Student Achievements
Recent updates from College of Nursing students.
The University of Florida academic health center welcomed students from the Summer Health Professions Education Program. UF is one of 12 universities to host students for this free six-week summer enrichment program focused on improving access to information and resources for college students interested in the health professions. Students in this immersive program spent an afternoon getting a “Closer Look” at the College of Nursing, during which nearly 80 SHPEP students participated in nursing simulations and cultural competency exercises and learned more about nursing programs.
Students from the College of Nursing’s Accelerated BSN cohort at the Jacksonville campus participated in their first Relay for Life event in Riverside this spring. Together, the team raised close to $500 for the American Cancer Society that will be used for cancer research, Hope Lodge maintenance and more. Dean Anna McDaniel pledged to match the amount raised by the students and presented them with a check for $500 during the summer Accelerated BSN orientation.
Two College of Nursing student cohorts who were inducted this spring into the Alpha Theta Chapter of Sigma Nursing, the international honor society of nursing.
Recent BSN graduate and University Scholar Jenna Schuppener participated in the UF Undergraduate Research Symposium in the spring. The research she presented was part of a project completed through the College of Nursing’s Grenada study abroad program and focused on assessing use of text messaging to remind women to perform breast self-examination. Schuppener is pictured with fellow BSN graduate and co-researcher Erica del Rey (right).
The National Student Nurses’ Association Convention opens up opportunities for networking, serving, presenting and professional development for nursing students across the country. A group of seven undergraduate students and their faculty adviser Clinical Assistant Professor Sally Bethart, DNP, MSN, APRN-BC, PHNA-BC, attended the convention in Salt Lake City in the spring. Spring BSN graduate Raquel Mannino presented a resolution to the NSNA board about autism and the group heard from guest speaker Dr. Rumay Alexander, the National League for Nursing president.
Nightingale Ceremony 2019
UF Health held the Nightingale Awards Ceremony during Nurses Week in May and several College of Nursing alumni and students were recognized. PhD student Nicolle Davis received the UF Health Shands Nursing Rose Rivers’ Chrysalis Award for Evolving Research for her work that involved committee members Associate Professor Sunny Yoon, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor Debra Kelly, PhD, RN, OCN, CNE, and Associate Professor and Biobehavioral Nursing Science Department Chair Ann Horgas, PhD, MSN, BSN, RN, FAAN.
BSN senior Ashlyn Weninger was tapped into the Florida Blue Key society in the spring and was selected to speak at the ceremony on behalf of the new members. As a fourth generation Gator and the UF Nursing Student Association president, Weninger joined Florida Blue Key, one of the oldest and most recognized honor societies at the University of Florida. Florida Blue Key sponsors homecoming and Gator Growl, as well as other annual events such as the Miss University of Florida pageant and the Blue Key Speech and Debate Tournament.
