Alumni Profile: Dr. Latavia Howard - Chief Nursing Officer of Universal Health Services, Virginia

Dr. Latavia Howard, CNO, RN, DNP, MSN, BSN, ACHE knew growing up in Warrington, Georgia that she would either become a teacher or a nurse. The youngest of nine children, two of her sisters were nurses and one was a teacher, so both careers were appealing to her. 

“Because one of my sisters loved nursing so much, cared about her patients so much, loved the education – I began taking the idea of becoming a nurse seriously,” she says. 

Of course, life is never a straight path forward. At 15, Dr. Howard gave birth to her first daughter. What could have been a challenge for her, motivated her to want to do more with her life. 

One of her sisters moved back home to help her so that she could graduate high school and move forward to college. She started her career by getting her associates degree in nursing at Augusta State University. As an RN she knew she was going to need more education to achieve her goals. She says it “took a village” and a lot of organization to get through her associates degree. 

“I thought to myself ‘You have to be insane; you can’t stop working to go to college full-time!’ And that’s when someone suggested online education to me.” 

It was at that time that she chose to pursue the RN to BSN Online Option at Chamberlain University. Still working as a floor nurse, she took every opportunity to pursue her studies to ensure success. “I had to figure it out, I was worried that if I got off work – I was working the night shift – that I would just pass by the computer and not do my classwork. I had to do my work, then go to sleep, get up in enough time to see the kids when they came home from school – then go back to work.” 

Once she graduated with her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from Chamberlain, she took a break and went on to work with her BSN in her position as a floor nurse. 

When she was ready to pursue her Master’s of Science in Nursing, she again, chose Chamberlain. After graduating with her MSN, she went straight into Chamberlain’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program. “I literally had a month off,” she laughs. It was intense but paid off when she graduated in 2019 with her DNP. 

From there, Dr. Howard went onto work in the Georgia Department of behavioral Health, assisting clients with developmental disabilities and founded her own business, Hand to Heart Solutions, to help nurses recertify their infant and child CPR training. (As well as training some soon to be parents on the importance of infant CPR and First Aid.) 

Most recently, however, Dr. Howard has made a big career move. She was named the Chief Nursing Officer at a Universal Health Services hospital in Virginia. 

In honor of this recently passed Black History Month, we are proud to recognize Dr. Latavia Howard – CNO, RN, DNP, MSN, BSN, ACHE as an exceptional alumna of Chamberlain University.

Related Articles:

• A Celebration of 10 Famous Black Nurses in History
• 3 Advantages of Earning Your DNP With Chamberlain
• 5 Questions With a Doctor of Nursing Practice Student

By Kate Rice