News
Black women turn to doulas as maternal mortality crisis deepens
April 14, 2021
Black women in the U.S. are more likely to die in childbirth than other races. VUSN Associate Professor Stephanie DeVane Johnson, PhD, CNM, is helping lead the fight to get more Black doulas trained to meet the need of expectant Black women. She and other experts say it is critical to have doulas who understand and…
VUSN Alumna, Heather Mantsch, CNP, Joins Range Mental Health Center (MN) as Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner
April 1, 2021
VUSN Alumna Heather Mantsch recently joined the Range Mental Health Center as a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. Formerly working in IT, Mantsch made the career change because she wants to do something that makes a difference. She is passionate about the impact and prevention of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), complex trauma and providing trauma informed/compassionate care.
Special School of Nursing Giving Day Challenges for April 7
March 30, 2021
When Vanderbilt University’s Giving Day kicks off on Wed. April 7, School of Nursing supporters will have three distinct opportunities to increase donations to the school, including one in honor of Professor Tom Christenbery, PhD’04, MSN’87, who died earlier this year and a $5,000 challenge from Dean Linda Norman. The Tom Christenbery Challenge will unlock…
School of Nursing among nation’s best in 2022 “U.S. News & World Report” rankings
March 30, 2021
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing was again named a Top 10 graduate nursing school, as ranked in the 2022 U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate School survey released today. Vanderbilt’s Master of Science in Nursing advanced to be the nation’s No. 8 program and its Doctor of Nursing Practice program ranked No. 6. Additionally,…
Vanderbilt students, staff and faculty volunteer at mass COVID-19 vaccination event
March 25, 2021
More than 60 Vanderbilt students, staff and faculty members helped Nashville’s Metro Public Health Department vaccinate 10,107 community members in a marathon 14-hour event on Sat., March 20. Recipients received the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the drive-through event outdoors at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium. Assistant Professor Carrie Plummer organized VUSN’s participation, which drew volunteers…
Vanderbilt School of Nursing hosts global climate education initiative
March 25, 2021
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing is joining fellow Tennessee school University of the South and more than 100 universities in 50 countries around the world to focus on a critical question: What can be done to help solve climate change while supporting struggling communities that have faced joblessness, sickness and loss? On Thursday, April 8,…
Jeffries named dean of School of Nursing
March 24, 2021
Pamela R. Jeffries, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF, FSSH, an internationally recognized leader and innovator in nursing and health care education, will become dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, effective July 1, pending Board of Trust approval. Jeffries, professor and dean of the George Washington University School of Nursing in Washington, D.C., succeeds Linda Norman, who plans to step down from her leadership role on June 30.
Akard appointed to lead PhD in Nursing Science program
March 20, 2021
Associate Professor Terrah Foster Akard, PhD’08, MSN’01, FAAN, has been named director of the PhD in Nursing Science program at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. Akard, a Vanderbilt University Chancellor’s Faculty Fellow and noted scholar in pediatric palliative care, had been co-director with Professor Sheila Ridner, PhD’03, MSN’00, FAAN, the Martha Rivers Ingram Professor of Nursing,…
Arnow named director of Nursing and Health Care Leadership specialty
March 17, 2021
Associate Professor Debbie Arnow, DNP’11, MSN’96, has been selected as the new academic director for the Nursing and Health Care Leadership specialty in the master of science in nursing program at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. “Debbie Arnow is an accomplished senior nurse executive with experience in delivering successful clinical outcomes, financial performance and personnel…
Tears of joy, tears of sorrow — College sweethearts, a COVID unit wedding, and a love story that ended too soon
March 16, 2021
The first week of October, 2020, Vanderbilt School of Nursing alumna Sherri Randolph, MSN’97, planned to marry her college sweetheart, Stacey Bruff. As things turned out, Sherri and Stacey got married a few days earlier, Sept. 21, in the only wedding ever to take place in the COVID unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Tragically and unexpectedly, Stacey died two days after the wedding. Sherri was devastated, and she still has a hard time talking about Stacey without tears welling up. There is a lot of sadness about how things turned out. She knows that all over the world there are millions of lives that have been changed forever by the COVID-19 pandemic, and hers is one of them. So, this is a story rooted in the devastation of the pandemic. But don’t lose sight of this: it is still a love story.
