Members on the Move

Benita Chatmon, PhD, RN, CNE, is an assistant professor and the assistant dean for Clinical Nursing Education at LSU Health-New Orleans School of Nursing.  She obtained her Bachelor of Science (BSN) in Nursing in 2007 and Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) in Education in 2010 from Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Later, she earned her PhD in Education with a focus in nursing education in 2016 from Capella University in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She holds an appointment in the School of Graduate Studies at LSU Health New Orleans and serves as the Nurse Researcher at Children’s Hospital New Orleans.  Dr. Chatmon is a Certified Nurse Educator, as well as a Certified Adult and Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor, showcasing her dedication to both nursing education and mental health advocacy.

Dr. Chatmon has extensive experience in medical-surgical nursing, mental health nursing, nursing education, nursing research, and nursing leadership.  She currently serves her academic community as the chair of the Clinical Affiliation and Nurse Executive Advisory Council, a member of the Administration council, and an ex-officio member of the Undergraduate and Graduate Academic Council, as well as the Curriculum committee.  In addition, she belongs to several LSU Health-New Orleans Taskforce that entails research, policy review, and interprofessional education.  Furthermore, she represented the school of nursing as a past member of the LSU Health-New Orleans Faculty Senate and serves on Children’s Hospital Evidence-based practice and research Committee as Co-Chair.

Benita has demonstrated exemplary contributions to the profession of nursing through service and mentoring within local, regional, and national committees/organizations. Her commitment to nursing extends to her role as the president for the Louisiana State Nurses Association (LSNA) for the term 2023-2025. Under her leadership, LSNA successfully established the Nursing Maternal Mortality and Preterm Births Task Force (SCR 20) and played a pivotal role in passing legislation related to surgical smoke evacuation, making Louisiana the 12th state to enact such a law. She played a key role in spearheading LSNA's first mentorship program, demonstrating her commitment to nurturing the future of nursing. Dr. Chatmon extends her mentorship efforts to the American Nurses Association’s Project Millennial -Gen Z CSNA Advisory Group, providing insights on a redesigned membership for millennial and Gen Z nurses.

Dr. Chatmon maintains dual membership in Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society (Epsilon Nu at Large and Tau Pi Chapter). She served as chapter president within Epsilon Nu at Large from 2021 to 2023, and now serving as the Leadership Succession Chair. She also served as a past president for Tau Pi Chapter. Most recently, Dr. Chatmon was elected as the North America Region 6 coordinator for Sigma. She continues to maintain active memberships in several nursing professional organizations, such as Southern Nursing Research Society (nominating committee), American Nurses Association (Millennial Gen-z Advisory Council), National League for Nurses, National Black Nurses Association (Mentor Ambassador/Bylaws Committee), and Association of Black Nursing Faculty (Board of Director/Education Committee Co-Chair), etc. 

Additionally, Benita serves on Crescentcare Board of Trustees, [a Federal Qualified Health Center located in New Orleans]. Within this capacity, she holds the position of board co-chair and is also a member of the governance committee for Crescentcare. Notably, Dr. Chatmon contributes to the field of nursing education by serving as a Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) site reviewer.

Dr. Chatmon has made a significant contribution to nursing research. As the nurse researcher at CHNOLA she was principal investigator (PI) or co-principal (Co-PI) investigator on various research and EBP projects. She is currently working with two HRSA funded grants: Nursing Workforce Diversity grant assisting students from disadvantaged backgrounds through educational pipelines to become registered nurses, and the curriculum coordinator for the Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention Clinical Faculty and Preceptor Academies (NEPQR-C FPA), supporting the development of academies of academic-clinical-community partnerships, developing and implementing formal nurse education training curriculum to clinical nursing faculty and preceptors.

Recognized for her outstanding achievements, Dr. Chatmon is a fellow of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Elevating Leaders in Academic Nursing (ELAN) and a fellow of the AACN Diversity Leadership Institute (3^rd cohort). Just recently, she was accepted into ABNF Leadership & Public Policy Mentoring Fellowship Program.

To further highlight Dr. Chatmon as a healthcare trendsetter, she has been recognized for her outstanding achievements. Dr. Chatmon was inducted into the Louisiana Great 100 Nurses (2017) and selected as a CityBusiness 2019 Health Care Hero and honored as a Southern University Alumni Federation 40 Under Forty 2019 Cohort Deux recipient.  In addition, she was awarded the Daisy Award for Extraordinary Faculty which is given to Nursing Faculty for their inspirational influence on the nurses of today and tomorrow. She was awarded as an honoree for the National Black Nurses Association 40 Under 40. Dr. Chatmon is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated and serves as a two-term president of her local chapter. Finally, Dr. Chatmon is a veteran in the United States Army.