Class of 2021
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.
Esther Adedokun, MSN'21, is a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Rebound Behavioral Health in Lancaster, South Carolina, and Gastonia, North Carolina, where her scope of practice is adults of all ages.
Alison Anderson, MSN'05, PhD'21, is co-author of "Determining the Impact of Age and Sex on the Psychophysical and Neurophysiological Response to Thermal Pain across the Adult Lifespan," published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing in January 2021, and lead author of "Experimentally Evoked Pain in Alzheimer's Disease," published in March in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners . She co-authored "Neuroimaging Methods for Nursing Science," published in December 2019 in Nursing Research , and "Pain Management," in the December 2017 issue of Critical Care Nursing Clinics .
Lydia Anderson, MSN'21, joined Berks Community Health Center in Pennsylvania as a certified nurse-midwife in August 2022.
Christine Arnold, MSN'21, was featured in Pro News Report in March 2022 for her work as a pediatric nurse practitioner at Children First Pediatrics of Virginia in Martinsville.
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.
Branden Bruzzese, MSN'21, is a pulmonary/medical critical care nurse practitioner at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville (2022).
Megan Cohen, MSN'21, joined Genesis Care for Women in Smyrna, Tennessee, as a nurse practitioner in August 2022.
Austin Crowell, MSN'21, was a panelist for "'I Have the Best Job in the World!' A Day in the Life of a Nurse Informaticist," in April 2022, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. He is a business intelligence solutions architect at Baptist Health South Florida, headquartered in Coral Gables.
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 2022 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." She 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.
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.
S amantha Dmochowski, MSN'21, is an advanced practice nurse and the metabolic and bariatric surgery accreditation and quality improvement program coordinator at Erlanger Health System in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she sees adult patients in outpatient obesity medicine (2022).
Patty Donley, DNP'21, was named vice president of WellSpan Health and president of WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, effective February 2022.
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).
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.
Michelle Graf, PhD'21, co-authored "Choking, Allergic Reactions and Pickiness: A Qualitative Study of Maternal Perceived Threats and Risk Avoidance Strategies during Complementary Feeding," published in Appetite in January 2022.
Keon Gregory, DNP'21, was interviewed by Winona Times (Mississippi) in December 2021 for "Never Give Up: Winona Native Earns Doctorate Degree in Nursing."
Rachel Hanauer, MSN'21, joined Ferguson Medical Group–Charleston in Missouri as a nurse practitioner in January 2022.
Cathleen Handke, PMC'21, is owner of You In Mind Behavioral Health in Norfolk, Nebraska (2022).
Jennifer Hartzler, MSN'21, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner on the post-traumatic stress disorder clinical team at the North Florida/South Georgia U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Southpoint Outpatient Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida (2022).
Jonathan Henzel, MSN'21, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Prairie Family Medicine in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where he specializes in outpatient mental health for patients 16 years and older (2022).
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.
Khristine Lautchang, MSN'21, was a panelist for "'I Have the Best Job in the World!' A Day in the Life of a Nurse Informaticist," in April 2022, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She is a clinical systems analyst at Valley Hospital in Las Vegas.
Nadia Luna, PMC'21, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at You In Mind in Norfolk, Nebraska (2022).
Katie Mann, MSN'21, is a family nurse practitioner at WellNow Urgent Care in Norridge, Illinois, where she sees urgent care patients of all ages (2022).
Heather Hair Meissen, MSN'05, DNP'21, was appointed as commissioner to the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation in Practice Transition Programs in August 2020. She co-presented a fundamentals of critical care course at the American Association of Nursing Practitioners conference in June 2019, and presented at the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses National Teaching Institute meeting in May 2018. Heather is director of the nurse practitioner/physician's assistant critical care residency program and clinical instructor at Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta, and a nurse practitioner in the critical care medicine-surgical intensive care unit at Emory University Hospital.
Emma Metz, MSN'21, is lead author of "Patient Consent for Student Performed Pelvic Exams," published in Women's Healthcare in February 2022.
Shauna Michael, MSN'21, was a panelist for "'I Have the Best Job in the World!' A Day in the Life of a Nurse Informaticist," in April 2022, part of the VUSN Dore to Door Alumni Forum. She is an independent consultant at Kelly Willenberg in Nashville.
Kyle Miller, MSN'21, is a cardiology nurse practitioner at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (2022).
Daniel Morales, MSN'21, is a nurse practitioner at Karabots Pediatric Care Center in West Philadelphia (2022).
Alexandra Mullins, MSN'21, is a women's health nurse practitioner at Aurora OB/GYN in San Antonio, where she provides obstetric and gynecologic care to women of all ages, including high-risk pregnancy care and procedures (2022).
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.
Oumy Niang, MSN'21, is lead author of "Cultural Parallels between Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery and Female Genital Mutilation," published in Women's Healthcare in April 2022.
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. She is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Benioff Children's Hospitals in Oakland, California, and on faculty at University of California San Francisco School of Nursing.
Lauren Smith, MEd'18, MSN'21, received a DAISY Award from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in April 2022.
Kathy Steen, MSN'21, joined the staff of Inspired Psychiatric Care in Overland Park, Kansas, in October 2021, as a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner. The practice is owned by Elizabeth Blanchard Hills, MSN'18.
Isabell Stolz, DNP'21, is an assistant professor at University of Texas Health in San Antonio, where she specializes in undergraduate and graduate nursing education (2022).
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.
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.
Ashley Mark Walker, MSN'08, DNP'21, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Pediatrix Critical Care and Hospitalist Care of Nevada in Reno (2022).
Brett Young, MSN'21, is co-author of Hospital at Home: Development of Pharmacy Services," published in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy in November 2022. He was named inaugural manager of patient care services for the Vanderbilt at Home program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in October 2021, and is a Post Master's student at VUSN.
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.
