Alumni Updates
Catching up with UF College of Nursing alumni.
Linda Aiken, PhD, FAAN, FRCN, RN
The University of Pennsylvania honored Penn Nursing’s Linda Aiken, PhD, RN, FAAN, FRCN, the Claire M. Fagin Leadership Professor in Nursing, and Director, Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, with the Provost’s Award for Distinguished PhD Teaching and Mentoring. This is the first time a member of Penn Nursing’s standing or associated faculty has won this award. Aiken was also recently awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery.
Elizabeth (Lowe) Winings (BSN 2011, DNP 2016) was featured in a recent issue of VegWorld Magazine for her role as co-founder and director of nursing at the Retreat at Ponte Vedra Beach, a child psychiatry practice and family wellness clinic, where Winings addresses the fundamental parts of family life and the way parents are teaching children to nourish themselves.
Kathleen (Romero) Frattino (BSN 2009) began her nursing career at UF Health Shands; Med-surg. When the EPIC system was being implemented, Frattino served on the committee to assist staff with the transition to the new electronic medical record and realized she enjoyed informatics. She earned her MSN in informatics from Walden University in 2012, while working full-time. Following graduation, she began a new position at North Florida Regional Medical Center in Gainesville as a senior clinical analyst. After three years, she decided to return to school to become a family nurse practitioner. At that point, she met her fiancé and moved from Gainesville to Savannah, where she found herself back on the med-surg unit while attending the University of South Alabama full-time. In 2018, she completed her post-master’s certificate and passed boards. Now, she works with the geriatric population at a long-term care facility, managing chronic diseases and helping patients transition to a peaceful end of life. She continues to study for the DNP and plans to complete her final year with a quality improvement project.
Sara Greene (BSN 2006, MSN 2008) graduated in May from the University of Colorado College of Nursing’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program with a concentration in public health nursing. Her DNP project was a program evaluation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ hospital preparedness program, Ebola preparedness and response grants through a partnership with two Ebola treatment centers
Barbara (Guiteras) Franklin (BSN 1960) was in the first UF College of Nursing class, graduating in 1960. After several years as a head nurse in pediatrics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, she moved to the United Kingdom, where she was a research assistant at the Royal College of Nursing and then became a community nurse and nurse practitioner.
Dawn Miller (MSN 2004)
The Nursing Education Service of North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System is proud to announce their selection for funding for a Nurse Practitioner Residency Program, which is anticipated to begin July 1, 2019. This selection follows a year-long effort from a dedicated team of professionals: Dr. Dawn Miller, Dr. Janette Dunlap, Dr. Sharita Gaither, and Dr. Shirley Simpson.
Funding is provided by the Office of Academic Affiliations, and results from a competitive application process. The selection of our site will enable our facility to offer a one-year traineeship to qualified participants in specialties of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner. Eligible participants will be precepted in clinical practice by qualified provider preceptors, and will also attend a full curriculum of didactic learning experiences. Following this model of residency, the new graduate nurse practitioner will have an opportunity to gradually transition into the role of nurse practitioner over a one-year period. Upon successful completion, residents become eligible to apply for full-time appointments throughout the Veterans Health System.
North Florida/South Georgia VHS executive leadership has pledged their full support for the program through commitment of physical, financial, and human resources necessary to implement and evaluate the program. The program will be under the direct supervision of Dr. Sharita Gaither, Chief Nurse for Education, who will collaborate with two co-directors who will assist in curriculum development and teaching and training activities. This residency traineeship will help the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System to address a strategic priority of increasing access to care.
Congratulations to the Gator Nurse alumni who received UF Health Nurses Week overall and unit awards:
Nightingale Ceremony 2019
Nurse of the Year Award: Tori Adams (BSN 2016)
Nurse Leader: Beth Talaga (MSN 1986)
Kathryn Gamble Award for Excellence in Nursing Quality: Tara Jendzio (DNP 2017)
44 Peds: Sarah Russell (BSN 2008)
PICU: Lauri Frierson (BSN 1989)
ADTU: Vivian Pearson (BSN 1997, MSN 2007)
CRC: Roberta Brunson (BSN 1993)
5 East: Ashley Vernet (BSN 2017)
4 East: Kelsey McNally (BSN 2015)
Burn Center: Alexandra Von Mering (BSN 2016)
North Tower PACU: Elisabeth Porgesz (BSN 2010)
Springhill ED: Sara Kory (BSN 2014)
Sharon Dormire (PhD 1992) was selected to serve as the assistant dean for undergraduate nursing education at Texas A&M University College of Nursing. Her tenure in the role began on June 1.
Natalie Leblanc (BSN 2012) is an assistant professor in HIV Prevention Science at the University of Rochester School of Nursing.
Sandra (Drashin) Shapiro (BSN 2001) graduated from the University of North Florida with her MSN-CNL in 2008. She received a post-master’s from UNF in 2010. She earned her DNP from UNF this year and has been working with the UF Child Protection Team since 2011.
Tami Thomas (BSN 1996, MSN 1998, PhD 2006), associate dean of research at Florida International University’s Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Services will lead the Regionally Underserved Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program, which received a $1.5 million grant from the United States Health Resources and Services Administration. The purpose of the program is to increase the number of sexual assault nurse examiners in Florida.
