Bio

Dr. Mauldin is an ANCC Certified Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse who served 8 years in the United States Navy from 1997-2005. While in the military he earned both an AA and BS in Liberal Arts from the University of Phoenix and Excelsior College, respectively. He graduated from The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) in 2012 as a double major, earning both his BSN and BS in Psychology. He earned his PhD in Nursing from USM in 2019. He began his nursing career at South Mississippi State Hospital in Purvis, Mississippi, working first as an Active Treatment Technician, and later as an RN. He transitioned to Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System (GCVHCS) in 2013, in Biloxi, MS working on the acute inpatient mental health unit and serving as both a Basic Life Support (BLS) and Prevention & Management of Disruptive Behavior (PMDB) instructor. In 2017 he transferred to Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System (SLVHCS) working as an integral part of a 12-person team selected to open the inpatient mental health unit, SLVHCS’ first inpatient unit of any kind since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In 2018 Dr. Mauldin became SLVHCS’ Safe Patient Handling & Mobility (SPHM) / Falls Prevention Coordinator. In this role Dr. Mauldin led system-wide efforts that resulted in SLVHCS’ inpatient fall rate ranking #1 nationally in the VA for FY 2021 per the VA Inpatient Evaluation Center (IPEC) and ranking in the top ten nationally every year since FY 2019. Under Dr. Mauldin’s leadership SLVHCS decreased SPHM related staff injuries from 16 in FY18 to 3 in FY21, lowering Workers Compensation expenditures related to SPHM from over $1M in FY18 to $0 from FY19 through Q1 FY22. He served as SLVHCS’ Acting Associate Nurse Executive, Operations from December 2021 – February 2022. Dr. Mauldin served as Chair of the VHA National SPHM Mental Health Innovations Technical Advisory Group (TAG) from 2019 -February 2022. In this role he drafted several simulation scenarios and developed, hosted, and presented VHA’s 1st annual National SPHM MH Innovations Conference in June of 2021. Dr. Mauldin has worked as an Instructor of Clinical Nursing in the Mental Health Nursing curriculum at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, School of Nursing (LSUHSC, SoN) since January 2020. Dr. Mauldin is a Mensan and a lifetime member of both the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and Disabled American Veterans (DAV), previously serving as the State of Mississippi’s liaison between the VFW and Student Veterans of America (SVA). He has published research and given national level presentations related to mental health, falls prevention, and SPHM,  and continues to explore research opportunities in these areas as well as the relationship between patient mobility and access to care.