People Group Archives: Evidence-Based Practice

Sharon Tucker, a distinguished scholar in psychiatric mental health nursing and evidence-based practice, is the dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Central Florida and Orlando Health Endowed Chair in Nursing. Tucker joined UCF as a professor and chair of the Department of Nursing Practice in 2024. Her leadership experience spans more […]

Lecturer Latonia Green has held a variety of clinical appointments as a registered nurse, head nurse and nurse manager at hospitals in Tennessee and Florida. Most recently, she served as a nurse manager at AdventHealth East Orlando, directing and managing 24-hour clinical operations of two observation and medical telemetry units. After earning her DNP degree, […]

Frances Armstrong, clinical assistant professor and graduate simulation coordinator at UCF’s College of Nursing, is a dual-certified adult-gerontology acute care and primary care nurse practitioner with a diverse clinical background including sleep medicine, pulmonary medicine and critical care. She continues to maintains a clinical practice in critical care medicine in addition to her academic appointments […]

Assistant Professor Jennifer Crook is a nationally recognized nutritional epidemiologist and nurse scientist whose work investigates how nutritional insecurity becomes biologically embedded to drive inflammation, symptom burden and cancer disparities. Her research integrates omics‑based biomarkers, nutritional epidemiology and community‑engaged methods to develop clinically actionable tools that advance cancer outcomes. In a previous faculty role at […]

Two-time alumna Amanda “Mandi” Houston is a lecturer and director of the Healthcare Simulation graduate program at the University of Central Florida College of Nursing. A certified healthcare simulation educator, her research interests focus on the intersection of evidence-based practice and nursing education. Houston’s clinical background is in a variety of settings including neuroscience, orthopedics, […]

Heather Peralta is a lecturer for undergraduate nursing students who has been at UCF’s College of Nursing for nearly a decade. Peralta is dedicated to mentoring future nurses and serving the community. She has participated in several UCF study abroad trips with nursing students to Peru and spearheaded the creation of the interdisciplinary Apopka Farmworkers […]

Vivian Schutz, a clinical associate professor at UCF’s College of Nursing, has more than 21 years of experience in nursing education in Brazil and the United States. Schutz has extensive clinical, administrative and leadership experience in intensive care, emergency nursing and healthcare management. Prior to and during her academic career, she served as a nurse […]

Valerie C. Martinez, interim assistant dean for clinical affairs and clinical associate professor at UCF’s College of Nursing, is a board-certified primary care pediatric nurse practitioner and pediatric mental health specialist with almost two decades of experience in pediatric healthcare including pediatric primary care, school-based health, neonatal care, and care of medically complex children. Her […]

Associate Professor Jean Davis’ passion for community health promotion grew from listening to her aunt and her mother, both nurses, discuss and solve community health challenges when she was a child. Davis channels that passion into implementation science research using coaching, wearable technology and artificial intelligence (AI) for physical activity support, promotion and habit formation […]

Instructor Kate Dorminy is a dual alumna of UCF’s College of Nursing who is passionate about mentoring future Knight nurses. She currently is a full-time teaching faculty member and serves as faculty co-advisor to the Student Nurses’ Association at UCF Orlando. Prior to her academic role at UCF, Dorminy worked for more than a decade […]