Our cohorts are comprised of diverse groups of nurses with backgrounds in leadership, nursing education, and advanced practice nursing.

Read the latest DNP Program Student Spotlights.

Deb Flaherty, MSN, CRNA, DNP Class of 2020Deb Flaherty, MSN, CRNA, DNP
Class of 2020


Deb chose Wake Forest School of Medicine for my DNP because this talented faculty team consists of innovative leaders who wholeheartedly invest in their students’ learning experience.

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Amy Milner, MSN, RN-BC, DNP Class of 2020Amy Milner, MSN, RN-BC, DNP Class of 2020
Amy Milner, MSN, RN-BC, DNP Candidate ’20, joined Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (WFBH) as a new graduate, working on the renal unit. She received her master’s in nursing education in 2002, and started working in Nursing Education at WFBH that same year. Amy is proud to say that she is still working in the Nursing Education department to this day.

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Elena Meadows WFSOM DNP Program Student ProfileElena Meadows, MSN, CRNA DNP Class of 2020
Originally from Lexington, Kentucky, Elena, has lived and worked in North Carolina since 2002. As a graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Nursing and the Wake Forest Nurse Anesthesia Program (’09), she is now enrolled in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program and is set to graduate in August 2020. Elena will be the first person to graduate from both programs in the Department of Academic Nursing. 

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Fran Charlton DNP Wake Forest School of MedicineFran Charlton MBA, MHA, RN, NE-BC, DNP Class of 2020
Fran Charlton, MBA, MHA, RN, NE-BC, DNP Candidate ’20, began her career in nursing in 1990, and has been in formal nursing leadership roles since 1996. For the majority of her clinical career, she was in cardiac surgery, which was her passion at the time. Growing up she always wanted to become a nurse, so she could make a difference in her community by helping others. 

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Ken Thompson DNP Wake Forest School of MedicineKen Thompson, MS, CRNA, DNP Class of 2020
Ken Thompson, MS, CRNA, DNP Candidate ’20, was commissioned into the Army as a second lieutenant (2LT) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing. After years of working in the PACU and ICU, he attended the US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing. In 2004, only months after graduating, he was deployed to Baghdad to work in a very busy Combat Support Hospital.

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Libby Pearsall, MSN, RN, DNP Class of 2020Libby Pearsall, MSN, RN, DNP Class of 2020
Libby Pearsall, MSN, RN, DNP Candidate ’20, has been a nurse at Wake Forest Baptist Health for over 20 years. She began working in critical care and has been in various roles since. She has been a staff nurse, charge nurse, clinical educator, project manager, and nurse manager before entering her current role as Director of Nursing for Critical Care Shared Services.

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Luci New, DNP Class of 2020Luci New, DNP Class of 2020  
Luci New is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). She graduated from the Carolina's Medical Center (CMC) Nurse Anesthesia Program in 1995 and received a Master of Science in nursing from UNC Charlotte in 1996.

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