Class Notes — Fall 2019
50s
Carolyn McKelvey Moore, BSN’57, MSN’59, is a nursing education and philanthropy consultant for two-year colleges. She retired in 2010 as senior vice president for institutional advancement for Sparks Health System in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Bonnie Weaver Battey, MSN’59, was included in Marquis Who’s Who in August 2018.
60s
Ginger Trundle Manley, BSN’66, MSN’81, spoke at the Apron Museum’s June symposium in Tishmingo, Mississippi, in connection with her book, “Gotcha Covered: A Legacy of Service and Protection,” a compilation of essays from nurses.
Karen Fishman, BSN’68, is a volunteer for an emergency department in Saint Louis.
Ellen Martin, BSN’69, received the Dorothea M. Lang Pioneer Award from the American College of Nurse Midwives in May.
70s
Cheryl Driver Levine, BSN’70, was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease. She is the director of clinical research at the Texas Clinical Research Institute.
Gloria Weber Calhoun, MSN’71, retired from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, private practice and VUSN, where she formerly directed the nursing administration graduate program.
Leslie Jones Higgins, BSN’72, MSN’75, presented about the opioid crisis and trauma-informed care at a Belmont University, Nashville, homecoming event in October 2018. She was named professor emerita of nursing at Belmont University in May.
Joan Michael King, BSN’72, MSN’75, PhD’84, was appointed to the Nurse Practitioner Residency/Fellowship Standards Committee for the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education; she retired from VUSN in 2018 and was named professor of nursing, emerita in May.
Karen Degerberg, BSN’75, retired after 31 years as a nurse practitioner at George Washington University Student Health Center in Washington, D.C.
Sally Tucker Jasper, BSN’75, MSN’83, retired in June 2018 after 43 years of nursing. She taught at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon, for 20 years and established the school’s simulation lab.
Trish Trangenstein, BSN’75, retired from her position as professor at VUSN in 2018.
Rumay Harrell Alexander, MSN’77, is president of the National League for Nursing Board of Governors.
Ed Blackman, MSN’79, retired in August 1996 from the U.S. Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Randy Rasch, MSN’79, received the 2018 Lulu Wolf Hassenplug Alumni Award for Distinguished Career in Nursing from VUSN.
80s
Chris Crockett Clarke, MSN’80, senior vice president at the Tennessee Hospital Association, was named among the 2019 Nashville Medical News Women to Watch.
Mikel Gray, BSN’80, presented “Male sexual dysfunction” and “Testicular disorders” at the 2019 American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference.
Gene Elizabeth Harkless, MSN’80, presented “Reducing diagnostic errors in practice” at the 2019 American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference.
Debbie Fox-Howard, BSN’81, retired from a private practice women’s health group in New York City in 1996. She has been a staff nurse at Cornell Medical Center, head of employee health at a New York University medical center, and nurse practitioner at various abortion and family planning clinics.
Catherine Gamble Mezmar, MSN’81, is the Nurse Executive-Director of Nurses for the Veterans Health Administration, Texas Valley Coastal Bend facilities. Her husband, Michael Mezmar, MSN’81, is Mayor Pro-tem and was reelected to his fourth term as Commissioner of Harlingen, Texas.
Carol Seeger, MSN’81, is a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Oswego Health Behavioral Health Services in New York.
Leslie Homra, BSN’82, is the vice president of clinical services for The Centre for Health Care Planning in Nashville.
Leslie Hague Bouton, BSN’83, is in medical operations for MD², a group of concierge primary care clinics across the United States.
Molly Klekamp Tassone, BSN’85, is a teacher at The Summit Country Day School in Cincinnati.
Nancy Hoskins Anness, MSN’86, chief advocacy officer at Saint Thomas Health in Nashville, was honored by New Beginnings during the Spirit of Wellness Luncheon in September 2018 and by the Tennessee Justice Center in May as a Mother of the Year.
Julie Moyle, BSN’86, is an outreach and engagement specialist at Practice Greenhealth, an organization that helps hospitals and health systems adopt programs to be more environmentally friendly. She lives in Golden, Colorado.
Tom Christenbery, MSN’87, PhD’04, received the VUSN Dean’s Award for Faculty Achievement in Media in June.
Anna-Gene Chalfant O’Neal, BSN’88, MSN’92, MBA’92, received the 2018 VUSN Alumni Award for Innovation in Health Care.
Velinda Youngner Block, MSN’89, division chief nursing executive at HCA Healthcare TriStar Division, was named among the 2019 Nashville Medical News Women to Watch.
Nancy Ledbetter, BSN’89, was hired as a clinical nurse specialist at Salem Health Cancer Institute in Oregon. She’ll manage its new program to identify patients whose family history makes them more inclined to cancer.
Barbara Boone McGinnis, MSN’89, was a panelist in September 2018 for a UBS Aging Successfully dinner program in Nashville.
Laurie Scott Tompkins, BSN’89, MSN’90, was hired as a nurse practitioner at The Women’s Institute for Sexual Health, a division of Urology Associates, in Nashville.
90s
Rhonda Clifford Chess, MSN’91, is a neonatal nurse practitioner at University of Louisville Physicians.
Sharon Yardley, MSN’91, is director of health services at Babson College in Massachusetts.
Tom Bush, MSN’92, published “Postgraduate education improves nurse practitioner’s job satisfaction” in Clinical Advisor in June.
Kathie Krause, MSN’92, chaired the March of Dimes Tennessee Chapter 2018 Nurse of the Year Award Gala Luncheon in Nashville.
Pam Waynick-Rogers, MSN’92, PMC’96, co-published “An educational tool for promoting transitional health care planning by nurses from the hospital to the community” in the May issue of Nursing Education Perspectives.
Susan Honeycutt Furtwengler, MSN’93, BS’91, is a nurse practitioner at Family Practice of Madison in Alabama.
Susan Mott-Coles, MSN’93, retired from Vanderbilt at the end of the spring 2018 semester. She had worked with oncology patients since 1987.
Francie Likis, MSN’94, BS’93, received the Frontier Nursing University Nurse-Midwife Award for Distinguished Service to Society in October 2018. She is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health.
Geri Reeves, MSN’93, is editor of Advances in Family Practice Nursing. She received the VUSN Award for Faculty Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion in June.
Mary Ann McCasland Jessee, MSN’95, received the Christine A. Tanner Scholarly Teaching Award for Journal Article of the Year from the Journal of Nursing Education. Her article was later cited in the 2019 National Council of State Boards of Nursing Environmental Scan.
Shirley Griffith Viscarello, MSN’95, founded Shirley Delicious Confections, a chocolate and toffee company in Stamford, Connecticut, with her two daughters.
Wendy Johnson Araya, MSN’96, DNP’12, was named the neonatal advanced practice manager for the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. She has worked at Vanderbilt for over 25 years, starting as a licensed practical nurse in the newborn nursery in 1984.
Linda Beuscher, MSN’96, received the Outstanding Research Podium Presentation Award at the 2018 Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association national conference. She retired as assistant professor at VUSN in July.
Jenny Hannagan Kim, MSN’97, was named a Distinguished Educator in Gerontological Nursing by the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence and was chosen in November 2018 to be a member of its inaugural Distinguished Educator Class. She received the 2019 DAISY Award for Small Group Facilitator at the MSN Level at VUSN.
Amy Small Culbertson, MSN’98, DNP’11, presented “Treatment resistant and depressive disorder” at the 2019 American Association of Nursing Practitioners conference.
John Killgore, MSN’98, joined the Halifax County (North Carolina) Public Health System in June as a family nurse practitioner.
Norma Wall Krantz, MSN’98, received the 2019 Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner Preceptor of the Year Award from VUSN in July.
Rene Love, MSN’98, DNP’10, is a member-at-large of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties board of directors.
Diane Rockwell Merrill, MSN’98, presented “Lung cancer screening” at the 2019 American Association of Nursing Practitioners conference.
Sharon Karp, MSN’99, PhD’08, was published in the March issue of Nursing Clinics.
Jennifer Ezell Wilbeck, MSN’99, PMC’16, became director of VUSN’s Emergency Nurse Practitioner program in June 2018.
Melody Riggenbach Wilkinson, MSN’99, co-presented “Teaching academics” at the 2019 American Association of Nursing Practitioners conference.
00s
Robert Palmer, MSN’00, PhD’05, BE’98, co-presented a fundamentals of critical care course at the 2019 American Association of Nursing Practitioners conference.
Sheila Ridner, MSN’00, PhD’03, was named a 2019 American Cancer Society ResearcHERS Ambassador in May. Her research on measuring the risk for developing lymphedema appeared this spring in BusinessWire, HealthDay, Medscape, U.S. News, Yahoo Finance and other media outlets.
Dawn Vanderhoef, MSN’00, PMC’13, presented “Treatment of psychiatric disorders: A treatment team approach,” at the Tennessee Nurse Practitioner Association conference.
Terrah Foster Akard, MSN’01, PhD’08, was named to the 2019 cohort of Vanderbilt University Chancellor Faculty Fellows in May.
Ceree George, MSN’01, is a certified nurse-midwife at CentraCare in Long Prairie, Minnesota.
Colleen Reilly Moss, MSN’01, BS’00, published “Mentoring new graduate nurse practitioners” in the May/June issue of Neonatal Network: The Journal of Neonatal Nursing. A neonatal nurse practitioner at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, she received the DNP Outstanding Student of the Year Award from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Cara Osborne, MSN’01, joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions in September 2018.
Heather Quaile, MSN’01, is listed on the ProfNet network website as an expert in women and aging. She is a nurse practitioner at Nore Women’s Health in Marietta, Georgia.
Travis Dunlap, MSN’02, successfully defended his dissertation at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in April.
Tammy Graham, MSN’02, spoke at her alma mater, Beaverton High School in Michigan, for its THINK Big Talk Series connecting students with alumni. She is a nurse practitioner in Saginaw at Covenant Healthcare Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Aimee Chism Holland, MSN’02, presented “Office gynecology procedures” at the 2019 American Association of Nurse Practitioners conference.
Adriene Hughes, MSN’02, is a neonatal nurse practitioner at Mednax Inc., in Middle Tennessee, treating neonates to 6 weeks of age in high-risk delivery and throughout their NICU stay. She is also practicing in Houston, Texas, where she is the lead nurse practitioner in a level 2-3 setting.
Jinaki James, MSN’02, is a women’s health nurse practitioner at El Centro de Corazon in Houston, Texas.
Caroline Portis-Jenkins, MSN’02, BS’97, co-CEO of Connectus Health, was honored among Women of Influence by the Nashville Business Journal in November 2018.
Kiersten Brown-Espaillat, MSN’03, BS’99, was named to the American Heart Association’s Greater Southeast Affiliate board of directors for the 2018-19 fiscal year.
Melissa Griswold Davis, MSN’03, is director of West End Women’s Health Center and Vanderbilt Nurse-Midwives and Primary Care Melrose.
Laura Beckwith Dotson, MSN’03, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Centerstone in Titusville, Florida.
Suzanne Tilley Hurley, MSN’03, co-CEO of Connectus Health, was honored among Women of Influence by the Nashville Business Journal in November 2018.
Rachel McDowell, MSN’03, co-authored “Developing best practices to mitigate opioid abuse is a priority in cancer care,” in Oncology Live in July 2018.
Annie Moon, MSN’03, received the 2018 Alma Gault Alumni Award for Public Service from VUSN.
Andy Shirley, MSN’03, BS’00, is a nurse practitioner in the neuro ICU at the University of Maryland Medical Center Shock Trauma in Baltimore.
Tanya Sorrell, MSN’03, was promoted to associate professor at the University of Colorado College of Nursing in Aurora. In July, she began a $5 million, two-year legislative program to train advanced practice providers and assist patients needing substance use treatment in rural areas of Colorado.
Tiffany Street, MSN’03, DNP’18, was promoted to administrative director of Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute.
Ty Williams, MSN’03, DNP’12, received the DAISY Award for Small Group Facilitator at the DNP Level at VUSN in June.
Jessica Estes, MSN’04, became the executive director of the Kentucky Board of Nursing in July.
Diana Johnson Oakes, MSN’04, works with inpatient adult diabetes management at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago.
Sarah Halberg Cossette, MSN’05, is assistant vice president of patient care services and interim chief nursing officer at Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phoenix.
Lisa Lachenmyer, MSN’05, is a pediatric nurse practitioner in gastroenterology at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
Heather Hair Meissen, MSN’05, 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, as well as a nurse practitioner in the critical care medical-surgical intensive care unit at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
Abby Luck Parish, MSN’05, was featured as a Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association Rising Star on the organization’s website in early 2019.
Dot Dunn, MSN’06, received Northern Arizona University’s 2019 Research and Creative Activity Award for Most Significant Research/Scholarly Work. She is a widely published tenured associate professor in the NAU School of Nursing.
Julie McFarlane Hamm, MSN’06, was elected vice president of the Tennessee Nurses Association board of directors in October 2018.
Brandee Madden, MSN’06, completed her doctor of nursing practice degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in December 2018.
Beth Coleman Norwood, MSN’06, founded a continuing education company in Nashville called Suture and More, offering workshops such as wound closure, joint reduction and foreign body removal.
Meg Shifrin, MSN’06, received the VUSN Dean’s Award for Faculty Achievement in Academic Endeavors in June.
Priscilla Simms-Roberson, MSN’06, received her doctor of nursing practice degree in 2016 from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She is an assistant professor of nursing at UTC and was named Outstanding Nursing Faculty Member for the 2017-18 school year.
Cara Calloway Young, MSN’06, PhD’10, was inducted as a Fellow of the American Association of Nursing Practitioners in June.
Carol Ziegler, MSN’06, DNP’12, presented at the Nursing Summit on Environmental Health hosted by the Alliance of Nurses of Healthy Environments in May. She received the VUSN Tradition Meets Innovation Award for Faculty in June.
Tisha Barzyk, MSN’07, DNP’12, is a Nexus legal nurse consultant in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, specializing in the field of wound management and wound care cases, and a wound care consultant for Integumetrix.
Rachel Schreier, MSN’07, is an acute care nurse practitioner at Vanderbilt Heart.
LeTizia Baxter Smith, MSN’07, was named an American Nurses Association Minority Fellowship Doctoral Fellow for 2018-19.
Jessica Van Meter, MSN’07, DNP’15, received the 2018 VUSN Alumni Award for National Leadership.
Rose Vick, MSN’07, is on the Tennessee Department of Health’s “Healthy Parks, Healthy Persons” initiative in a webinar promoting the program. She received the March of Dimes Tennessee Chapter 2018 Nurse of the Year Award for behavioral health.
April Dunlevy, MSN’08, is a registered nurse at Alaska Heart and Vascular Institute in Anchorage.
Chelsia Harris, MSN’08, was named executive director of the Lipscomb University School of Nursing in Nashville in June.
Lydia Vincent Hathorn, MSN’08, is a women’s health nurse practitioner at the Gynecology Specialty Clinic at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.
Todd Isbell, MSN’08, was named chief nursing officer in July for Memorial Health in Savannah, serving 35 counties in southeast Georgia.
Amanda Dean Martin, MSN’08, is chief of advanced practice and clinical integration for the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Lesley Mathis, MSN’08, is a clinical manager with Care Innovations. She lives in the Nashville area.
Sonya Moore, MSN’08, is the director of adult performance management and improvement in the Department of Quality, Safety and Risk Prevention at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Lisa Blount, MSN’09, is a certified nurse-midwife at Connectus Health in Nashville, where her patients include a large Spanish-speaking population and people from Africa and the Middle East.
Hannah Diaz, MSN’09, is on Nashville Public Television’s website as a blogger for Season 8 of “Call the Midwife,” which aired March–May.
Susan Hellervik, MSN’09, presented “Nasal cannula and non-invasive ventilation” at the 2019 American Association of Nursing Practitioners conference.
Jennifer Parker Kurkowski, MSN’09, received the 2018 VUSN Alumni Award for Clinical Achievement in Nursing.
Kanah May Lewallen, MSN’09, presented “Delirium across the care continuum” at the 2018 Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association national conference.
Kelly Luskin, MSN’09, is the director of reproductive and women’s heath for the Tennessee Department of Health.
Katie Stewart Page, MSN’09, was named a Fellow of the American College of Nurse-Midwives at its 2019 national conference. She is a certified nurse-midwife at Centra Medical Group Women’s Center in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Bethany Andrews Rhoten, MSN’09, PhD’13, was selected by VUSN doctoral students to receive the Dean Colleen Conway-Welch Award for PhD faculty in August 2018. She was named a Valere Potter Distinguished Faculty Fellow at Vanderbilt in 2019.
Dani Williamson, MSN’09, received the Franklin’s Sizzle Award for best family practice in Williamson County (Tennessee). Hers was the only nurse-led practice nominated for the award.
10s
Michelle Hasselblad, MSN’10, became vice president of ambulatory nursing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in May.
Sharon Holley, DNP’10, is an associate editor of Advances in Family Practice Nursing.
Patricia Sengstack, DNP’10, received VUSN’s 2018 Dean Conway-Welch Award and was named director of the VUSN Nursing Informatics program in December 2018. In 2019, she co-presented at the American Organization of Nurse Executives annual conference.
Aaron Scott, MSN’10, received the March of Dimes Tennessee Chapter 2018 Nurse of the Year Award for advanced practice.
April Fortenberry, MSN’11, completed the first year as a Fellow in the Duke-Johnson & Johnson Nurse Leadership Program, where she participated in intensive leadership retreats and distance-based learning activities, executive coaching and a leadership project. She is immediate past president of the Georgia Chapter of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.
Candace Harrington, DNP’11, was chosen in November 2018 by the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence to be a member of its inaugural Distinguished Educator Class.
Cathy Ivory, PhD’11, presented at the 2019 Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses regional section conference.
Heather Whaley O’Dell, MSN’11, MMHC’16, BA’09, is advanced practice manager for abdominal transplant in the Vanderbilt Transplant Center.
Mary Lauren Whitehead Pfieffer, MSN’11, and her husband welcomed a baby in November 2018. She was selected by VUSN students to receive the Sara K. Archer Award for the Family Nurse Practitioner specialty during the August 2018 pinning ceremony.
Douglas Smith, MSN’11, is an instructor at VUSN.
Emily Rhea Swett, MSN’11, is a nurse practitioner at Middle Tennessee State University Student Health Services, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
Lucy Tucker, MSN’11, completed her doctor of nursing practice degree at Chatham University in Pittsburgh in December 2018. Her project is “Apneic oxygenation in the emergency department.”
Lauren Barlew, MSN’12, joined the Women’s Surgery and Aesthetics Center in Chattanooga in April as the clinic’s second nurse practitioner.
Imma Bramlage, MSN’12, was featured on Nashville’s WTVF TV in December 2018 for her work with South Sudanese refugees in Uganda.
Carol Ann Moseley Claeys, MSN’12, is the founder of Strategic Health Care Advisors in Dickson, Tennessee. She volunteers in a rural church health and wellness ministry.
Colleen Clarke-Ariola, DNP’12, was promoted to senior vice president for patient care services at Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation in New Hyde Park, New York. She is the co-chair of the New York State Leading Age DNS Council. In 2016, Colleen received the Queens Courier Power Women in Business Recognition Award, as well as the National Association for Directors of Nursing Administration in Long-term Care’s Recognition for Excellence in Service and Dedication to the Long-term Continuum.
Janeen Cook, MSN’12, is director of operations at VillageMD and executive clinical specialist at Syneos Health in Atlanta.
Andrea Fuller, DNP’12, is an instructor at the Medical University of South Carolina College of Nursing in Charleston.
Tamika Hudson, MSN’12, and her husband welcomed a son in May.
LaVonne Johnson, DNP’12, is a provider with DaVita Medical Group in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Jen Kiggans, MSN’12, will be on the ballot for the Virginia State Senate 7th District in November.
Cathy Maxwell, PhD’12, was named one of three Valere Potter Distinguished Faculty Fellows at Vanderbilt and received the VUSN Dean’s Award for Faculty Achievement in Research Endeavors, both in June.
Kathryn Braulin McNabb, MSN’12, PMC’14, BS’10, is an instructor at VUSN.
Patsy Ramey, MSN’12, has published three articles in epilepsy magazines and presented five posters at the American Epilepsy Society annual conference, where she was inducted as a Fellow two years ago. She works at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Mark Reinhardt, DNP’12, delivered the keynote address at the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society induction in May 2018, in Corpus Christi. He is an associate professor, chair of the population health and health systems leadership department, and family nurse practitioner program coordinator at Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi.
Imelda Reyes, DNP’12, has been named associate editor of Advances in Family Practice Nursing.
Lisa Taylor, MSN’12, DNP’14, received the 2018 State Award for Nurse Practitioner Excellence for New Mexico from the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. She is a family nurse practitioner in primary care and diabetes management at the Veterans Administration in Albuquerque.
Brian Widmar, PhD’12, is a member-at-large of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties board of directors.
Susie Adams, PMC’13, was named the American Psychiatric Nurses Association Psychiatric Nurse of the Year.
Stacey Browning, MSN’13, DNP’15, is an assistant professor at Middle Tennessee State University in the Department of Nursing and the College of Behavioral and Health Sciences.
Avni Cirpili, DNP’13, returned to Nashville in December 2018 to become chief nursing officer for Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital and Vanderbilt Behavioral Health.
Angela Douglas, MSN’13, was honored by the Girl Scouts in May as one of the North East Ohio Women of Distinction for her work mentoring aspiring nurses, completing medical missions and serving as a coach and science olympiad volunteer. She is an assistant lecturer at Cleveland State University and a nurse practitioner at the Cleveland Clinic.
Brittney Goldfarb, MSN’13, is a nurse practitioner in cardiac surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
Karen Hande, DNP’13, was inducted as a Fellow of the American Association of Nursing Practitioners in June.
Christin Huff, MSN’13, is an instructor at VUSN.
Misti Martinez, MSN’13, is a nurse practitioner with Gastroenterology and Hepatology Associates in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
Maggie McLoughlin, MSN’13, is a nurse practitioner at Centric Physicians in Boerne, Texas. She provides psychiatric care for a mostly geriatric population in assisted living and skilled nursing facilities.
Kaitlin Neary, MSN’13, moved to Austin, Texas, in November 2018, where she is a heart failure nurse practitioner at Seton Hospital, working on an inpatient heart failure team.
Jessica Rogers Searcy, MSN’13, DNP’15, was selected by VUSN students to receive the Sara K. Archer Award for the Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner specialty during the August 2018 pinning ceremony.
Kathy Davis Yoder, DNP’13, coroner for McLean County, Illinois, gave a presentation to the public in Bloomington in February about the effects of opioid abuse.
Jessica Burke, MSN’14, is a hepatology and liver transplant nurse practitioner for the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.
Beverly Cotton, DNP’14, was named the director of the Nashville area of the Indian Health Service in February.
Julie Craig, MSN’14, moved to Georgetown, Texas, where she works at Concentra.
Ekom Essien, BS’10, MSN’14, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Indiana Health Centers in Elkhart.
Brittany Hollibaugh Haskell, MSN’14, received her doctor of nursing practice from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in October 2018. Her project was titled “Bridging the gap: A standardized patient facilitated simulation for behavioral health nurse residents.”
Kimberly Hatchel, DNP’14, was named chief nursing officer at Blake Medical Center in Sarasota, Florida, in July.
Christian Ketel, DNP’14, received both the VUSN Ingeborg Mauksch Excellence in Faculty Mentoring Award and the Dean’s Award for Faculty Achievement in Clinical Practice in June.
Clint Leonard, MSN’14, is an instructor at VUSN.
Lucas Neufeld, MSN’14, is a wound care consultant for Integumetrix in Nashville.
Kelly Peterson, MSN’14, is a nurse practitioner in the craniofacial/plastic surgery center at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She treats both inpatients and outpatients there and in several area clinics.
Jennifer David Ridgway, MSN’14, DNP’17, received the DAISY Award for Small Group Facilitator at the PreSpecialty Level at VUSN in June.
Kristen Hall Riley, MSN’14, is a nurse practitioner in child neurology at the University of Louisville Physicians.
Barbara Wadsworth, DNP’14, was honored as the commencement speaker for the Immaculata University College of Graduate Studies in May in Pennsylvania. She is senior vice president of patient services and the chief nursing officer of Main Line Health in Philadelphia.
Lauren Skibiel, MSN’14, BA’12, is a registered nurse at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, California.
Paula Tucker, DNP’14, presented, “Could this headache kill me?” at the 2019 American Association of Nursing Practitioners conference.
Julie Vasher, DNP’14, co-authored “Safety assessment of a large-scale improvement collaborative to reduce nulliparous cesarean delivery rates,” published in the April issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and “Reduction of severe maternal morbidity from hemorrhage using a state perinatal quality collaborative,” published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Lydia Yeager, MSN’14, DNP’16, BA’12, was published in the March issue of Nursing Clinics.
Stefani Davis Yudasz, MSN’14, DNP’16, authored a chapter on breast pain in the 2nd edition of Adult-Gerontology Practice Guidelines, published in December 2018.
Ashley Bernard, MSN’15, DNP’17, is a nurse practitioner at Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, serving among a team newly tasked with providing cardiology-focused care for acutely decompensated heart failure and cariogenic shock patients in the cardiac care unit.
Misty Evans, DNP’15, was selected by VUSN students to receive the Sara K. Archer Award for the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Acute Care specialty during the August 2018 pinning ceremony.
Gordon Gillespie, DNP’15, was published in Nursing Clinics’ March issue.
Janie Geyer, MSN’15, co-presented at the 2018 Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health conference.
Marshay James, PMC’15, DNP’17, is an instructor at VUSN.
Melissa Kalensky, DNP’15, presented “Referral to emergency medicine” at the 2019 American Association of Nursing Practitioners conference.
Rishi Mistry, MSN’15, was named clinical site director of the Community Health of Central Washington-Yakima Pediatrics in June. He was appoint- ed to the Washington chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics Board of Trustees as their first nurse practitioner/advanced practice provider board member.
Yasmin Nuru, MSN’15, BA’09, is a family nurse practitioner at Sentara Family and Internal Medicine Physicians, in Williamsburg, Virginia.
JoAnne Phillips, DNP’15, was published in the March issue of Nursing Clinics.
Shelza Rivas, MSN’15, DNP’17, BA’12, mentored VUSN PreSpecialty students on a medical mission trip to Guatemala in March.
Karla Schroeder DNP’15, is manager of advanced practice and advanced practice fellowship director at Stanford Health Care’s Center for Advanced Practice in California.
Tamera Thoener, MSN’15, is the 2019 legislative chair-elect on the board of directors of Middle Tennessee Advanced Practice Nurses.
Jodie Ward, MSN’15, earned the doctor of nursing practice from Maryville University in Saint Louis. She was able to implement a practice change at her clinic in Clarksville, Tennessee, based on her DNP project, “Reducing polypharmacy in the elderly by implementing the Beers Criteria during meditation reviews: A retrospective chart review.”
Emily Woods, MSN’15, BA’13, is a family nurse practitioner at Joseph Woods, MD, Plastic Surgery, and at Grady Memorial Hospital, both in Atlanta.
Sarah Bochner, MSN’16, BS’15, is a pediatric nurse practitioner specializing in urology at Mount Sinai Hospital in Yonkers, New York.
Rachael Grenfell-Dexter, MSN’16, BA’14, is an acute care nurse practitioner in the neurological intensive care unit at New York University Langone Medical Center.
Mindy Johnson, MSN’16, DNP’18, is an instructor at VUSN.
Rachel Kime, MSN’16, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at the Harrisonburg Community Health Center in Virginia where she sees primarily immigrant and refugee populations, both Medicaid and privately insured.
Jordan Plaxico, MSN’16, BA’14, received the Catherine Hanley Class of 1912 Rising Star Alumni Award from VUSN during Reunion, October 2018.
Sharon Weintraub, MSN’16, is a certified nurse-midwife at Baystate Health in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Shelby Smith Wilcox, MSN’16, is a nurse practitioner in trauma and acute care surgery at The Queen’s Medical Center in Kailua, Hawaii.
Melissa Belluomini, PMC’17, joined After Hours Pediatrics in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in April as a nurse practitioner.
Kaitlin Brown, MSN’17, BA’14, is the 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.
Margaret Brown, DNP’17, presented “Improving patient health questionnaire (PHQ9) clinician utilization rates in a primary care behavioral health setting” at the 2018 American Psychiatric Nurses Association conference.
Desireé Clement, DNP’17, is coordinator of the dual specialty family nurse practitioner/midwifery Master of Science in Nursing program at Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing in Atlanta. She was named a Fellow of the American College of Nurse-Midwives at its 2019 national conference.
Kristin Cummins, DNP’17, was published in the March issue of Nursing Clinics.
Daniel Ferguson, MSN’17, joined Bolivar Family Health Care Center in Missouri as a nurse practitioner in July.
Kristin Gigli, PhD’17, co-authored “PICU provider supply and demand: A national survey,” published in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine in August 2018.
Chris Harville, MSN’17, is a nurse practitioner II with University of North Carolina Rex Healthcare, working with an interventional cardiologist who does carotid angiograms and complex percutaneous coronary interventions and another who specializes in complex PCI and complex peripheral angiography.
Kimberly Higginbotham, DNP’17, was published in the March issue of Nursing Clinics.
Alvin Jeffery, PhD’17, received the Circle of Excellence Award from the American Association of Critical Care Nurses at its National Teaching Institute and Critical Care Exposition in May.
Charlotte Linville, MSN’17, is a pediatric nurse practitioner at University of Florida Health Shands Children’s Hospital in Gainesville.
Alexis Myers, MSN’17, BA’14, is a pediatric nurse practitioner fellow in the adolescent medicine department of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Children’s Hospital.
Hannah Nolte, MSN’17, BA’15, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner with Saint Thomas Medical Partners in Nashville, specializing in adult patients referred for psychiatric evaluation and management for PTSD, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and similar illnesses.
Cecilia Nwogu, DNP’17, earned the Outstanding Clinical Project Poster Presentation Award at the 2018 Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association national conference.
Faye Park, MSN’17, is a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore.
Cassandra Thomas Price, MSN’17, is a family nurse practitioner at Community Healthcare Systems, seeing patients in rural communities in Middle Georgia. She and her mother, Elizabeth Thomas, presented “Empowering rural patients towards optimization of health using a patient focused, place-based model of care” at the American Association of Nursing Practitioners conference.
Jose Ramos, MSN’17, joined St. 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.
Jensine Russell, DNP’17, was published in the March issue of Nursing Clinics.
Margaret Taylor, DNP’17, 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.
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.
Marci Zsamboky, PMC’17, DNP’18, is an assistant professor at VUSN.
Jennifer Barut, PhD’18, was named chief executive officer of Haven Behavioral Hospital of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Kaitlyn Breiten, Ellie Condie (BS’16), Sarah Vaillancourt and Jean Walker, all MSN’18, co-wrote “Successfully managing challenging patient encounters,” published in American Nurse Today in October 2018.
Kristen Bromaghim, MSN’18, joined the staff of Cherokee Regional Clinic in Iowa as a nurse practitioner in March.
Meaghan Burns, MSN’18, was chosen Provider of the Month in March by her employer, Gateway Community Health Center, in Laredo, Texas.
Bethany Cones, MSN’18, is a nurse practitioner at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Pain and Symptoms Management Program.
Sarah Cox, MSN’18, was named American Psychiatric Nurses Association Board of Directors Scholar in October 2018.
Brooke Faught, DNP’18, received the Founder’s Medal for VUSN during Vanderbilt University’s graduation exercises in May. She co-presented “Women’s sexual health, part 1 and 2,” at the American Association of Nursing Practitioners conference.
Kaitlyn Geib, MSN’18, joined the Hillside Health Center in Ukiah, California, as a pediatric nurse practitioner in February.
Emily Giometti, MSN’18, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at Mile High Psychiatry, an outpatient private practice in Denver.
Drew Herbert, MSN’18, is a family nurse practitioner at Barton Health in South Lake Tahoe, California, focusing primarily on treating patients with opioid use disorder and educating students and clinicians about managing the health crisis.
Jenn Keck, MSN’18, and her husband welcomed a baby in September 2018.
Heath Kohlmeier, MSN’18, joined Tulip Tree Family Health Care in Fort Branch, Indiana, as a family nurse practitioner in February.
Holly Kosir, BA’13, MSN’18, is a pediatric nurse practitioner with Youn and Mannan, LLC, in Baltimore.
Amanda McClure, MSN’18, joined the staff at Mercy Clinic Endocrinology in Fort Smith, Arkansas in May 2019 as a nurse practitioner. She is pursuing the doctor of nursing practice degree at VUSN.
Connie Phillip, MSN’18, is a nurse practitioner at AFC Urgent Care in Anderson, South Carolina, where she sees patients ranging from babies to elderly persons. She serves as the clinic’s provider for workers’ compensation cases.
Kelsey Pope, MSN’18, is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner at the Vanderbilt University Counseling Center.
Alexa Proctor, MSN’18, joined San Francisco Planned Parenthood in April as a nurse practitioner.
Marguerite Swietlik, DNP’18, co-presented her DNP project, “Decision support to reduce nursing documentation burden,” at the 2019 American Organization of Nurse Executives annual conference. She is vice president of nursing informatics and chief nursing informatics officer at Centura Health in Denver.
Sarah Vaillancourt, MSN’18, co-authored “Fat stigma in women’s health,” published in the Journal for Nurse Practitioners in February, and co-presented the topic at the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses conference.
Joshua Viele, MSN’18, is the director of informatics at HCA in Nashville.
In Memoriam
LaNelle Blackston Baxter, BSN’47, of Augusta, Georgia, May 19, 2019
Anna Ragsdale Gentile, BSN’47, of Napa, California, April 19, 2019
Ruth Phillips Sullivan, BSN’47, of Stone Mountain, Georgia, June 2019
Hazel Young, N’53, Peabody School of Nursing, of Paducah, Kentucky, Jan. 4, 2019
Edwyna Howard Griscom, BSN’55, of Nashville, Dec. 14, 2018
Liz Buchanan Hauer, BSN’55, MLS’66, Huntsville, Alabama, June 7, 2019
Carol Ammons Vance, BSN’55, of Blowing Rock, North Carolina, Aug. 14, 2018
Dorothy Silvis Guidry, BSN’62, of The Villages, Florida, Sept. 9, 2018
Helen Sparkman Eastland, BSN’64, of Nashville, Jan. 6, 2019
Jan Donaldson, BSN’65, of Helena, Montana, Mar. 22, 2019
Sharron Stewart Burch, BSN’66, of Brandon, Mississippi, Sept. 29, 2018
Trish Palmore Westmoreland, BSN’68, of Henderson, Nevada, Jan. 18, 2019
Jill Fishback Chambers, BSN’71, of Nashville, Jan. 17, 2019
Avo Haile Chambers, MSN’72, of Shelbyville, Tennessee, April 4, 2019
Deborah Wade Price, BSN’74, of Spartanburg, South Carolina, Jan. 19, 2019
Shirley Feldkamp Lowman, MSN’76, PhD’84, of Nashville, Mar. 21, 2019
Carol Masters Stoltz, MSN’79, EMBA’89, of Nashville, Jan. 28, 2018
Alice Moffatt Howard, MSN’81, of Memphis, Oct. 19, 2018
Iris Grim, BSN’82, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Jan. 30, 2019
Catherine Price McKnight, BSN’83, of Jackson, Tennessee, May 29, 2019
Lea Ann Cook, MSN’89, of Los Angeles, Sept. 4, 2018
Debbie Drake-Davis, MSN’04, DNP’12, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, Nov. 6, 2018
Jane Hipps, MSN’08, of Waynesville, North Carolina, Feb. 6, 2019
Joyce Laben, professor of nursing, emerita, and honorary alumna, of Nashville, June 30, 2019
