2023 Most Outstanding Recent Alumna Award Winner
During 23 years as a health care professional, Dr. Vickie Stuart has been recognized as an innovative clinician, a leading academician, and a professional thought leader in the field of nurse anesthesiology and health care policy.
In addition to clinical practice and academic responsibilities, Dr. Stuart has been sought as a governance member or to present as an expert speaker and instructor at local, state, regional, and national conferences. While president of the Mississippi Association of Nurse Anesthetists, she advanced statewide collaboration among health care associations with a strategic initiative for the association.
Dr. Stuart earned her bachelor of science degree in Nursing (BSN) at McNeese State University, her master of science in Anesthesiology at Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in Nurse Anesthesiology at the UTHSC College of Nursing.
Dr. Stuart’s advocacy efforts are evidenced by her accomplishments and contributions to the profession, education, and to health care. In 2001 Dr. Stuart pioneered a CRNA-only practice model in an office-based surgery setting by becoming the first CRNA employed at the site as a solo practitioner. More than a decade later, the practice is maintained by a CRNA-only group. Dr. Stuart has demonstrated success in navigating the political environment by acquiring approval at the local and state level to develop the first graduate-level nurse anesthesiology program at the University of Southern Mississippi. The program, which began in 2012, was the first nurse anesthesiology program in the U.S. to begin at the doctoral level, rather than transitioning from a master’s program.
As co-chair of the College of Nursing Shared Governance Task Force at the University of Southern Mississippi, Dr. Stuart applied her leadership competencies with colleagues and stakeholders to introduce and gain faculty confidence in a new model of governance. Her efforts resulted in faculty adoption of a new Shared Governance Model for the College. During state political advocacy Dr. Stuart worked collaboratively with stakeholders and elected officials to prevent the implementation of regulation of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses/Nurse Practitioners that would have negatively impacted access to care for the residents in rural Mississippi. Recognizing the importance of building and strengthening relationships with healthcare and policy leaders, Dr. Stuart, during her term as president of the Mississippi Association of Nurse Anesthetists, worked to develop a statewide summit on governance for leaders of hospitals and healthcare related organizations.
Currently, Dr. Stuart maintains a full-time clinical practice as an independent contractor in a variety of practice models. In addition to clinical practice, she is an inventor and entrepreneur of a medical device. Her invention received patent approval in 2022 and is currently undergoing empirical testing and awaiting manufacturing and implementation into practice.
