The LSU Health New Orleans School of Nursing is excited to celebrate recent outstanding national achievements.

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses has awarded Stephen Douglass the AACN² Pathway to Critical Care Nursing Scholarship. This is a highly competitive honor granted to only 16 nursing students nationwide. Administered by the Foundation for Academic Nursing, the AACN² scholarship provides $2,500 in support to eligible students enrolled in entry-level baccalaureate nursing programs.  Douglass was granted the award for academic achievements, exceptional leadership, unwavering dedication and compassionate mentorship.

“This scholarship represents far more than financial support. It’s a reminder that dedication and persistence truly pay off. It affirms that I belong here and that others believe in my goals as much as I do,” said Douglass. “As a first-generation college student and armed service member, I take tremendous pride in forging my own path and transforming challenges into opportunities. I’m incredibly grateful for the support and experiences the LSU Health New Orleans School of Nursing has provided. This award reinforces that others believe in my potential and motivates me to continue striving for excellence as I pursue a future in critical care nursing.”

Additionally, Dr. Benita Chatmon and Dr. Jennifer Manning have both been inducted as Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN). This prestigious recognition is reserved for individuals who have made significant contributions to advancing health, shaping policy and transforming healthcare through nursing leadership, education and research. Fellowship in the American Academy of Nursing represents one of the highest honors in the profession, with only about 3,300 nurse leaders inducted nationwide.

Dr. Benita Chatmon serves as an Associate Professor of Clinical Nursing and the Assistant Dean for Clinical Nursing Education at LSU Health New Orleans School of Nursing. In addition to her academic role, she is the Region 6 Coordinator for Sigma and Immediate Past President of the Louisiana State Nurses Association. She holds dual appointments as a Nurse Researcher at Manning Family Children’s and within the LSU Health New Orleans School of Graduate Studies.

“Becoming a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing is deeply humbling,” said Dr. Chatmon. “It reminds me that every step I’ve taken in nursing contributes to something much bigger than myself. It also calls for me to continue leading, mentoring and elevating the voice of nursing.”

Dr. Jennifer M. Manning, DNS, ACNS-BC, CNE, FCNS, is the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs at the LSU Health New Orleans School of Nursing. She has brought over 30 years of diverse nursing experience as a faculty member, administrator, regulator and Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) leader. Her clinical career began in critical care in 2000, building on her earlier research in hypertension at LSU Health New Orleans. She earned her MSN and Adult Health Clinical Nurse Specialist Board Certification in 2007, and her Doctor of Nursing Science (DNS) in 2014, with a dissertation focused on nursing leadership.

“Receiving this Fellowship is an emotional, full-circle moment. It confirms that the greatest measure of my success as an academic leader isn't the titles or the papers, but the generations of nurses I've been privileged to guide,” Dr. Manning reflected. “This honor is not a closing chapter for me; it’s the highest commitment to paying it forward. It means joining an elite cohort whose primary mission is to ensure that the torch of knowledge, innovation and compassion—the very one I’ve worked to pass to my students—will continue to burn brightly across the entire landscape of healthcare. My legacy is not in my own work, but in theirs.”

These achievements underline the success of the LSU Health New Orleans School of Nursing despite a projected 42% workforce gap in Louisiana by 2030. In fall 2025, the School of Nursing, which is based in New Orleans, expanded to an “off-site” campus in Baton Rouge. For more information on about LSU Health New Orleans School of Nursing, visit https://nursing.lsuhsc.edu/.

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About LSU Health New Orleans
LSU Health New Orleans educates Louisiana's health care professionals. The state's health sciences university leader, LSU Health New Orleans, includes a School of Medicine with campuses in Baton Rouge and Lafayette, the state's only School of Dentistry, Louisiana's only public School of Public Health and Schools of Allied Health Professions, Nursing, and Graduate Studies. LSU Health New Orleans faculty takes care of patients in public and private hospitals and clinics throughout the region. In the vanguard of biosciences research, the LSU Health New Orleans research enterprise generates jobs and enormous annual economic impact. LSU Health New Orleans faculty have made lifesaving discoveries and continue to work to prevent, advance treatment or cure disease.