Bio
Dr. Marsha J. Bennett is a Professor at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center School of Nursing. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Behavioral Sciences – Anthropology from the University of South Florida, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Arizona State University, and a Master of Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Science from Louisiana State University Medical Center.
Dr. Bennett is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse in psychiatric and mental health nursing. She is the Director of the Louisiana Center for Promotion of Optimal Health Outcomes, a Center of Excellence of the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI). She is a certified systematic reviewer with the JBI and is a trainer in both systematic review methods and the JBI clinical implementation of evidence program. She serves on the JBI Committee of Directors and is the Chair of the Americas Region for Implementation and Synthesis Science Network of the Americas. She is a member of the JBI Qualitative Review Methodology Group, and the Implementation Methodology Group.
Dr. Bennett has served as a peer reviewer for the American Journal of Men’s Health, International Journal of Evidence Based Healthcare, Journal of Continuing Nursing Education, Journal of Holistic Nursing, Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, and JBI Evidence Synthesis. She was recently appointed to the editorial board of the Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing. She has served as a committee member or reviewer for many regional and national organizations including Ochsner Clinic Foundation, East Jefferson General Hospital, the HIV Outpatient Program, Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society in Nursing, the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, the Southern Nursing Research Society, and the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care.
She currently serves as the course coordinator for research and evidence-based practice courses in both the research-focused and the practice-focused doctoral programs. Dr. Bennett serves as a major professor or committee member on Doctor of Nursing Science dissertations and Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Inquiry Projects.
Dr. Bennett has served as the Research Coordinator and Director of Clinical Research at LSUHSC’s HIV Outpatient Program Clinic. She has experience as an advanced practice nurse consultant, forensic consultant, and HIV mental health clinical nurse specialist and evaluation consultant. She served as the Associate Dean for Nursing Research, Scholarship, and Science at LSUHSC School of Nursing for five years and currently serves as a member on the LSUHSC Institutional Review Board.
Dr. Bennett’s research interests and publication areas include mental health issues surrounding HIV, delirium in older hospitalized adults, qualitative and mixed methodologies, end of life, and novel technologies to deliver education, such as Second Life. She has authored and co-authored numerous funded programmatic grants, and partnered with interprofessional researchers to investigate community collaboration, mindfulness, and mental health issues post-local disasters.
In 2018, Dr Bennett was inducted into the LSUHSC School of Nursing Inaugural Hall of Fame. She was awarded the LSUHSC Copping Award in Teaching Excellence and has received many honors and awards including the: Daisy Award for Faculty, St. Charles General Professorship, Association of Nurses in AIDS Care President’s Award, Association of Nurses in AIDS Care Leadership Award, New Orleans Nurses in AIDS Care Clinical Excellence and Leadership Award, and the Sigma Theta Tau Distinguished Graduate Award.
