Class of 1992
Every VUSN graduate has exciting things happening in her or his life, both professionally and personally. Class Notes – printed twice a year in the Vanderbilt Nurse Magazine and available online on this page – is an opportunity for you to not only learn what other alumni are doing but also share news about your life. We would love to hear what you've been up to! Please contact us with any updates, or call 615-322-4836. And, when posting on social media please tag us! #VUSN
Look below for news from your classmates as of December 31, 2022. Items received since July 1, 2022 are shown in red font.
Doris Billhorn, MSN'92 , of Chicago, passed away May 7, 2020.
Tom Bush, MSN'92, published "Postgraduate Education Improves Nurse Practitioner's Job Satisfaction," in Clinical Advisor, and presented multiple times at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference, both in June 2019.
Beverly Maddux Byram, MSN'92, was featured on the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's website in its Advanced Practice Provider Spotlight. She is program director of Part D Ryan White at the Vanderbilt Comprehensive Care Clinic (2018).
Kappu Deshpande, MSN'92, earned the promotion to emergency medical service assistant chief by the Nashville Fire Department in February 2016.
Laura Sickles Gray, MA'85, MSN'92, authored "Do Parent ADHD Symptoms Influence Sleep and Sleep Habits of Children with ADHD? A Pilot Study," published in Pediatric Nursing in January/February 2020.
Sandy Greeno, MSN'92, DNP'13, is a clinical assistant professor at Oregon Health and Science University School of Nursing in Portland (2016).
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. She was elected to two terms as Tennessee state chair of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. 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. Nicole serves as corporate director of women's and pediatric services at Community Health Systems in Nashville where she, among other things, is expert resource in maternal-child, women's health and pediatric/newborn services (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.
Kathie Krause, MSN'92, was interviewed by the Nashville Post in December 2022 regarding her announcement that she is leaving her position as a chief nursing officer at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She was appointed by Governor Bill Lee to the Tennessee Health Care Modernization Task Force in November 2019. She was chairperson for the 2018 Nurse of the Year event in Nashville and was named to the board of directors of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Nashville in February 2017. As chief nursing officer at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, Kathie wrote her reflections on nursing for the hospital's celebration of Nurses Week 2016.
Karen Ramos McCarty, BSN'86, MSN'92, received an Excellence in Patient Experience Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in October 2021.
Brian McKelvy, MSN'92, was interviewed in July 2018 by The Daily Herald regarding his candidacy for county commissioner of Columbia, Tennessee.
Susan Christos McKenney, MSN'92, is a nurse practitioner at Pardee Internal Medicine in Hendersonville, North Carolina (2018).
Cheryl Nail, MSN'92, is chief nursing officer at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center and Heart Institute in Fort Pierce, Florida.
Roni Abernathy Nylander, BSN'89, MSN'92, was featured on the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's website in its Advanced Practice Provider Spotlight. She is a nurse anesthetist at Monroe Carrell Jr. Children's Hospital (2018).
Anna-Gene Chalfant O'Neal, BSN'88, MSN'92, MBA'92, was interviewed in March 2019 by Nashville Public Radio for a story about the state of palliative care in Middle Tennessee. She received the Alumni Award for Innovation in Health Care presented by the VUSN Alumni Association during the school's annual awards ceremony in October 2018, and is in a video about that year's Nashville Business Journal's Health Care Awards. Anna-Gene was interviewed in September 2017 by the Tennessean about a program to help providers talk with patients about death, and was honored as Nurse of the Year by the Tennessean in 2015.
JoAnn Rietveld, MSN'92 , of Clarks Grove, Minnesota, passed away January 1, 2021.
Patty Scott, BSN'88, MSN'92, is co-author of "Quality Initiative to Reduce Extrauterine Growth Restriction in Very Low Birth Weight Infants," published in Hospital Pediatrics in January 2022.
Sandy Seidel, MSN'92, presented "Reflective Practice," during Vanderbilt University Medical Center's grand rounds in February 2016, where she is an associate in ambulatory psychiatry.
Carolyn Wood Smeltzer, MSN'92, is a pediatric and family nurse practitioner at Desert Shores Pediatrics in Gilbert, Arizona (2020).
Debbie Snedegar, MSN'92, 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.
Carolyn Wood Snider, MSN'92 , of Chattanooga, Tennessee, passed away in June 2017.
Pam Waynick-Rogers, MSN'92, PMC'96, co-authored "Bridging Didactic Learning and the Complexity of Practice through Clinical Immersion: Evaluating the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Trainee Experience," published in the Journal of Forensic Nursing in January 2022, and was moderator of "SANE: Improving Outcomes for Survivors of Sexual Assault (Part 2)," in April, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She was moderator of "SANE: Improving Outcomes for Survivors of Sexual Assault (Part 1)," in October 2021, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum, and is co-author of "Quality Improvement Projects Conducted by Interprofessional Teams of Learners: Implementation and Impact," published in December in the Journal of Interprofessional Care . Pam was promoted to assistant professor at VUSN in January 2020, and co-authored "The Vanderbilt Program in Interprofessional Learning: Sustaining a Longitudinal, Clinical Experience that Aligns Practice with Education," published in Academic Medicine that April. She was named treasurer of the Tennessee chapter of the International Association of Forensic Nursing in December. She co-authored "An Educational Tool for Promoting Transitional Health Care Planning by Nurses from the Hospital to the Community," in the May 2019 issue of Nursing Education Perspectives, and co-presented "Sustainability Conceptual Model: Three Pillars to Support Interprofessional Collaboration," and "Implementation of a Longitudinal Standardized Patient Encounter: How Do You Evaluate Individual Students and Student Teams?" at the Collaborating Across Borders conference in October. She received an American Interprofessional Health Collaborative Scholar Award in October 2017. Pam is project manager for the Vanderbilt Nursing Education Program for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners as well as a women's health nurse practitioner and SANE-A at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Beth Angelea Youngblood, MSN'92, was honored in May 2022 as one of 50 outstanding graduates of Belmont University School of Nursing in Nashville, and was named director of Nashville State Community College's nursing program in November. The news was covered by Clarksville Now , Ledger and The Tennessee Tribune . She had been an associate professor of nursing at Freed Hardeman University in Dickson, Tennessee.
