Rene Love has been named program director for the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program at the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing (VUSN). She succeeds Susie Adams, who was recently named Nursing Faculty Scholar for Community Engaged Behavioral Health at VUSN.
Love has taught at VUSN for 15 years, including courses in the MSN and DNP programs. She has secured grants focused on mental health in public schools, such as developing state guidelines for mental health for the Tennessee State Board of Education. She is frequently an invited speaker for national conferences on topics including how to prepare school systems for post-crisis responses and advocating for change in the psychiatric nursing workforce.
In 2012, she was awarded the Jeanette Chamberlain award for service from the International Society of Psychiatric Nursing. She is an active member of Sigma Theta Tau International and played an important role in last year’s 60th anniversary of the Iota Chapter. She was recently accepted into the National Academies of Practice.
Love earned her BSN from Valdosta State, and her MSN, DNP and Family Psych Mental Health post master’s certificate from VUSN. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Arizona.