020 in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. She completed a second PhD at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, exploring dysmorphology in children with autism spectrum disorders. Lynnea is an assistant professor of nursing at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota.

Jennifer Lynn Neczypor, MSN'17, co-authored "Providing Evidenced-Based Care During the Golden Hour," which was published by – and made the cover of – Nursing for Women's Health, in December 2017.

Hannah Nolte, BA'15, MSN'17, is co-author of "Measuring Health Professionals' Beliefs about Skin-to-skin Care during a Cesarean," published in Maternal & Child Nutrition in June 2021. She is a psychiatric nurse practitioner at TMS Therapy of Huntsville in Alabama, a PhD student at VUSN, and a member of the VUSN Alumni Board.

Cecilia Nwogu, DNP'17, earned the Outstanding Clinical Project Poster Presentation Award at the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association national conference in September 2018. 

Elizabeth Ogunnaike, MSN'11, DNP'17, was recognized in The World in a January 2018 story about Southern Coos Health Center in Bandon, Oregon, where she is nurse practitioner.

Faye Park, MSN'17, is a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Via Clinic in Baltimore (2022).

Brooke Patteson, MSN'17, is at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, working with pediatric neuro-oncology patients in the division of pediatric radiation oncology (2017).

Saman Perera, MSN'17, was showcased in the University of Tennessee Daily Beacon in February 2018 for his work with Doctors Without Borders.

Cassandra Thomas Price, MSN'17, presented "Empowering Rural Patients towards Optimization of Health Using a Patient Focused, Place-based Model of Care," at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference in June 2019. She is a family NP at Community Healthcare Systems, seeing patients in rural areas of central Georgia.

Kate Rainey, MSN'17, is a family nurse practitioner at NorthCrest Family Healthcare in Springfield, Tennessee (2020).

Rick Ramirez, MSN'17, DNP'19, is lead author of "Development and Implementation of a Trauma Team Education Program in Georgetown, Guyana," published by The Nurse Practitioner in July 2021.

Jose Ramos, MSN'17, joined Saint Vincent Heart Institute in Billings, Montana, in August 2018 as a nurse practitioner. 

Rebecca Soderlind Rice, MSN'17, DNP'19, is a certified nurse-midwife at Anchorage Women's Clinic (2019).

Jennifer David Ridgway, MSN'14, DNP'17, was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in June 2022, and is lead author of "Interactive, Case-based Teaching Design Strategies for Nurse Practitioner Students," published in June 2021 in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners. She was featured on the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching website in April 2020 for her work leading VUSN students to continue with clinical interaction while away from campus due to COVID-19. Jennifer led a group of VUSN students in March 2019 to teach children at the KIPP Kirkpatrick School in Nashville how to better manage asthma. That summer, she received the VUSN DAISY Award for Small Group Facilitator at the PreSpecialty Level and was named to the CFT Junior Faculty Fellows program. Jennifer presented a poster at the May 2018 Nurses Week Research Nurses Poster Session at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Shelza Rivas, BA'12, MSN'15, DNP'17, was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in June 2022, and received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November. She co-authored "Opioid Use Disorder Screening for Women across the Lifespan," published in Advances in Family Practice Nursing in May 2021, and co-presented, "Opioid Use Disorder Screening across the Women's Health Lifespan," at the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health conference in October. She is co-author of "Sexual Violence Screening for Women across the Lifespan," published in Advances in Family Practice Nursing in May 2020. Shelza mentored VUSN PreSpecialty students on a medical mission trip to Guatemala in March 2019. She is an assistant professor at VUSN.

David Roae, MSN'17, joined the Jones Memorial Medical Practices in Belvidere, New York, in January 2018, as a family nurse practitioner. 

Maggie Roberts, MSN'17, is on staff at Baptist Health in Lexington, Kentucky, treating labor and delivery, postpartum, antepartum, cesarean and high-risk patients (2017).

Amy Romano, PMC'17, is lead author of "A Multimethod Improvement Project to Strengthen Intermittent Auscultation Practice among Nurse‐midwives and Nurses," published in May 2020 in the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health.

Jensine Russell, DNP'17, presented a poster, "Utilization of Transformational Leadership to Transition from Acute Medicine to Pulmonary Stepdown Nursing Practice," at Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Nursing Virtual Research Day in October 2020, and was published in the March 2019 issue of Nursing Clinics. She became the patient care manager for inpatient medicine at VUMC in June 2018. 

Mary Gwen Sagen, MSN'17, is a primary care pediatric nurse practitioner at Tennessee Pediatrics in Thompson's Station (2020).

Jennifer Shelby, MSN'17, DNP'18, is a nurse practitioner at Women's Health Specialists in Murfreesboro, Tennessee (2020).

Misty Smith, PMC'17, DNP'18, was interviewed by Nashville's Fox17 in May 2018 for a piece about the nursing shortage in Tennessee. She is a neonatal nurse practitioner at the Hawai'i Pacific Health Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu.

Elizabeth Snider, MSN'17, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Lentz Pediatrics offices in Jackson and Lexington, Tennessee (2020).

Amanda Sherman Stone, MS'11, PhD'17, co-authored "Leftover Opioids following Adult Surgical Procedures: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis," published in Systematic Reviews in June 2020.

Seri Stoppenhagen, MSN'17, is an adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner in trauma and surgical critical care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (2020).

Amy Stvartak, MSN'17, is a family nurse practitioner at Healthy Connections, a lifespan primary care clinic for rural, underserved populations in Mount Ida, Arkansas (2017).

Margaret C. Taylor, DNP'17, received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in October 2021. She presented a poster showcasing her doctor of nursing practice project, "Creating a Quality Improvement Process for Midwifery Care," at the American College of Nurse-Midwives national conference in May 2019. 

Ashley Trantham, MSN'17, joined CHI Memorial Family Practice Associates in Harrison, Tennessee, in February 2018 as a nurse practitioner. 

Heather Venrick, MSN'15, DNP'17, is co-author of "Leveraging School Nurse Expertise to Meet Children's Health and Nutrition Needs in Afterschool Programs," published in NASN School Nurse in September 2019.

Nicholas Villarreal, PMC'17, is a critical-care nurse practitioner/house officer at Fairview Health Services in the Minneapolis area, managing an inpatient resuscitation team for a 400-bed referral hospital, performing admissions and internal medicine consults, and treating inpatients, regardless of service, in the absence of the attending physician (2019).

Jessica Walker, MSN'15, PMC'17, DNP'17, co-authored "Management of Mental Health Disorders in Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus," published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in February 2022, and was honored in May as one of 50 outstanding graduates of Belmont University School of Nursing in Nashville. She presented at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference in June. Jessica co-presented, "Primary Care Management of Special Populations with Co-occurring Mental Health Disorders and HIV," at the National Nurse Practitioner Symposium in July, and a poster, "Diagnostic and Management Considerations for Co-occurring HIV and Mental Health Disorders for Psychiatric-mental Health Nursing Providers," at the American Psychiatric Nurses Association conference in October. She presented "Care for the Unhoused/Unstably Housed," during Vanderbilt University's Lefkowitz Hour in November. Jessica is lead author of "The Impact of an Educational Intervention on Nursing Staff Attitudes toward Patients Experiencing Homelessness and Mental Illness," published in the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association in May 2021. She was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in June, and co-authored "Showcasing Nursing Leadership and Contributions to a University's COVID-19 Student Contact Tracing Process," published in the October/December Nursing Administration Quarterly. She co-presented "Homeless Health Care in the Medical Setting," at Vanderbilt University Medical Center's advanced practice grand rounds in July 2020, and co-authored "Surreptitious Opioid Misuse in the General Hospital via Rectal Administration: A Case Report," published in Psychosomatics in July/August. She co-presented a poster, "Nursing Staff Attitudes toward Medically Hospitalized Patients who are Homeless and Have Mental Illness," at the APNA annual conference, and co-authored "Radiation Therapy Adherence among Patients Experiencing Homelessness," in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, both in October. She was featured by Belmont University in November for receiving the Catherine Hanley Class of 1912 Rising Star Alumni Award presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October. Jessica presented "Attitudes of Inpatient Nursing Staff toward Patients Who Are Homeless and Have Mental Illness," in May 2018 at VUMC during Aprilfest. She received third place for a poster she presented at VUMC's Research Day in November 2016, and was on a panel at VUMC, "The Call of the Street: How One Homeless Man Continuously Declines Chronic Healthcare," that December. Jessica is chair of the APNA practice council, member of the quality committee at the Park Center in Nashville, and board member for the Mental Health Cooperative in Nashville. She is featured on the VUMC website in its Advanced Practice Provider Spotlight.

Abby Ward, BS'16, MSN'17, is a family nurse practitioner at MD Medical Group in Dallas (2019).

Kimberly Woodward, MSN'17, was nominated in May 2022 for a Vanderbilt University Medical Center award named in memory of the late Jerita Payne, MSN'90, MMHC'13, and received the Patient Experience Award from VUMC in November. She received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021.

Kelli Wray, DNP'17, served as moderator for "Climate and Health Equity," in August 2022, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and was appointed a member of the VUSN Alumni Board in September. She is chief nursing officer at Good Samaritan Hospital, HCA Healthcare, in San Jose, California.

Hamilton Yarbrough, MSN'17, is a certified nurse-midwife at Simon-Williamson Clinic in Birmingham, Alabama (2020).

Natima Geis Alexander, MSN'18, joined the Goshen Birth Center in Indiana in July 2019 as a certified nurse midwife.

Abdul Aziz, MSN'18, was a panelist for "Supporting Nursing Students of Color: Success Strategies from Academia to Practice," in February 2022, and for "Kids and Navigating the Pandemic: A Lesson in Resilience," in January 2021, both part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. He is a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Stars Behavioral Health Group in Indio, California.

Jennifer Barut, PhD'18, received the Sara K. Archer Award from students in the VUSN Nursing and Health Care Leadership specialty in August 2022. She returned to VUSN in May 2021 as an assistant professor in NHCL after serving as chief executive officer of Haven Behavioral Hospital of Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Laurie Berg, PMC'18, is an advanced practice nurse at Nephrology Associates of Northern Illinois, treating hospital patients with significant metabolic abnormalities, acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease. She has approximately 40 patients at a long-term care facility as well as responsibilities at an outpatient hemodialysis unit (2019).

Sara Best, MSN'18, is a family nurse practitioner at The People's Clinic in Clarksville, Tennessee (2020).

Simona Black, DNP'18, was the commencement speaker at Auburn University in December 2022. The news was covered by The News Courier. She was a speaker at the Auburn Women's Summit and a panelist for "What a Nurse Can Do: The Surprisingly Broad Range of Expertise among Nurses/Nurse Practitioners," part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, both in May 2021. She is a retired colonel in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and assistant professor at Norfolk State University in Virginia.

Kaitlyn Breiten, MSN'18, is co-author of "Destigmatizing Abortion in Primary Care Settings," published in Women's Healthcare in October 2022, and of "Successfully Managing Challenging Patient Encounters," published in American Nurse Today in October 2018.  

Kristen Bromaghim, MSN'18, is an adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner at Saint Thomas West in Nashville. She joined the staff of Cherokee Regional Clinic in Iowa as a nurse practitioner, in March 2019. 

Meaghan Burns, MSN'18, was named Provider of the Month in March 2019 by her employer, Gateway Community Health Center, in Laredo, Texas. 

Skyler Carpenter, BA'16, MSN'18, was inducted into the Indiana Track and Field/Cross Country Hall of Fame in June 2022. She has a health and wellness blog called Well & Worthy Co. where, among other things, she shares about being a certified nurse-midwife.

Tiffany Chance, DNP'18, is one of two women's health nurse practitioners in the Okanawa, Japan, outpatient clinic that supports the U.S. Air Force's largest combat wing in the Pacific. A paper she wrote on ureaplasma lead to the implementation of testing throughout the USAF, saving money while increasing examinations. She directed a cervical cancer awareness project and spoke about it on Armed Forces Network radio, reaching 30,000 active-duty soldiers, 1,400 civilians and 25,000 family members (2020).

Caleb Cochran, MSN'18, is an emergency medical technician and flight nurse for Vanderbilt LifeFlight (2020).

Ellie Condie, BS'16, MSN'18, is co-author of "Successfully Managing Challenging Patient Encounters," published in American Nurse Today in October 2018.  

Elizabeth Marino Condit, MSN'18, started her post master's certificate in acute care in January 2021 in Houston. She traveled to New York in March 2020, where she spent 14 weeks and over 900 hours in a COVID-19 intensive care unit in the Bronx, working as a nurse practitioner. Her experiences were captured that April in an interview on KPRC-2 News. She also went to El Paso and San Antonio to assist with COVID relief. 

Bethany Cones, MSN'18, received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in October 2021. She is a nurse practitioner at the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center Pain and Symptoms Management Program.

Sarah Cox, MSN'18, was named American Psychiatric Nurses Association Board of Directors Scholar in October 2018. 

Nhan Dinh, MSN'18, DNP'22, co-authored the chapter, "Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 (DPP4) Inhibitors," in the book, Diabetes and Kidney Disease, published by Springer in January 2022. She co-authored "Managing Diabetes and Hypertension in Chronic Kidney Disease," published in The Nurse Practitioner in November 2021, and published "Acute Kidney Injury: Challenges and Opportunities," in The Nurse Practitioner in April 2020. She is a nephrology nurse practitioner at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where she evaluates patients for renal transplant and provides post-transplant care.

Penny Dodson, DNP'18, is an instructor in the nursing informatics program at VUSN (2019).

Meredith Donahue, MSN'18, was featured by Urology Times in an interview, "How APPs Can Be Involved with Genitourinary Cancer Care," in March 2021. She was credited as the impetus behind a paper published in Urology Times in December 2020 that was prepared to guide practitioners in ways to help patients undergoing therapy for bladder cancer. Meredith is a nurse practitioner in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Department of Urology.

Darshi Edirisooriya, BA'16, MSN'18, was a panelist for "Transition to APRN Practice," hosted in August 2021 by the VUSN Alumni Board Mentoring Committee. She is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Pediatric Practitioners of Oklahoma near Tulsa.

Elizabeth Espinoza, PMC'18, DNP'21, is an assistant professor at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, where she teaches pediatric acute care nurse practitioner and doctor of nursing practice students, and provides pediatric intensive care (2022).

Brooke Faught, DNP'18, was inducted as a 2020 fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and was interviewed in a video, "Why Be a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner?" hosted by the National Association of Nurse Practitioner's in Women's Health. She is lead author of "Etiology of Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder and Implications for Treatment: Case Scenarios," published in Women's Healthcare in April 2020, and "Social Boundaries in Young Adult Females with Down Syndrome as a Foundation for Sexuality Education," published in the American Journal of Sexuality Education in October. Brooke received the Founder's Medal for the School of Nursing during Vanderbilt University's graduation exercises in May 2019, and co-presented "Women's Sexual Health," part 1 and 2, at the AANP conference that June. She was featured as a panelist for the Nashville Public Television documentary, Companionship & Intimacy: Aging Matters, which aired in December. Brooke is a women's health nurse practitioner at Urology Associates in Nashville, specializing in female sexual and pelvic floor medicine, urology and vulvoscopy.

Olivia Floyd, PMC'18, is a nurse practitioner at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, specializing in adult post-acute care and substance use disorders. She works at the Johns Hopkins After Care Clinic, a post-discharge clinic in the department of internal medicine that aids largely underserved patients, and rounds with the Hopkins inpatient Substance Use Disorders Consult Service (2020).

Frances Gaudier-Schmidt, MSN'18, DNP'21, moderated a panel, "The Power of Diversity in Nursing and Initiatives to Increase Diversity and Inclusion," hosted by the VUSN DNP Student Diversity Affinity Group in February 2021.

Kaitlyn Geib, MSN'18, joined the Hillside Health Center in Ukiah, California, as a pediatric nurse practitioner in February 2019. 

Meagan Gilday, MSN'18, is an inpatient general surgery nurse practitioner at Boston Children's Hospital (2019).

Emily Giometti, MSN'18, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Mile High Psychiatry, an outpatient private practice in Denver (2018). 

Mitchell Goldstein, MSN'18, is a nurse practitioner at Antelope Valley Emergency Medical Associates in Lancaster, California (2022).

Amanda Gonzales, MSN'18, is value analysis manager at the University of Colorado in Aurora (2019). 

Eric Hall, MSN'18, became board certified in nursing informatics in January 2022, received the VUSN School Life Staff Award for Informatics in May, and was promoted to informatics specialist at VUSN in December. He welcomed a baby in October 2021, and joined VUSN in early 2020 as a simulation lab nurse.

Maggie Halloran, MSN'18, is a nurse practitioner specializing in gynecology at Women First in Darby, Pennsylvania (2020).

Alexandria Harvick, MSN'18, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022.

Heather Hemmeger, MSN'18, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at the Vanderbilt University Counseling Center (2020).

Drew Herbert, MSN'18, is a family nurse practitioner at Barton Health in South Lake Tahoe, California (2019). 

Elizabeth Blanchard Hills, MSN'18, was a panelist for "Loan Repayment Programs: What Are They and How Do They Work?" hosted in July 2021 by the VUSN Alumni Board Mentoring Committee. She serves on the legislative committee of the Kansas State Nurses Association and spoke at its annual conference in March 2020, and created a webinar on self-care for nurses on the front lines of COVID-19 for the Midwest Multi State Division. Elizabeth is owner and clinical director at Inspired Psychiatric Care in Overland Park, and a board member for the American Psychiatric Nurses Association Kansas Chapter.

Ashley Holmes, MEd'13, MSN'18, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Calcagno Pediatrics in Gresham, Oregon, where she provides mental health care to a mostly-Medicaid population (2022).

Cerrissa Hugie, MSN'17, DNP'18, opened a psychiatric practice in January 2022 in Charleston, South Carolina. She was a panelist for three Dore to Door Alumni Forum events in 2020: "Mental Health and Black America Today: Where Are We?" in February, "Mental Health and Black America Today: Where Are We? (Part 2)," in July, and "SANE: Improving Outcomes for Survivors of Sexual Assault," in October. She and her husband are the featured speakers for the Pressure Points Unpacked podcast, "Understanding the Dynamics of Race Based Trauma," recorded in July. She is author of the book, Cultivating and Creating Healthy MyNDSpaces: 9 Strategies to Emotional Wellness and Personal Growth, published in August, and welcomed twins in early 2020. Cerrissa is founder and owner of MyNDSpace, a company in Charleston that provides mental health education and consulting to promote mental health awareness in underserved communities.

Nancy Husson, PMC'15, DNP'18, is lead author of "Education to Improve Point of Care Documentation in Home Care Nurses: A Quality Improvement Project," published in CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing in July 2021.

Ashlee Jackson, MSN'18, joined the staff of the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle in April 2021 as a nurse practitioner in complex care management.

Emily Baldwin Jennewine, MSN'18, was recognized by the Memphis Flyer in January 2022, for being among the city's "best and brightest young leaders". She is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Lifedoc Health.

Melissa Johnson, MSN'18, was nominated in May 2022 for a Vanderbilt University Medical Center award named in memory of the late Jerita Payne, MSN'90, MMHC'13.

Mindy Johnson, MSN'16, DNP'18, co-taught two, four-hour workshops titled "Basic to Advanced HEENT Procedures Used in Primary and Emergency Care Settings," at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference in June 2022. She was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN and is one of eighteen Vanderbilt University faculty members named a Junior Faculty Teaching fellow, both in June 2021. She is a contributing author of the book, Emergency Nurse Practitioner Core Curriculum, published in August by Springer. Mindy authored "Impetigo," published in the Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal in October/December 2020, and "Nursemaid's Elbow Reduction," published in its October/December 2019 issue.

Lindsay Johnson-Bishop, MSN'18, DNP'20, co-authored "Comparison of Hickman versus Proline Central Venous Catheters in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant," published by Biology of Blood and Marrow Transplantation in March 2020. She is a pediatric nurse practitioner and instructor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, specializing in hematology/oncology and bone marrow transplant, and teaching bachelors, masters and doctoral nursing students.

Jenn Keck, MSN'18, welcomed a baby in September 2018. She is a nurse practitioner at Grand Rapids Women's Health in Michigan.

Heath Kohlmeier, MSN'18, joined Tulip Tree Family Health Care in Fort Branch, Indiana, as a family nurse practitioner in February 2019. 

Holly Kosir, BA'13, MSN'18, is a pediatric nurse practitioner with Youn and Mannan in Baltimore (2018). 

Laura Logan, MSN'18, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago (2020).

Chelsea Lytle, MSN'18, is the neuroscience program coordinator at Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta, where she is launching a neuro intensive care unit and developing a comprehensive stroke center (2020).

Heather Mantsch, MSN'18, was in the Duluth News Tribune for joining the staff at the Range Mental Health Center in Minnesota as a psychiatric nurse practitioner in December 2020.

Holly Mathews, BA'13, MSN'18, was a panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's annual MSN Know Your Value "Salary and Contract Negotiation for New NPs," in April 2022. She is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Youn & Mannan in Baltimore, specializing in patients from birth to age 22 years.

Erica May, MSN'16, DNP'18, co-authored "Dental Pain Relief in the Age of ALTO," published in the July/September 2019 issue of Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal. She is an instructor in the Emergency Nurse Practitioner specialty at VUSN.

Amanda McClure, MSN'18, joined the staff at Mercy Clinic Endocrinology in Fort Smith, Arkansas, in May 2019 as a nurse practitioner.

Tempesst Merricks, MSN'18, was a panelist for a discussion that followed a presentation by U.S. Congressperson Lauren Underwood to members of the VUSN community in May 2022, and co-presented, "Avoiding Burnout while Practicing Telepsychiatry," in August 2021, hosted online by ReifyResilience. She is a doctor of nursing practice student at VUSN and secretary of the DNP Diversity Affinity Group.

Rachel Short Minton, MSN'18, is a clinical informaticist for HCA in Millcreek, Utah (2022).

Jenna Murray, MSN'18, is an advanced practice provider in the department of gynecological studies at University of Pittsburgh Physicians, specializing in chronic pelvic pain, endometriosis and general gynecology (2022).

Zoe Olavarri, BA'16, MSN'18, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Academy Children's Clinic in Nashville (2020).

Rebecca Palmer, MSN'18, co-authored "Utilizing Academic-community Partnerships with Nursing Students to Improve Hand Hygiene in Elementary Students to Reduce Transmission of COVID-19," published in NASN School Nurse in January 2021. She is a family nurse practitioner and certified nurse-midwife specializing in obstetrics and gynecology at Gundersen Health System's Viroqua Clinic in Wisconsin.

Corry Paul, MSN'18, was interviewed by the The Washington Post in June 2019 for a story about the plight of primary health care in rural Tennessee. At that time, she was an advanced practice registered nurse at Jennie Stuart Family Health in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Corry is an adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner at NP Housecalls in Nashville.

Marie Peters, MSN'18, is a women's health nurse practitioner at WOMEN Obstetrics & Gynecology in Nashville (2020).

Connie Phillip, MSN'18, is a nurse practitioner at AFC Urgent Care in Anderson, South Carolina, where she sees patients ranging from babies to elderly persons and serves as the clinic's provider for workers compensation cases (2019).

Carina Platner, MSN'18, is an advanced care provider at the Mental Health Cooperative in Nashville (2022).

Kelsey Pope, MSN'18, is a psychiatric nurse practitioner at the Vanderbilt University Counseling Center (2018). 

Jamie Powers, MSN'18, is a nurse practitioner at Graves Gilbert Clinic in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where she cares mainly for adult and gerontology patients (2020).

Alexa Proctor, MSN'18, joined San Francisco Planned Parenthood in April 2019 as a nurse practitioner. 

Alice Proia, MSN'18, is an adult nurse practitioner at Adelante Healthcare in Phoenix (2020).

Erica Kierce Ramey, MSN'18, is an associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (2022).

Jennifer Rice, MSN'18, is a palliative care and hospice nurse practitioner at the Hospice of West Tennessee in Jackson. She is the first and only nurse practitioner to hold this position in the West Tennessee Healthcare system (2020).

Gloria Rothenberg, BS'17, MSN'18, shared a virtual conversation with Dean Linda Norman titled "Nursing Then and Now, and the (Mis)perceptions that Linger," as part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum in May 2021. She is transplant coordinator and a family nurse practitioner at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York.

Darby Sangrey, MSN'18, is a family nurse practitioner at Hopewell Family Care in Hermitage, Tennessee (2020).

Jennifer Shelby, MSN'17, DNP'18, is a nurse practitioner at Women's Health Specialists in Murfreesboro, Tennessee (2020).

Micah Skeens, PhD'18, is lead author of "Factors Affecting COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Parents of Children with Cancer," published in Pediatric Blood & Cancer in April 2022. She is a principal investigator and nurse scientist at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, practicing in a pediatric oncology clinic. Her research is funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research and focuses on digital health interventions to improve adherence and symptom burden in pediatric oncology and bone marrow transplant patients. She has several studies evaluating the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 on children.

Misty Smith, PMC'17, DNP'18, was interviewed by Nashville's Fox17 in May 2018 for a piece about the nursing shortage in Tennessee. She is a neonatal nurse practitioner at the Hawai'i Pacific Health Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu.

Susannah Spero, MSN'18, is co-author of "Destigmatizing Abortion in Primary Care Settings," published in Women's Healthcare in October 2022. She was a primary care and urgent care nurse practitioner at an Indian Health Service critical access hospital, and was a frontline provider diagnosing and treating COVID-19 patients in one of the most severely impacted communities in the country and the world. In 2018, she traveled to Guyana as a Frist Global Health Leader with support from VUSN and VUMC's emergency medicine program. Susannah is a nurse practitioner at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, in the university health center.

Julia Martin Steed, MSN'10, PhD'18, co-moderated the panel, "COVID Perspectives, Values and Vaccination Hesitancy," presented by the VUSN Diversity and Inclusion Committee in January 2022. In April, she received the Tennessee Rising Star Nurse Leader Award from the Tennessee Nurses Association, Tennessee Hospital Association and Tennessee Action Coalition, and was lead presenter of, "Advocacy among Underrepresented Faculty Group Leverages Advances in Nursing Workforce Diversity at a Predominantly White Institution," at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties conference. She received the VUSN Dean's Award for Faculty Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion in May. Julia is co-recipient of a Vanderbilt University Sesquicentennial Grant for "Project SHARE: Sharing Strategies for Academic Faculty and Student Recruitment," in fall 2022. She was elected to TNA's Nominating Committee in November for 2023 and 2024. Julia is co-author of "Creating Collaborative Relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities: An Approach to Diversifying the Nursing Workforce," published in Nurse Educator in April 2021, and lead author of "Smoking and Maternal Health: Evidence that Female Infertility Can Be Attributed to Smoking and Improved with Smoking Cessation," published in May in Advances in Family Practice Nursing. She was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN and is one of eighteen Vanderbilt University faculty members named a Junior Faculty Teaching Fellow, both in June. Julia co-authored "A Summer Professional Immersion in Nursing Program for Underrepresented Minority Undergraduate Students," published in the Journal of Nursing Education in October 2020, and welcomed a baby in September 2019. She was interviewed by VUMC Reporter in July 2018 for an article about VUSN hosting undergraduate students from Fisk and Vanderbilt universities and the Undergraduate Health Sciences Academy at Morehouse School of Medicine. The programs expose them to nursing as a career choice.

Sabrina Stover, MSN'18, PMC'21, joined CHI Memorial Family Practice Associates—Cleveland in Tennessee in June 2022 as an advanced practice provider. She had been an NP at CHI Memorial Infectious Disease Associates in Chattanooga, where she incorporated mind, body and spirit in caring for the human immunodeficiency virus population while utilizing resources through the Ryan White Program.

Tiffany Street, MSN'03, DNP'18, received the Jeanne E. Doyle Award from the Society of Vascular Nursing (the highest honor given by the organization) and co-presented at its conference in June 2022. She served on the SVN board in 2014-16 and was national president in 2016-17. Her article, "I Am TNA," was published in the winter 2021 issue of Tennessee Nurse. Tiffany was promoted to associate nursing officer at the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute in March 2021. She was named assistant professor at VUSN in January 2020 and appointed to represent VUSN as a board member of the Vanderbilt University Alumni Association, starting that July. She presented at the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant Critical Care Bootcamp at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in August 2018.

Tristan Strong, BS'12, MSN'18, is owner of Strong Health and Wellness in Nolensville, Tennessee (2021).

Maggie Swietlik, DNP'18, co-presented her doctor of nursing project, "Decision Support to Reduce Nursing Documentation Burden," at the American Organization of Nurse Executives conference in April 2019. She is chief nursing informatics officer at Inova, headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia.

Demetria Smith Tennefoss, MSN'18, DNP'20, is a medical science liaison in the medical affairs—cancer screening division of Guardant Health, headquartered in Redwood City, California, researching the clinical utility of blood-based cancer screening for colorectal and lung cancers (2022).

Michelle Terrell, MSN'01, DNP'18, is co-author of "Development and Testing of an Advanced Practice Clinical Advancement Program within an Academic Medical Center," published in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners in September 2021, and was a panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's annual DNP Know Your Value in January 2019. Michelle presented at the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant Critical Care Bootcamp at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in August 2018 and at the VUMC Pediatric Critical Care Boot Camp in September 2017.

Emily Thermos, BS'17, MSN'18, is a family nurse practitioner at Penobscot Community Health Care's Brewer Medical Center in Maine (2020).

Grace Underhill, BA'17, MSN'18, is a nurse practitioner at Covenant Care Pediatrics in Stockbridge, Georgia (2020).

Sarah Vaillancourt, MSN'18, co-presented on fat stigma in women's health at the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health conference in October 2021, and is the author of "Use of Motivational Interviewing to Address HPV Vaccine Hesitancy," published in Women's Healthcare in December. She is lead author of "Strategies to Decrease Fat Stigma in Women's Health," published in Women's Healthcare in October 2020. Sarah co-authored "Fat Stigma in Women's Health," published in the Journal for Nurse Practitioners in February 2019, and co-presented on the same subject at the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses conference in June. She co-wrote "Successfully Managing Challenging Patient Encounters," published in American Nurse Today in October 2018.

Joshua Viele, MSN'18, is director of informatics at HCA in Nashville (2018). 

Jean Walker, MSN'18, is co-author of "Successfully Managing Challenging Patient Encounters," published in American Nurse Today in October 2018.  

Jerald Westendorf, MSN'18, was a panelist for "The American Indian Health Care Delivery System: How and Why it Works," in June 2021, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. He is a nurse practitioner at Tuolumne Me-Wuk Indian Health Center in California.

Morgan Willbarger, MSN'18, joined the Neurology Specialists Clinic of Riverside Healthcare in Kankakee, Illinois, in September 2019, as an adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner.

Ellen Williams, BA'13, MSN'18, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and co-presented a poster, "Colostomy Irrigation: Prevalence, Interest in Irrigation and Quality of Life," at the 2019 VUMC Nursing Research Day.

Hannah Wolfshohl, MSN'18, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022.

Alan Wygant, MSN'18, is a family nurse practitioner in the Utah Navajo Health System (2022).

Jaime Young, MSN'18, is an adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner in the office of Anthony E. Jones, MD, in Oakland, California (2020).

Thomas Young, MSN'18, DNP'21, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021.

Tiffinie Zellars, MSN'18, DNP'18, is an assistant professor at the Belmont University School of Nursing in Nashville.

Marci Zsamboky, PMC'18, DNP'18, received the Distinguished Teaching Excellence Award from the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing's alumni association, and co-presented, "Designing a Behavioral Health Curriculum for Family Nurse Practitioner Students: Integrated Care Begins in the Classroom," at the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties conference, both in April 2022. She received a three-year $1.92 million Health Resources and Services Administration grant in mid-2021 to prepare and increase the number of advanced practice registered nurses able to provide behavioral health care for people in rural and underserved areas. She co-presented, "Trauma in Children and Adolescents: A Roadmap for Assessment, Diagnosis and Treatment," at the American Psychiatric Nurses Association Pre-Conference, "Meeting the Needs of Underserved Populations: Designing Behavioral Health Content for a Family Nurse Practitioner HRSA Training Grant," and "Innovative Strategies for Optimizing Virtual Learning and Telehealth Simulation Experiences for PMHNP Students," at the APNA conference in October. In December, she was awarded a grant from Vanderbilt's Course Improvement Grant and Educational Advancement Fund for her project, "Utilizing a Trauma-informed Care Approach to Nurse Practitioner Education." Marci was named academic director of the VUSN Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner specialty in January 2020, where she had been assistant professor. She co-authored "Easing the Psychological Impact of COVID-19 for Nurses," published in April in American Nurse, and "Easing the Psychological Impact of COVID-19 for Nurses: An Update for Tennessee Nurses," published in the summer issue of Tennessee Nurse. She is lead author of "Treating Child and Adolescent Depression and Anxiety in Primary Care," published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in September. Marci presented "ADHD or Bipolar Mania? Using Neuroscience to Inform Diagnosis and Treatment in Children and Adolescents," at the APNA conference in October 2019. Marci is a clinical associate professor and director of the PMHNP program at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

Samantha Abbott, MSN'19, is a nurse practitioner at Neighborhood Health Center in Milwaukee, Oregon (2022).

Shelley Atkinson, MSN'95, DNP'19, was named co-chair of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Advanced Practice Professional Development Committee in February 2021, and is lead author of "Improving Efficiency within a Trauma Nurse Practitioner Team," published in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners in May 2020. Shelley is director of advanced practice, acute surgery, at the Vanderbilt Adult Hospital.

Lindsey Baksh, MSN'07, DNP'19, co-presented, "Trauma-informed Teaching," at VUSN in February 2022. She received the Sara K. Archer Award from students in the VUSN Women's Health Nurse Practitioner specialty in August and was a panelist for "Trauma and Addiction: Breaking the Cycle for Women," in September, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. Lindsey co-authored "Opioid Use Disorder Screening for Women across the Lifespan," published in Advances in Family Practice Nursing in May 2021 and was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in June. She co-presented, "Opioid Use Disorder Screening across the Women's Health Lifespan," at the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health annual conference in October and co-authored "Generational Learning Preferences," published in American Nurse in December. Lindsey received the Sara K. Archer Excellence in Teaching Award from students in the WHNP specialty in August 2020. She is a member of the Center of Women's Health Clinic drug dependency group, which received Vanderbilt University Medical Center's Team Award in May 2018. 

Breanna Baraff, MSN'19, co-authored "A Qualitative Examination of Patient Priorities and Preferences during Treatment Decision-making for Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer," published in Supportive Care in Cancer in May 2020, and "Priorities and Preferences of Patients with Head and Neck Cancer for Discussing and Receiving Information about Sexuality and Perception of Self-report Measures," in The Journal of Sexual Medicine in August.

Nicole Beckmann, PhD'19, is lead author of "Parent Caregiving Experiences and Posttraumatic Growth following Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant," published in the Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing in March 2021, and "Parental Posttraumatic Growth after Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant," in the August issue of the Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing. She is a pediatric nurse practitioner at the Children's Minnesota Hospitalist Program in Minneapolis.

Sarah Bowman, PMC'19, is a nurse practitioner at All Heart Pediatric Cardiology in Chattanooga, Tennessee (2022).

Emily Brignola, BA'14, MSN'19, DNP'21, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021. She is a nurse practitioner specializing in otolaryngology, otology and neurotology at the Bill Wilkerson Center.

La Donna Brown, DNP'19, was a panelist for the VUSN Alumni Board's annual DNP Know Your Value in March 2021, and was mentioned in the September 2020 issue of Clinical Advisor about DNPs of Color, an organization she co-founded and serves as treasurer. She is a certified registered nurse anesthetist with North American Partners in Anesthesia, providing anesthesia and perioperative management for surgical patients of all age groups, mostly from suburban and urban areas around Washington, D.C.

Natalie Burleson, MSN'19, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Happi Health in Huntsville, Alabama (2022).

Jenna Barnes Caron, MSN'19, is a primary care nurse practitioner at Cornerstone Medical Group in Dalton, Georgia (2022).

Amanda Cherny-Reyes, MSN'19, of Hollister, California, passed away December 25, 2021.

Erica Choi, BA'16, MSN'19, co-authored "A Case for Cultural Awareness," published in the February 2020 issue of The Journal for Nurse Practitioners.

Gy Choi, MSN'19, is a family nurse practitioner at Urban Health Plan, a federally qualified health center in the Bronx and Queens areas of New York, serving low-income, undocumented immigrants, predominantly from Central and South America (2020).

Madalene Dawson Drummond, MSN'17, DNP'19, is lead author of "Utilizing Patient Reported Outcomes and Quality of Life Measures in the Management of Obesity," published in the Journal of Doctoral Nursing Practice in February 2022, and received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November. She received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from VUMC in October 2021.

Cate Enstrom, DNP'19, returned to VUSN in May 2021 as an instructor in the PreSpecialty program, and became a National League for Nursing certified nurse educator in December.

Laura Flanagan, MSN'19, is a women's health nurse practitioner at The Women's Health Pavilion in Queens and Long Island, New York (2020).

Dan Ford, MSN'19, was interviewed in a Vanderbilt Magazine article in February 2021 about the emotional impact that caring for COVID-19 patients has on Vanderbilt University Medical Center providers.

Jessie Sellers Gibson, MSN'16, PhD'19, is co-author of "A Qualitative Examination of Patient Priorities and Preferences during Treatment Decision-making for Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer," published in Supportive Care in Cancer in May 2020, and lead author of "Measuring Functional Status in Huntington's Disease," published in October Movement Disorders.

Lily Guevel, BS'18, MSN'19, is lead author for "Necrotizing Fasciitis in the Adult Patient: Implications for Nurse Practitioners," published in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in May 2020.

Andrea Hill, DNP'19, is an assistant professor at Touro University Nevada in Henderson, in its master's in nursing science and doctor of nursing practice programs (2022).

Sally Humphrey, MSN'01, DNP'19, is an associate professor in the pediatric nurse practitioner primary care program at University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center in Memphis (2019).

Kendall Jefferson, BA'15, MSN'19, is a nurse practitioner at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte in California (2020).

Madeline Johnson, MSN'19, is a public health nurse practitioner in the Metro Nashville Public Health Department, specializing in family planning, sexual health and pre-exposure prophylaxis (2022).

Abigail Jones, MSN'19, received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in October 2021.

LaGaunda Jones, DNP'19, was named chief nurse of hospital services at the Charlie Norwood Veterans Administration Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia, in May 2021.

Komi Kokou-Abi, MSN'19, DNP'21, was a panelist for "What a Nurse Can Do: The Surprisingly Broad Range of Expertise among Nurses/Nurse Practitioners," in May 2021, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. He is founder and executive director of Baobab Psychiatric Services in Austin, Texas.

Brie Lajeret, MSN'19, was nominated in May 2022 for a Vanderbilt University Medical Center award named in memory of the late Jerita Payne, MSN'90, MMHC'13.

Lauren Larkin, MSN'19, is a women's health nurse practitioner at Bosque Women's Care in Albuquerque (2020).

Mikala Larsen, MSN'19, is a nurse practitioner at Intermountain Healthcare in Saint George, Utah, specializing in adult vascular surgery (2022).

Hannah Ritter Lee, MSN'19, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022, and a DAISY Award in July 2021, for her work in the Adult Urology Clinic at VUMC. She was selected for a nurse practitioner urology fellowship at VUMC and is the second VUSN fellow in the program.

Molly Lodigiani, MSN'19, is a nurse practitioner at Steward Medical Group in Newton, Massachusetts, specializing in internal medicine (2021).

Julia MacKendrick, BA'17, MSN'19, is a pediatric primary care nurse practitioner at Desert Valley Pediatrics in Scottsdale, Arizona (2019).

Abby Markus, MSN'19, is a nurse practitioner at Diabetes Management Associates in Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, where she manages all aspects of diabetes care, including evaluation, treatment, education and co-morbid conditions such as cardiovascular disease, lipid disorders and neuropathy diseases (2021).

Adrianne Janicik Maurer, MSN'19, is an advanced registered nurse practitioner at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, a teaching associate in the University of Washington School of Medicine, and an affiliate member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (2020).

Kaitlyn McGowan, MSN'19, is an adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner at El Camino Health Primary Care in Mountain View, California (2020).

Sheila Metzger, PMC'19, is the subject of a November 2021 Yahoo! News story about her holistic women's health practice in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Brittany Miller, MSN'19, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Health Care Alliance in Tampa, Florida, specializing in primary care pediatrics and providing care to mothers and babies with breastfeeding concerns (2022).

Erin Miller, MSN'19, was a panelist for "SANE: Improving Outcomes for Survivors of Sexual Assault (Part 2)," in April 2022, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and received the Catherine Hanley Class of 1912 Rising Star Alumni Award presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October. She presented a pediatric sexual assault nurse examiner case study to the Children's Advocacy Center of Southwest Florida in April 2021, and was a panelist for the Dore to Door, "SANE: Improving Outcomes for Survivors of Sexual Assault," in October. She is a nurse practitioner in the child protection team at CACSF in Fort Myers, and is one of only two board-certified pediatric sexual assault nurse examiners in the state.

Sara Milwee, DNP'19, is lead author of "An Effective Model for Unit-based Advanced Practice Provider/Physician Collaboration on a Complex Medicine Hospital Unit," published in The Journal of Nursing Administration in September 2022.

Thomasena Moore, DNP'19, completed a post-doctoral fellowship with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Quality Scholars fellowship program in July 2022. She is a registered nurse and surgical quality management nurse consultant with the Durham VA Healthcare System in North Carolina, and a member of the VUSN Alumni Board.

Amy Parrott, MSN'19, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022.

Jolene Ramirez, DNP'19, was appointed a member of the VUSN Alumni Board in September 2022. She was interviewed by WSMV in November 2021 for a story about how she was connected to Dismas House in Nashville through her son's incarceration. She is associate chief nursing officer at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a board member for Dismas House, where she sits on the program committee.

Rick Ramirez, MSN'17, DNP'19, is lead author of "Development and Implementation of a Trauma Team Education Program in Georgetown, Guyana," published by The Nurse Practitioner in July 2021.

Rebecca Soderlind Rice, MSN'17, DNP'19, is a certified nurse-midwife at Anchorage Women's Clinic (2019).

Lindsay Saltsgiver, MSN'19, is a family nurse practitioner at Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic in Spokane, Washington (2020).

Laurel Kagan Schaefer, MSN'13, DNP'19, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022.

Lorne Schwartz, MSN'19, is a nurse practitioner at Dr. Hasemeier and Associates in Tennessee (2020).

John Shaver, MSN'19, co-authored "Rural Primary Care Providers' Attitudes towards Sexual and Gender Minorities in a Midwestern State in the USA," published in November 2019 in Rural Remote Health.

Cathy Shull, BA'01, MEd'06, MSN'19, received the Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in November 2022. She is a family psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at VUMC.

Alexandra Speros, MSN'19, is featured in a June 2021 VUMC Voice story about how she saved a choking victim while attending a wedding, and, in August, recorded a Vanderbilt University Research News podcast, "Ask an Expert: Is the COVID-19 Vaccine Safe for Pregnant Women?" She was called upon in March 2020 to be co-supervisor of a hotline for Vanderbilt University Medical Center patients and employees with questions and concerns about COVID-19. Alexandra is a certified nurse-midwife and family practitioner at West End Women's Health Center and Vanderbilt Nurse-Midwives at Melrose.

Ivan Srdanovic, MSN'19, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Pondworks Psychiatry and Psychotherapy in Austin, Texas (2020).

Melanie Steen, MSN'19, is a certified nurse-midwife at Modern Obstetrics and Gynecology of North Atlanta (2020).

Andrea Taylor, MSN'10, DNP'19, is lead author of "Increasing Human Papillomavirus Immunization in the Primary Care Setting," published in The Nurse Practitioner in October 2021.

Lexa Taylor, MSN'19, DNP'21, was featured in an advertisement for the Health Resources and Services Administration's Nurse Corps Scholarship Fund in spring 2021, and is co-author of "Influenza Vaccine Community Outreach: Leveraging an Interprofessional Healthcare Student Workforce to Immunize Marginalized Populations," published in June in Preventive Medicine. She was featured in Noozhawk in August 2020, for a story about the Bridge Clinic in Santa Barbara, California, where she provides treatment for people with substance use disorders.

Charlotte Van Cleve, MSN'19, co-authored "Implementation of a Collaborative Smoking Cessation Referral Process in a Psychiatric Setting," published in the Journal for Interprofessional Education & Practice in March 2020.

Amanda Wagner, PMC'19, DNP'19, is a clinical assistant professor at Texas State University's Saint David's School of Nursing in Round Rock (2022).

Jennifer Werthman, PhD'19, co-authored "Assess, Prevent and Manage Pain; Both Spontaneous Awakening and Breathing Trials; Choice of Analgesia/Sedation; Delirium: Assess, Prevent and Manage; Early Mobility; Family Engagement and Empowerment Bundle Implementation: Quantifying the Association of Access to Bundle-enhancing Supplies and Equipment," published in Critical Care Explorations in September 2021. She is co-author of "The Administration of Moderate Sedation and the Role of the Radiology Nurse," published in January 2020 by the Journal of Radiology Nursing, and lead author of "Moderate Sedation Education for Nurses in Interventional Radiology to Promote Patient Safety: Results of a National Survey," published in the Journal of Radiology Nursing in December.

Cory Williams, MSN'19, DNP'21, co-presented at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference in June 2022.

Julie Witte, MSN'19, is a women's health nurse practitioner at PrivaMD in Grand Haven, Michigan (2020).