Daphne Hanson, DNP, MSN, RN, NE-BC, LHRM, '13, '15

In her seven years of practice, in addition to her current role, she has held major leadership roles in the workplace, including Chest Pain Coordinator at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach and Manager of Quality and Performance Improvement at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami. She has also authored two peer-reviewed, Caring-related journal articles for the Journal of Infusion Nursing and the International Journal of Human Caring.

Hanson uses knowledge and experience gained at the College of Nursing every day. The organizational skills she developed while obtaining her master’s and doctoral degree have been key to her success. “My faculty at FAU also taught me how to assess the validity of research, comprehend statistics and analyze data for veracity to implement new studies into practice,” she said.

Her cousin, Michelle, a nurse, inspired her to join the nursing profession at a young age. “She would tell me stories about how she changed her patients’ lives with her caring, compassionate and expert knowledge base,” she said. She says she enjoys impacting patient quality of care on a hospital-wide scale and mentoring other nurses. “I know there were so many people who helped me in my career, and I love to pass that along.” Inspired by Daphne, Michelle is now going back to school to be a nurse practitioner.

Daphne credits her mentor and FAU professor, Dr. Rose Sherman, with helping her understand how to communicate effectively across generations, a skill she uses every day in her practice. Hanson stays in touch with Sherman and strongly recommends that young nurses seek out mentoring relationships with senior professionals who are willing to provide counsel based on their expert experience in the field. “As a bedside nurse, a nurse practitioner, or an administrator, you are faced with many decisions and stressors, and you need an outside person to weigh in and help you understand how to make the best choices. I believe that to be successful, a mentor is mandatory.”

Daphne Hanson, DNP, MSN, RN, NE-BC, LHRM, ’13, ’15

Outstanding Young Owl