Ep. 84 - (Part 2) The AMSN Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness Initiative

Ever wonder what it was like to grow up in the South as a gay man? Caroline welcomes Dr. Justin Fontenot and Dr. Susan Swayze for part two of a three-part series about AMSN's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness (DEI) Initiative and the valuable resources available to you. 

SPECIAL GUESTS

Dr. Justin Fontenot, DNP, RN, NEA-BC (he/him/his) is a Registered Nurse with 22 years of experience. He started his career in acute care Medical-Surgical nursing and spent the last decade in home care and hospice settings. Dr. Fontenot is currently an Assistant Professor of Nursing in the LHC Group • Myers School of Nursing at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He serves as the Associate Editor of Teaching and Learning in Nursing and the editor of Med-Surg Nurse Life Magazine. He is a full-time DNP to Ph.D. student at Texas Woman's University. Dr. Fontenot’s research focuses on clinical reasoning, educational equity, and health disparities involving LGBTQIA+ people.

Dr. Susan Swayze, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., M.B.A. is a DEI strategist and an expert researcher who combined her two loves to form Diversity Think Tank to help organizations identify transformative solutions and accomplish audacious goals. Susan is a highly sought-after speaker on topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion with special emphasis on creating safe spaces to hold conversations related to DEI. Fun fact: Susan gave her first presentation on diversity and inclusion in 1992. More recently, Susan has inspired audiences in Africa, Brazil, Canada, and throughout the U.S. Dr. Swayze teaches research methods and statistics to graduate students and is an accomplished scholar whose research resides at the intersection of Diversity & Inclusion and Teaching & Learning. She has authored more than 50 scholarly works including three edited books.

CO-HOST

Caroline Ashman, MSN, RN, CMSRN was born and raised in England. She had two dreams in life – to become a nurse and live in the United States. She accomplished the first task in 1985 and then in 1991, immigrated to America. She currently serves as a Division Director for Medical-Surgical Education for HCA. She has also been afforded the wonderful opportunity to teach Med Surg Review Courses across the United States and in Europe for AMSN. Collecting air miles and sharing stores along the way, she is thrilled to join the Podcast team and recognize that the specialty of medical surgical nursing is alive and well. Caroline lives with her husband Jimmy, in Tampa, FL and has two grown daughters, Jennifer & Emily.