DNP, MSNEd, BSN, AAS, CARN, RN

Dr.Berthilde Dufrene earned the Doctor in Nursing Practice degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a Master’s in Nursing Education degree from Mercy College. She is presently serving as the Chief Nursing Officer for the New York State Office of Mental Health Corrections Based Operations. She has held several positions in marketing and administrative support at International Business Machines, Inc. (IBM). She opted for a career change in 1993 from business marketing to nursing when her employer relocated to Raleigh, NC. Dr.

Dufrene is the founder and past president of the Haitian American Nurses Association of Hudson Valley New York, Inc. (HANA). She is the host of HANA’s weekly Health and Wellness radio show on Radio Generation 2000. She is the current President of the Zeta Omega At Large Chapter of the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society. She is also the founder and president of the Haitian Cultural Heritage Preservation, Inc. She has been serving on many Executive Board of Directors including HANA of Hudson Valley, HANA International, Sun River Health, and New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) Commissioner’s Nursing Advisory Panel. She has served as a leader for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) of Spring Valley, NY – Health Committee. She is a nurse educator who has served as both lecturer, and clinical instructor. She is a published author, a well decorated acclaimed leader and sought-after speaker on leadership, correctional nursing, mental health, and addiction. She is both a general practitioner and a specialist with a nursing career that encompasses many areas including pediatric and adult psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, correctional nursing, addiction, geriatric nursing, intellectual and developmental disabilities nursing, and nursing education. She has served as both a leader and member of many community organizations, such as the NAACP, the Tau Phi Chapter of Chi Eta Phi Sorority, Inc, Professional Nurses Association of Rockland County – NYSNA District 17, the Rockland County Nurses Recognition Committee, and the International Nurses Society on Addictions (IntNSA).