This week, 450 UCF students will graduate with their nursing degree or graduate certificate – beginning or advancing their healthcare careers as Knight nurses.
Congratulations to the UCF College of Nursing graduates of the Spring Class of 2022! Tomorrow the graduates will walk across the stage at Addition Financial Arena and earlier this week, the nursing graduates celebrated the completion of their nursing degree at a professional recognition ceremony.
For many of the graduates, this week’s in-person events are especially meaningful. The three cohorts of undergraduate nursing students began their educational journey in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic – beginning classes and being welcomed into the profession with a white coat ceremony virtually.
In total, the College of Nursing awarded: 372 bachelor’s degrees (BSN), 45 master’s degrees (MSN), 28 doctorate degrees (PhD and DNP) and five graduate certificates*. Students graduating with a bachelor’s degree included those from the Traditional BSN program, Concurrent ASN to BSN programs, and online RN to BSN program. The 450 graduates have exemplified what it means to be a Knight nurse — striving for excellence and showing compassion.
Spring 2022 BSN Graduates
Honored at this week’s recognition ceremony were several high-achieving BSN graduates, including Order of Pegasus recipient Erin Tonkin, Founders’ Day Award honoree Kristen Ng, and two students who achieved a perfect 4.0 overall GPA in the rigorous program – Samantha Williams and Vivian Swenson.
Including Williams and Swenson, 51 high achieving students earned University Academic Honors with a GPA of 3.8 or higher – 14 Summa Cum Laude, 17 Magna Cum Laude and 20 Cum Laude nursing graduates.
Additionally, 16 students graduated from the Burnett Honors College with Honors designation, including eight who completed an Honors Undergraduate Thesis.
Also recognized during the ceremony were four outstanding BSN students who were honored with awards from the college’s healthcare partners:
- Jordan Alegre, Orlando campus, Orlando Health Student Excellence Award
- Caroline Porter, Orlando campus, AdventHealth Orlando Mission of Excellence Award
- Chandler Domayer, Daytona campus, AdventHealth North Mission of Excellence Award
- Lauren Wolfe, Cocoa campus, “Wellness Starts with We” Health First Student Award
Additionally, Resheldon Robinson from the Daytona campus was awarded the alumni chapter board’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award for her outstanding promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion in and outside of the classroom.
Spring 2022 MSN and Doctoral Graduates
Graduates earning an MSN degree include: 16 Nurse Educator, 24 Nurse Leadership and Management, and five from the Healthcare Simulation program. The online programs offer convenience and flexibility for students and are ranked among the nation’s best.
Spring 2022 DNP Graduates
DNP graduates make contributions to patient care with their independent scholarly projects, and will continue to make an impact by improving patient outcomes as clinical providers and leaders.
BSN to DNP, Family Nurse Practitioner
Meredith Allen
“Palliative Care Screening Tool for Patients in the Cancer Center”
Jill Gerharz
“Optimizing Pulmonary Rehabilitation Uptake in COVID-19 Survivors”
BSN to DNP, Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
Jo’el Bartley
“Improving Pre-Visit Processes to Reduce Patient Wait Times”
Post-Master’s Advanced Practice DNP
Janice Cave-Richards
“Implementing a Sexual Health Risk Screening Questionnaire in the Pediatric Primary Care Setting”
Alicia Conrad
“Improving Mentor Preparedness and Satisfaction through Implementation of an Advanced Practice Mentorship Program”
Charles Dugan
“Standardized Blood Pressure Measurement for Chronic Kidney Disease Patients in the Outpatient Nephrology Setting: A Quality Improvement Project”
Alexis Eppes
“Clinical Institute Withdrawal Assessment and Delirium Tremens Education for Nursing Staff in the Psychiatric Hospital Setting”
Ariana Gross
“An Intervention Project to Improve Pain Management of Patients with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) Among Nurses in the Hospital Setting”
Ordella Hawkins
“Using SMS Text Messaging to Increase Chlamydia 90-day Retesting Rates in Females: A Process Improvement Project in a College Health Center”
Wendy Joseph
“Emergency Department Human Trafficking Education: A Quality Improvement Project”
Jennifer North
“Leprosy: An Educational Intervention for Nurse Practitioners”
Victor Pareja
“Effects of Mask Ventilation Simulation on Performance of Novice Student Registered Nurse Anesthetists”
Julia Peach
“Pulmonary Rehabilitation: A Process Improvement Project for Patients Awaiting a Lung Transplant”
Paulette Schank
“Improving Herbal Supplement Assessment in Surgical Faculty Advisor: Patients by Anesthesia Providers
Post-Master’s Nurse Executive DNP
Ashley Calderone
“Improving Teamwork and Communication in a Labor & Delivery Unit: An Evidence-Based Quality Improvement Project”
Lisa Duncan
“Implementation of a Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI) Risk Reduction Training”
Deborah Ferrari
“Hospital Readmission Rates and Advanced Care Directives among Patients with Multimorbidities”
Kendall Gibson
“Proactive Patient Navigation and Problem Solving for Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Consults: A Model to Increase Transplant Business”
Kelley Gonzalvo
“Improving Preparedness of Nurses for Disaster Response”
Renata Henderson
“Enhancing Health Literacy: An Educational Intervention for Registered Nurses”
Michele Holt
“Impact of Virtual Leadership Coaching on Project Management Knowledge and Skills: A Program Analysis”
Peter King
“Implementation of Non-Invasive Ventilation on a Medical Surgical Nursing Unit”
Brian Martinez
“Improving the Care of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Patients in the Emergency Department”
Christina Mcguirk
“Nurses’ Experiencing Stress Utilize Respite Space to Build Resilience”
Beth Thacker
“How a Process Improvement Project Increased Understanding of the Patient’s Plan of Care Through Daily Nurse-Family Communication”
Linda Walton
“Assessment of Nurse Presence Education on Application of Nurse Listening”
Lisa Wright
“Transitioning the Nurse of Retirement Age to the Role of Mentor for New Graduate Nurses”
Spring 2022 PhD Graduates
Nursing PhD graduates are scholars who will lead nursing into the future by contributing to nursing science and answering the national call for more nursing faculty.
Christine Deatrick
“Nurse Managers’ Patient Safety Communication”
*Some graduating students earned both a degree and graduate certificate
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