Clinical Assistant Professor Stacia Hays, D.N.P., ARNP, has been selected to participate in the Florida Center for Nursing/Florida Action Coalition Board Service Initiative for Emerging Nurse Leaders. The purpose of the three-month training, supported by the Florida Blue Foundation, is to prepare nurse leaders to speak for the health needs of their communities. The Board Service class participants will be taught the responsibilities as stewards of organizational board membership as well as the principles of governance that power exceptional boards.

Assistant Professor Debra Lynch Kelly, Ph.D., R.N., was recently accepted as a full member of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation. Founded in 1993, the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation is an international professional membership association of more than 2,200 physicians, investigators and other health care professionals from more than 45 countries. Kelly is the only nurse who holds full status in this prestigious professional organization of over 2,200 members elected to serve on the Survivorship Interest Group Committee.

Ragnhildur “Raga” Bjarnadottir, Ph.D., R.N., postdoctoral associate in the UF College of Nursing and the UF Informatics Institute, has received numerous honors recently. At Academy Health’s national meeting, she received the Interdisciplinary Research Group on Nursing Issues’ 2017 New Investigator of the Year award. The New Investigator Award is given to recognize the best submission by an investigator who is less than five years postdoctorate.

Bjarnadottir was also selected for the American Academy of Nursing Jonas Policy Scholar Program’s 2017-2019 cohort. She will be working with the Informatics and Technology Expert Panel (chaired by Endowed Professor Gail Keenan) on national policy initiatives. Associate Professor Robert Lucero is Raga’s mentor.

Clinical Associate Professor Tonja Hartjes, D.N.P., ARNP, FAANP, served as the editor of the recently published text “Core Curriculum for High Acuity, Progressive and Critical Care Nursing.” This serves as core curriculum for critical care nursing and a study guide for the national certification exam.

Doctor of Nursing Practice student Jannae White was awarded a scholarship from the Central Florida Black Nurses Association of Orlando. As a B.S.N. student, White was awarded a scholarship from the Greater Gainesville Black Nurses Association. She also currently serves on the College of Nursing Diversity and Inclusion Board.

Cassandre Jean-Antoine was selected to receive the National Black Nurses Association’s Lynn Edwards Research Scholarship. The scholarship is sponsored by Linda Burnes-Bolton, past president of the National Black Nurses Association. The $15,000 scholarship is based on scholastic achievement and leadership for those pursuing a Ph.D. in nursing. Jean-Antoine is also a Jonas Center Nurse Leader Scholar. Her research explores the attributes of minority nurse executives in hospital settings. After completing the Ph.D. program, she would like to become a nurse executive in a health care organization with the goal of having a positive impact on the community through education and research.

New Ph.D. student and recent R.N.-to-B.S.N. graduate Christina Jones was selected to receive the 2017-2018 Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future-AACN Minority Nurse Faculty Scholarship. She will receive a $16,500 scholarship and additional funding to cover her expenses for attending AACN’s Faculty Development Conference in Atlanta. Jones won a first-place award in the Top Student Poster Presentation at the Southern Nursing Research Society’s annual conference, where she networked with nursing researchers from around the country.

Professor Jennifer Elder, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, has received an additional round of funding
to continue to forge a much-needed bridge
between individuals with autism and their families with professionals who can provide them with support and information.

Elder received a “Tier III Pipeline to Proposal” award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, or PCORI, to build and forge collaborations to further autism research for underserved families. Tier III awards fund the development of high-quality research proposals that can be submitted for PCORI funding.

“With the rising prevalence of autism spectrum disorders, demands of caregiving for these individuals place heavy burdens on families who must provide long-term care. This may prove difficult for families in poor and rural areas that may lack the resources to assess the most suitable interventions,” Elder said.

Elder’s proposal was originally funded in Tier I and Tier II funding in 2015-16, and it was the first Pipeline to Proposal fund awarded at UF.