Member of the National Hartford Center for Gerontological Nursing Excellence
The Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Center for Gerontological Nursing Excellence (VCGNE) consists of educators, researchers, and clinicians who are committed to providing excellent health care to older adults in the middle Tennessee area and beyond. VCGNE is proud to be a member of the National Hartford Centers of Gerontological Nursing Excellence (NHCGNE). The mission of the VCGNE is to promote the development of nursing clinical leaders, faculty, staff and researchers to enhance gerontological nursing across the continuum of care.
VCGNE Objectives
- Support and mentor students, fellows, and faculty for research, teaching, practice, and informatics in gerontology.
- Disseminate scholarly work through professional meetings, conferences and professional literature.
- Promote interprofessional gerontological focused partnerships in the community.
- Support the Students Interested in Gerontological Nursing (SIIGN).
Students Interested in Gerontological Nursing (SIIGN)
Student Leadership
- Sidney Dean - President
- Wesley O'Donald - Vice President
- Treasurer - Olivia Hoff
- Secretary - Sherefa Dixon Co
- Community Outreach - Savannah Warren
- Public Relations - Claire Froman
- Faculty/ Student Liaison - Dawn Shamkin
Faculty Advisors
Kanah Lewallen DNP, AGPCNP-BC, GNP-BC
Dr. Lewallen completed her BSN in 2006 and worked with older adults in the acute care setting while starting her MSN program at VUSN. She completed her MSN in 2009 with a dual focus on adult and gerontological advanced practice nursing. Dr. Lewallen is dual certified as a Gerontological Nurse Practitioner and an Adult Gerontological Primary Care Nurse Practitioner. She completed her DNP in 2015 at Belmont University. Her DNP scholarly project was titled Improving Nurses Knowledge of Delirium in Post Acute Care and Implementation of the RADAR Screening Tool at two Post Acute Care Facilities in the United States.
Dr. Lewallen has been recognized by the National Hartford Center for Gerontological Nursing Excellence (NHCGNE) as a Distinguished Educator in Gerontological Nursing and has been a member of the Vanderbilt NHCGNE since 2014. She is an active member in the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association (GAPNA) where she is the web-editor and serves on the board as the treasurer for the Middle Tennessee GAPNA Chapter.
Dr. Lewallen has worked with the Vanderbilt Center for Quality Aging on multiple projects. Of which the topics include polypharmacy and deprescribing, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia’s, and COVID-19 in post acute care and long term care communities. Her clinical work is with the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Division of Geriatrics where she is an Assistant in Medicine and has worked with the post acute care patient population since 2009.