Class of 2017

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.


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 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).

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