Dr. Gina Haffner joined the Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing in 2022.  She spent most of her early nursing career in emergency nursing, eventually receiving her graduate degree in Nursing Education with a focus on critical care nursing.  This led to extensive time serving as an emergency department clinical nurse specialist and educator.  She is currently certified as a Certified Emergency Nurse.  After returning to receive a poster-master’s certificate as a Family Nurse Practitioner, Dr. Haffner has worked continuously in this role providing primary care for all ages.  Prior to joining Cumberland University, she worked in a corporate leadership position in the role of nurse practitioner, leading healthcare providers in multiple states.

Entering the family practice arena, Dr. Haffner became very interested in population health, completing her doctorate in nursing practice from Vanderbilt University with a project focused on hypertension screening in the outpatient setting.  She has taught in a variety of settings, both undergraduate and graduate.  She currently teaches adjunct for Georgetown University within their graduate nursing program.

Dr. Haffner remains active in her profession.  She currently serves on the Health Policy Committee for the Tennessee Nurse Practitioner Association, the Government Affairs Committee and Continuing Education Committees for the Tennessee Nurses Association and is a member of Sigma Theta Tau nursing honor society.

Dr. Carroll joined the Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing faculty in 2022.

She earned her Bachelor of Nursing Science degree (2003) and Master of Science in Nursing degree (2005) from the University of Memphis. In addition, she completed her Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree and Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in December 2022.

Dr. Carroll has a wide range of nursing experience ranging from community health nursing to in-patient adult medical surgical nursing to advanced nurse practitioner experience to nursing education experience. Dr. Carroll is passionate about helping shape the way future nurses practice and community health nursing. Dr. Carroll is a member of the Tennessee Association of School Nurses, the National Association of School Nurses, and the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.

Dr. Tanya King-Paige began at Cumberland in the Fall of 2022. She teaches Foundations/Health Assessment of Nursing in the LPN/BSN program and Leadership in the Traditional BSN program. Dr. King-Paige has had a career that has spanned over 40 years. She has done all types of critical care nursing and Peds/Adult Cardiac Cath lab at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital for almost 15 years. Dr. King-Paige had opened a Centralized Telemetry Monitoring Unit at Saint Thomas Hospital West.

After completing my DNP in 2021, Dr. King-Paige always dreamed of becoming a nursing instructor. She is happy to be here and see her students flourish and soar like eagles when they complete the program.  She is a member of the International Nursing Honor Society, Sigma Theta Tau, Middle Tennessee, Tennessee Black Nurses Association, and the Tennessee Nurses Association. She is originally from New York and moved to Tennessee 19 years ago.

Dr. King-Paige is married and has three grown children: Brandon, Brittany, and Breana. One of them is also a nurse and has two grandchildren. She enjoys traveling, cooking and bowling.

Megan Lannom became a faculty member at Cumberland University in the Fall of 2022. She is in the Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing and Health Professions as the faculty who teaches women’s health and newborn care.

Prior to arriving at Cumberland University, Mrs. Lannom was in nursing practice for over 20 years. She held positions in labor and delivery, postpartum, nursery, neonatal intensive care and as educator of maternity and pediatrics.

She also has practiced nursing with high-risk obstetrical patients and gynecology patients. She holds an unencumbered RN license and a certification for electronic fetal monitoring. Mrs. Lannom has earned a master’s degree as a clinical nurse specialist with a focus in perinatal nursing and is working towards her Doctor of Nursing practice with a focus on education. Mrs. Lannom has a love for the nursing profession, simulation, and education.

Ms. Goodin began her teaching journey with Cumberland University as an Adjunct Clinical Instructor in the Jeanette C. Rudy School of Nursing in the Spring 2022 Semester. She has since accepted a full-time faculty position as an Instructor of Nursing. 

Carolyn graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) in May 2023. She graduated from East Tennessee State University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) in 2021. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) in a program at East Tennessee State University with an anticipated graduation date of August 2024. Ms. Goodin has clinical experience in Medical-Surgical, Rehabilitation, Family Practice, Home Health Nursing, Wound Care, and Vascular Access. She has a passion to educate tomorrow’s nurses and is currently working to craft a mentoring program for nursing students. She is a member of the American Nurses Association, Tennessee Nurse’s Association, Sigma Theta Tau and Sigma Alpha Lambda.