Carlene Couper

Graduated from LSU with a BSN in 1984 where she received received a Challenge Fund Scholarship for dedicated students with personal challenges.  She continued her education in nursing administration at the University of Phoenix, where she earned her MSN in 1999.  She received her Certified Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner accreditation in 2005.

Named Great 100 Nurse in 2003 by the American Nursing Services of Louisiana, Carlene was a committed mental health nurse at the VA hospital for 11 years working with veterans and their families. Post-Katrina, she returned to New Orleans as the Program Manager for Responsibility House, a Community Support program. While there she was instrumental in the development of the program, hiring and directing a multi-disciplinary team to serve the needs of mentally ill clients and their families in an effort to decrease hospitalizations and increase stabilization of symptoms so they can function at their highest capabilities within the community.  With experience ranging from oncology to AIDS care, she has accumulated 24 years of extensive psychiatric experience which she now passes along to nursing students as a Mental Health Instructor at the Delgado Charity School of Nursing.