Alumni
Christopher Gaudet (1999)
Christopher Gaudet cherishes the people he met and relationships he built as a student in the nursing department at Nicholls State University. In fact, he still sees and talks with many of his college acquaintances daily while working as a certified registered nurse anesthetist at Terrebonne General Medical Center in Houma.
After graduating from Nicholls in 1999, Gaudet worked at TGMC for three years before going to graduate school at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. As a certified registered nurse anesthetist, he selects and administers anesthetics for patients of all ages who are undergoing surgery and then monitors their physiologic responses to the anesthetic.
Gaudet enjoyed the small class sizes at Nicholls and said the people he met while attending Nicholls are what prepared him for his current job.
“Students aren’t just a number,” Gaudet said about the Nicholls nursing program. “The instructors recognize their faces and know them by name. They all seemed to know the right answers and had the right advice for the career path I wished to pursue.”
Dana Hukins Rodrigue (1986)
Dana Hukins Rodrigue has practiced nursing in a variety of capacities since her 1986 graduation from Nicholls State University. However, she considers working as a clinical nurse in University Health Services at Nicholls her most enjoyable and rewarding job so far.
After graduating in the first baccalaureate degree nursing class at Nicholls, Rodrigue worked in pediatrics, medical/surgical, orthopedics and psychiatric nursing at the South Lafourche Medical Center, now known as the Leonard Chabert Medical Center, in Houma.
In 1998, she became a public health nurse at the Lafourche Parish Health Unit in Thibodaux. During her 16 years in public health nursing, Rodrigue specialized in tuberculosis control, sexually transmitted disease counseling and treatment, immunizations, women and children’s health and epidemiology. She also served as a sexually transmitted disease nurse clinician, hospital nurse coordinator, bioterrorism nurse coordinator and clinical nurse preceptor for the Nicholls bachelor’s of nursing program.
Rodrigue is a charter member of both Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing and the Xi Zeta Chapter of STT at Nicholls. She has been recognized by Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who Among Women and Who’s Who in Medicine and Health Care. Rodrigue holds certifications in Basic Disaster Support, Strategic National Stockpile for Bioterrrorism Events and Weapons of Mass Destruction Incident Command through the U.S. Center of Domestic Preparedness Homeland Security in Anniston, Ala. She is also a past member of the Louisiana Public Health Associations and Region 3 Consortium for HIV/AIDS community education and awareness.
Rodrigue said the baccalaureate nursing program at Nicholls offers students a holistic approach to nursing.
“The program’s collaboration with teaching hospitals, such as the Leonard Chabert Medical Center, enhances the educational and clinical experience and fosters professional growth,” Rodrigue said. “The nursing department and faculty members are realistic and proactive in their roles and in their methods of instruction. Smaller classes and clinical groups promote fellowship and an atmosphere for enhanced learning experiences.”