Nursing Faculty

Wenona B. Bell, MSN, RN

Wenona Bell serves as assistant professor in the pre-licensure BSN program, where she is course lead of the senior medical-surgical course. She completed her bachelor's degree in nursing in 1998, and her master's in family nursing with a focus in nurse education from Southern University and A&M College in 2009. Her area of expertise is cardiovascular critical care. She also has experience in medical-surgical nursing, telemetry, and long-term acute care

Rebekah Bergeron, MSN

Mrs. Rebekah Bergeron serves as the clinical coordinator for the undergraduate School of Nursing. She primarily teaches in Nursing 2750 Fundamentals of Nursing Practice. She completed her graduate degree at Our Lady of the College in 2009. Her clinical background includes oncology/hematology, trauma, med/surg, orthopedics, neurology, urology, rehab and postop.

Michele Blackwell, MSN, BSN

Dr. Michele Blackwell serves as the Retention Coordinator for the Undergraduate Pre-licensure BSN program, teaching the senior seminar, Transition into Practice. She completed her nursing degree in 1997 at FranU, earned a Master’s degree in Nursing Education in 2008 and finished her PhD in Education at LSU in 2020. She has been teaching in the nursing program at FranU for 14 years. Her nursing practice experience includes Trauma, ER, ICU, and Pediatrics.

Latonya S. Dorsey, DNP, RN, CNE

Dr. LaTonya Dorsey is an Associate Professor and serves as program director of the Pre-licensure BSN program. She is a certified nurse educator and the recipient of the 2016 Helen Johnson Cremeens Excellence in Teaching Award. She primarily teaches fundamentals and adult medical-surgical nursing. Dr. Dorsey completed her Master’s degree in public health/community health nursing from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in 2001 and doctorate degree in executive leadership from Loyola University New Orleans in 2017. Her professional accomplishments include CITE Fellow 2018-2020 and Collegium Fellow 2018. Her clinical background includes telemetry and medical-surgical nursing. She is an active member of Sigma Theta Tau National Nursing Honor Society, Baton Rouge District Nurses Association, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

Bronwyn P. Doyle, PhD, RN, CNE

Dr. Bronwyn Doyle serves as the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Nursing and teaches a variety of nursing content including pediatrics, pathophysiology, nursing fundamentals, evidence-based practice, and community health nursing. She completed a Master of Science in Nursing program with a focus on nursing education at Our Lady of the Lake College in 2009 and graduated from Louisiana State University with a PhD in Education, specifically Curriculum and Instruction, in 2013. In her professional nursing career she served as a pediatric nurse in hospital, outpatient, and school-based settings. Her interests include metacognition and learning, engaged learning strategies, program assessment, and curriculum design.

Janice Hall, MSN, CNRN

Janice W. Hall is a Nursing Faculty member in the University’s School of Nursing for the Pre-licensure BSN Program. She primarily teaches Fundamentals in Nursing Practice. She completed her Master of Science in Nursing degree, specializing in Nursing Education, from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her clinical background is in the field of neuroscience nursing and she is currently certified as a Neuroscience Registered Nurse (CNRN).

Carla Harmon, PhD, RN

Dr. Carla Harmon is an Associate Professor in the undergraduate nursing program who primarily teaches psychiatric mental health. She completed her undergraduate degree and graduate degrees from Southern University and A &M College in 1995 and 2004, and PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from Louisiana State University in 2015. Her clinical background includes orthopedics, neurology, medical-surgical, and hospice.

Lauren A. Hollingsworth, MSN, RN-BC

Ms. Lauren Hollingsworth serves as an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing. She primarily teaches community health and research content in the curriculum. She completed a B.A. Sociology and A.D Nursing from Louisiana Tech University. Additionally, she completed a B.S. in Nursing from University of Texas and M.S. in Nursing from Loyola University of New Orleans respectively. She is currently working towards completing a post-graduate certificate (FNP) from the University of South Alabama. Her professional/clinical background includes acute care experience in intensive care, cardiac care, telemetry, and medical-surgical nursing. She has an extensive work history in the home health industry.

Sandra G. Mathes, MSN, RN

Sandra Mathes is an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing and primarily teaches Concepts VI (professional nursing, nursing leadership, and management) in the undergraduate nursing program. She completed her graduate degree in nursing education at Franciscan University, formally OLOL College, in 2010 and undergraduate degree at Dillard University in New Orleans in 1977. Her professional background includes Nursing Leadership, Human Resource Management, and Nurse Recruitment and Employment. Her clinical background includes Neurology, Cardiology, and Critical Care Nursing.

Amit K. Mitra, PhD

Dr. Mitra graduated with his medical degree in 1982. He practiced as a clinical pathologist for 20 years. He also holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Science and his field of research includes cell biology, hypertension, and heart failure. Currently, he teaches the pathophysiological basis of diseases in the nursing program at undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Mitra also teaches anatomy and physiology and serves as a research mentor for senior biology students and the Student Independent Research Experience (SIRE) program.

Belinda Munson, MSN, RN

Belinda Munson serves as assistant professor in the undergraduate School of Nursing program and primarily teaches in Nursing Concepts I. She completed her Master’s in Nursing Education from Southeastern Louisiana State University in 2009 and her undergraduate degree from Southern University in 1995. Her background in nursing is medical-surgical.

Diane B. Muscat, MSN, RN

Diane B. Muscat, MSN, RN, Assistant Professor primarily teaches Pharmacology in the Undergraduate BSN Program along with selected clinical and lab instruction. She received a BSN in 1975 and an MA in Health in 1983 from Southeastern Louisiana University. In 2009 she received an MSN from Our Lady of the Lake College. Professionally she has worked in many varied areas of nursing with her most recent clinical work in Oncology Nursing.

Amanda Olinde, DNP, APRN, CNM

Dr. Amanda Olinde is an Assistant Professor of Nursing and teaches in the Pre-licensure BSN program. She completed her Master of Science in Nursing in Nurse Midwifery in 2011 and her Doctor of Nursing Practice in 2017 from Frontier Nursing University. Her clinical background includes obstetrics, women’s health, and school nursing.

Mindy Patteson, MSN, RN, CPON

Mindy is a native of Baton Rouge and attended Franciscan University, then called Our Lady of the Lake College. She graduated with her Masters in Nursing Informatics in 2015. She joined Franciscan University after working for over 10 years at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center. She is a Certified Pediatric Oncology Nurse and has many years of experience in Hospice and Palliative Care. She currently serves as a Nursing Instructor for the program.

Tina Rochester, MSN, RN

Christina “Tina” Rochester, a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana has been a registered nurse for over 20 years. She obtained her Master of Science in Nursing Education degree from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2005 and has been teaching at the University since 2013. Her nursing expertise includes Medical-Surgical Nursing, Home Health, Hospice and Burn care. She has a passion for Adult Health, Gerontology, and Pharmacology among others. Mrs. Rochester has been teaching Pharmacology in the School of Nursing since 2013 and Medical-Surgical clinical for a variety of student levels.

Valerie Schluter Ph.D., RN

Valerie Schluter Ph.D., RN is Director of the QEP entitled REACH Reflecting on Ethics and Catholic Health Care. She is an Associate Professor of Nursing teaching Transition into Practice for Bachelor of Science in Nursing students and Nursing Theory in the Family Nurse Practitioner program. Dr. Schluter holds a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University in Educational Theory, Policy, and Research. She is certified in bioethics from the National Catholic Bioethics Center. Her research interest includes the transition from clinical practice to academic citizenship and bioethical issues facing healthcare providers today.

Cindy Schneider, MSN, RN

Ms. Schneider serves as an Assistant Professor of Nursing in the undergraduate program. She teaches Community Health and functions as a medical-surgical clinical instructor. Ms. Schneider completed her Master’s degree in 2008 and has been internationally board certified as a Wound, Ostomy, Continence Nursing specialist for 24 years. Her experience in nursing includes critical care, emergency medicine, home health, rehabilitation and cardiology.

Tanya K. Seward, MSN, APRN, AGNP-C

Tanya Seward is an assistant professor in the School of Nursing. She completed the Adult Gerontological Nurse Practitioner Program in 2014 from the University of South Alabama and completed her Post-Master's Certificate in the Family Nurse Practitioner Program from Maryville University in 2018. Her clinical background includes critical care and emergency care nursing. She currently works in Occupational Medicine as a nurse practitioner.