Through life’s many turns, Charity Lumpkin has remained committed to service. Now by earning her doctoral degree at UCF, the military veteran and senior healthcare leader seeks to make a lasting impact on the quality of care provided to veterans.
Duty. Honor. Courage. These values run deep for Charity Lumpkin – from her first career on the front lines with the U.S. Army to her second career on the front line of healthcare.
Those values – and her deep commitment to service – continue to be her internal compass guiding her today as a senior healthcare leader and doctoral student at UCF.
While healthcare and military service have been her passions since a young age, her journey to this pinnacle point didn’t come easy.
Following a Calling, Continuing a Legacy
When Lumpkin was five, her mother, a single parent, was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“At an age when most children are being cared for, I found myself learning how to care for someone else,” she says.
That experience shaped her career trajectory and instilled the importance of compassion, resilience and caring for others during their most vulnerable moments.
A decade later, she became a caregiver for her great aunts and a certified nursing assistant.
When she turned 18, Lumpkin left her hometown, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, to combine her healthcare calling with a desire to serve her country. Enrolling in the U.S. Army, she followed in the footsteps of four generations of family who served before her.
Serving Her Country
For 10 years, Lumpkin proudly served as a combat medic and all-army instructor in assignments across the U.S. and deployments to Korea, Kuwait and Iraq. Each assignment provided unique opportunities to learn and grow.
She credits her role as a combat medic to developing a strong clinical foundation, learning to remain composed under pressure, and understanding the importance of teamwork. Her roles as an instructor allowed her to teach, mentor and help others develop the skills and confidence needed to succeed.
“Looking back, joining the Army was one of the most defining decisions I ever made,” Lumpkin says. “The people, experiences and lessons shaped who I am today, and the Army’s core values continue to influence how I approach leadership, nursing and life.”
Changing Course
When she faced another deployment with a six-year-old daughter at home and a newborn in the neonatal intensive care unit, she had to choose between the two things she loved. She made the difficult decision to start over in the civilian world.
That decision brought Lumpkin to James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, Florida, where she began work as a surgical technician and set a goal of becoming a nurse — building upon her experiences as a caregiver, combat medic and military leader.
“Although I was no longer wearing the uniform, my commitment to service never wavered,” she says.
And neither did her commitment to her daughters.
“I wanted to make them proud and show them that even when life takes an unexpected turn, determination and perseverance can open doors to opportunities you never imagined,” she adds.
Her journey to the nursing profession was slow at times, she says, but she persevered.
Now as a single mother, she took one prerequisite at a time while working to earn her associate’s degree. And she didn’t stop there. Over the next four years, she earned her bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in nursing.
Serving Fellow Veterans
As she advanced from clinical care to leadership, Lumpkin worked in many settings: emergency medicine, medical-surgical, ambulatory, oncology, specialty clinics and more.
Just like in the military, she approached her roles as an opportunity to grow.
“Each experience helped me better understand how healthcare systems work and how nursing leaders can influence meaningful improvements in patient care,” she says.
Today she serves as chief nurse for quality improvement and nursing support services at James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and Clinics — the same facility where she began her career nearly two decades ago.
Throughout her journey, she remained dedicated to the veterans and staff at the VA.
“Leadership, for me, is about the people I help develop and the positive changes that continue long after a project is completed,” she says. “I want to leave a legacy of strong nursing leaders who will continue improving care for generations of veterans.”
Creating a Lasting Impact
Lumpkin is forging her legacy of impact on the quality of care provided to veterans by pursuing her Nurse Executive Doctor of Nursing Practice degree at UCF — following in the footsteps of colleagues and nurse leaders she respected who earned degrees here.
It’s also the culmination of her journey, achieving a goal she set for herself years ago.
She is considering two paths for her doctoral quality improvement project — both inspired from her journey. The first is nurse preceptor development, inspired from her service as a military instructor and passion for developing others. The second seeks to improve care and coordination for cancer patients.
Whatever path she decides, she will no doubt be successful and make a meaningful impact.
“I’ve learned that success isn’t always about how quickly you reach your destination,” says Lumpkin. “Sometimes it’s about staying committed to your goals, recognizing when priorities need to shift, and having the courage to begin again.”
“My journey hasn’t always followed the path I envisioned, but every experience — the military, motherhood, starting over, nursing, and leadership — has shaped who I am today.”
Article by Julie Harper ’01
Photos by Charity Lumpkin
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