Alumni Updates
Catching up with UF College of Nursing alumni.
The latest and greatest on our alumni
Linda H. Aiken, Ph.D., R.N.
Linda H. Aiken (B.S.N. 1964, M.S.N. 1966) was named the 2017 recipient of the International Council of Nurses, or ICN, Christiane Reimann Prize. Aiken received the award at the ICN Congress in Barcelona, Spain, in May, where she was also a keynote speaker discussing the results of her research to improve quality and safety of hospital care and patient outcomes. The world-renowned ICN award is presented every four years to a nurse who has made a significant impact on the nursing profession internationally, or through the nursing profession for the benefit of humanity.
Deborah L. Cole (B.S.N. 1974) has retired after nearly 40 years as an operating room nurse. She completed additional training in 1979 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, to advance to the role of RN First Assistant at surgery, with a specialty focus in neurosurgery. She worked in Florida for 20 years, then as a travel nurse in Georgia, Maryland, Arizona and Washington, where she has settled near Seattle. During her career, she achieved certification in perioperative nursing and neuroscience nursing, and was one of the first 150 nurses in the entire United States to earn the Certified RN First Assistant credential. Retirement plans include some travel and working on genealogy for her family history. The biggest surprise discovery so far is that she is a Mayflower descendant!
Carolyn Hendrick Matthews, R.N.
Carolyn Hendrick Matthews (B.S.N. 1978) worked as a nursing instructor in the R.N. program at Lake-Sumter State College in Leesburg, Florida, for 24 years. She retired in May 2015. At the last pinning ceremony she attended as faculty, they presented her with the Carolyn Matthews Teaching Excellence Award, awarded to a nursing faculty member each year.
Audrey Colkitt Joiner (B.S.N. 1982, M.S.N. 1987) is the executive director of the Space Coast Volunteers in Medicine clinic, which is run by the Viera Health Department. This program provides free medical and dental care to uninsured residents of Brevard County, and the providers are community nurses, dentists and physicians who volunteer their services.
Deborah Marino (B.S.N. 1984, M.S.N. 1997) has been the executive director of the Florida Institute of Technology’s student health clinic for 18 years. As executive director, Marino runs the day-to-day operation and supervision of the staff for the clinic, which provides free health care for students of the Florida Institute of Technology.
Colonel Joan H. Garbutt, R.N.
Joan Garbutt (B.S.N. 1989) recently retired as a colonel in the U.S. Air Force. She was the director of manpower, personnel and services at the Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. She was responsible for policies, programs and objectives involving the readiness, assignment, education and training, separation, retirement, career progression, classification, manpower, services support and quality of life for more than 94,000 active duty military and civilians, covering five naval air facilities, the USAFWC, 34 wings, 19 bases and more than 70 operating locations, as well as 49,000 total force Reserve and Guard partners.
Laurie Chapman Whidden (B.S.N. 1992) received the 2016 Emergency Medical Services for Children Award from the Florida Department of Health. Whidden is a UF Health ShandsCair pediatric flight nurse and one of 16 in Florida recognized for excellence in emergency medical services.
Stephanie Thatcher Weinsier (B.S.N. 1993, D.N.P. 2011) was recently selected as one of the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, or AAOHN, 2017 Class of Fellows. This award was recognized at the AAOHN Annual Conference in New Orleans in April. AAOHN Fellows comprise a distinguished group of leaders who provide vision to advance skills, knowledge and abilities of occupational and environmental health nurses, influence formation of policy, contribute to research and exemplify highly effective management and clinical practices.
Nancy Hurley Pontes (M.S.N. 1994), an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Nursing–Camden, has been inducted as a Fellow of the National Academies of Practice, an interprofessional, national organization that advises governmental bodies on health care delivery in the United States. During the meeting, she also was inducted as a distinguished practitioner and Fellow of the Nursing Academy.
Patricia Draper (M.S.N. 1995) has been the manager for the past five years of the Heart Failure Management Clinic in Vero Beach. The clinic sees about 200 patients and has less than a five percent readmission rate. U.S. News & World Report recognized it as the “Best Regional Hospital” for heart failure. Draper is also on the publication committee for the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses journal.
Rodney G.B. Clements, R.N.
Rodney G.B. Clements (B.S.N. 1996) recently hiked to the Mt. Everest Base Camp in Nepal. Clements, a home infusion therapy nurse in Jacksonville and a UF Nursing Alumni Council member, proudly sported his Gator gear!
Amanda Hande Pearce (B.S.N. 1999) works at Elders Journey, a Medicaid home nursing agency in Indiana to help low-income patients. She has worked in home care for 13 years and as a nurse for 18 years.
Courtney Irwin (B.S.N. 2005, M.S.N. 2011) is the medical manager at an orphanage in northern Haiti. The orphanage is home to many children with complex medical issues, and Irwin oversees their medical care. She also runs a rehabilitation care program for children who are ill or severely malnourished. The children come to live at the orphanage, are cared for until they are back to a healthy state, and then reunited with their biological families. Irwin also runs a formula and malnutrition program for children in the Haitian community.
Kimberly Kell Clarke (B.S.N. 2009, M.S.N. 2012) is currently working at Tampa Family Healthcare Associates, a primary care office with one family physician.
Durward Rackleff (B.S.N. 2011) was promoted to senior director of quality and patient safety at the Greater New York Hospital Association, where he started in August 2016 as a senior project manager. Primary responsibilities include day-to-day oversight and leadership for the New York State Partnership for Patients, a statewide patient safety and quality improvement initiative under the national Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Partnership for Patients program. He also provides direct support and consultation to assist hospital members with their quality and patient safety priorities.
Terry Tokash (B.S.N. 2015) is attending Adventist University’s M.S.N. program for anesthesia.
Amelia Schlak (B.S.N. 2016) was accepted at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Nursing Ph.D. program to study health policy.
Tami Thomas (B.S.N. 1996, M.S.N. 1998, Ph.D. 2006) was just notified that she received a grant for $1.39 million. She is also the project director on another grant and will be managing $2.1 million worth of projects this summer and fall, in addition to her role as associate dean of academic affairs at Florida International University’s Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences. She was also the only Ph.D.-prepared nurse to share findings at an international vaccine project event in London this summer. Researchers from around the world discussed HPV vaccination, and she was one of three HPV researchers invited from United States.
