Kenneth Cochran, DSc, FACHE, President & CEO of Opelousas General Health System, is among newly elected LA State Nurses Association Board of Directors

On Thursday, April 22, 2021, the Louisiana State Nurses Association conducted its first Virtual Membership Assembly. Over 130 nurses and nursing students from across Louisiana participated; 107 served as delegates from 9 district nursing associations. Louisiana nurses identified and discussed focus areas that impact nursing and patient care. Nurses leveraged a virtual platform to have dialogues on issues such as workplace violence, scope of practice, peri-operative safety, and access to care. As the largest number of healthcare providers in Louisiana, nurses are committed to making a difference in their profession, in the health of Louisiana’s citizens and addressing the disparities highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Newly elected to the Board of Directors:

Benita N. Chatmon, PhD, MSN, RN, CNE was elected President Elect. Dr. Chatmon is an Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean for Clinical Nursing Education at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, Louisiana School of nursing. She holds an appointment in the School of Graduate Studies at LSU Health New Orleans and also serves as a 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.

Dr. Chatmon has demonstrated exemplary contributions to the profession of nursing through service and mentoring and her commitment to her university community as well as the general public. She is currently the recipient of the Sister Henrietta Guyot Endowed Professorship in Nursing in which she is actively conducting a study on the benefit of peer mentoring. Dr. Chatmon was recently accepted into the Health Equity and Anti-Racism (HEAR) Leadership Institute where she will have the opportunity to engage in instruction, discussion, and collaboration around health equity and anti-racism. She has served as the Director of membership, recruitment, and retention for Louisiana State Nurses Association (LSNA). Dr. Chatmon also serves as a member of the Louisiana Action Coalition, on the Board of Trustee for Louisiana Nurses Foundation, and on the Board of Trustee for CrescentCare.

Dr. Chatmon was inducted into the Louisiana Great 100 Nurses (2017) and selected as a CityBusiness 2019 Health Care Hero. In addition, she was awarded the Daisy Award for Extraordinary Faculty in 2019. She was also nominated as a 40 under 40 nominee at her alma mater, the Southern University and A&M College. Dr. Chatmon is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. Notably, Dr. Chatmon is also a veteran in the United States Army.

Denise Hancock, PhD, RN, LCCE was elected Treasurer for a second term. Dr. Denise Hancock is an experienced nurse leader and educator. After a decade working in financial services, Denise completed one of the first bachelor’s to BSN degree programs at Oklahoma City University. She began her nursing career as a maternal-newborn nurse, developing a passion for educating others and promoting healthy choices. Denise became a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator in 2008 and co-founded the Oklahoma BirthNetwork. She served as a regional representative on the BirthNetwork National Board of Directors (2009-2010) and volunteered as Nurse Planner for Lamaze International (2013-2017). She has presented widely at state, regional and global conferences.

Denise has more than a decade of experience as a nurse educator, with research in nursing and faculty workforce issues. Her educational background includes a PhD in Nursing Education and Administration, a Master of Science in Nursing, and Bachelor of Science degrees in Nursing and Economics. She graduated from the Mississippi Nurses Foundation Leadership Institute in 2017 while working as a BSN Program Director for William Carey University. Denise was honored as a Great 100 Nurse of Louisiana in 2019.

Denise is the Director of Nursing Professional Development at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, a four-time Magnet recognized facility. She is active in a number of professional organizations. She was previously elected to the Louisiana State Nurses Association (LSNA) Board of Directors as Treasurer in 2019 and has been on the New Orleans District Nurses Association (NODNA) board for several years.

Brandi Borden, RN was elected Secretary for the Louisiana State Nurses Association. She is a registered nurse in the Trauma ICU at the University Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. She is also co-chair of the Trauma ICU Shared Governance Committee. Borden is committed to advancing the profession of nursing. For the past four years, Borden served in leadership positions, including that of president (2020 – 2021), for the National Student Nurses’ Association. As an active member of her student nurses’ associations, she helped create ways to engage members, advocate, and collaborate with others to effectively create positive changes. Borden is a graduate of the Charity School of Nursing and will soon earn her BSN from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Kenneth Cochran, DSc, RN, MBA, FACHE was elected as Director of Professional Development and Leadership. Dr. Cochran is a senior level healthcare executive with more than 20 years of healthcare experience including diversified experience in clinical department management. He has extensive professional involvement in local, state and national level organizations and has been recognized for exceptional skills in financial and operations management, regulatory compliance, clinical outcomes, and physician recruitment. He has been branded as an “Up and Comer” by many colleagues.

Originally from the state of Alabama, Dr. Cochran is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and Board Certified in Healthcare Management. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Troy State University in Troy, Alabama and received a Master of Business Administration degree from California State University in Bakersfield, California. Dr. Cochran received a Doctor of Science in Health Systems Leadership from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He also served as an orthopedic specialist and combat flight medic in the United States Army Reserves for 8 years.

Dr. Cochran is currently serving as President & Chief Executive Officer of Opelousas General Health System. He is an avid believer that community and professional service is a duty for all healthcare executives. Dr. Cochran has served on many local, state, and national level boards including presidencies for the St. Landry Chamber of Commerce and Opelousas Sunrise Rotary Club as well as Assistant Governor for Rotary District 6200. Currently, he is serving on the Vision St. Landry Board, LSUE Advisory Board, Louisiana Hospital Association Board of Directors, and the LHA Quality and Research Foundation Board. Most recently, Dr. Cochran was elected to serve as the ACHE Regent for Louisiana.

Lxchelle Arceneaux, DNP, MPH, RN-BC was elected Director of Organizational Advancement. Dr. Lxchelle Robinson Arceneaux, is an ANCC certified registered nurse working in healthcare leadership as the system manager of Inpatient Nursing Informatics for Ochsner Health. Dr. Arceneaux’s educational journey began with obtaining a BS in Biology from Xavier University of LA in 1997, followed by receiving a Master in Public Health – Health Systems Management from Tulane University SPHTM in 2000, then receiving dream goal of a BSN in nursing in 2004 from William Carey University. Her journey in health care management led her to pursue the terminal degree of Doctorate in Nursing Practice from Chamberlain University School of Nursing in 2020 as a high distinction graduate. She has over twenty-two years of healthcare experience and seventeen years as a registered nurse. As an expert in Nursing Informatics, Dr. Lxchelle has led many integrated initiatives involving patient facing technology entailing point of care innovations improving the delivery of quality and safe care to the patient. While leading these projects, Dr. Lxchelle ensures pertinent interdisciplinary stakeholders are involved and nursing’s voice is seen in respected and integral manner. Dr. Arceneaux’s aspiration is to continue on the lifelong pursuit of contributing to the nursing profession to advance our voice and nursing role in health care decisions.