At the 2025 Florida Nursing Students Association convention, UCF’s Student Nurses’ Association received the Diamond Chapter Award for the fifth year in a row while students earned scholarships and gained valuable insights.
“Being active in the Student Nurses’ Association truly elevates the student experience at UCF by giving nursing students opportunities they wouldn’t get anywhere else,” says senior Allyson Crighton.
“Beyond professional growth, it gives students a sense of community during a challenging academic journey. It builds confidence, connections, and a sense of purpose,” she adds.
Crighton is among more than 30 nursing students from UCF’s traditional and accelerated second degree BSN programs at the Orlando and Daytona campuses who recently attended the Florida Nursing Students Association convention in Kissimmee.
The annual convention, which attracts more than 1,000 attendees across Florida, provides students with valuable networking, educational, leadership, policy and advocacy opportunities.
One such opportunity is to submit a research-led proposal, or resolution, for action on policies or topics important to nursing education and the profession.
Resolutions are presented, debated and voted on by student representatives in the House of Delegates during the convention. Approved resolutions guide the organization’s future actions and advocacy efforts, and may be submitted to the National Student Nurses’ Association for broader impact.
Bringing Awareness to an Important Issue
At this year’s conference, Madeline Sink, legislative director for the Orlando chapter, presented a resolution to encourage prenatal suicide screening for expectant mothers.
Sink was introduced to the issue of prenatal depression and prenatal suicide during a conversation with a UCF Knight nurse alumnus who mentioned the growing suicide rate among pregnant mothers.
“Suicide is an extremely important issue that is all too often preventable,” says Sink, who is a senior in the Traditional BSN program at the Orlando campus. “Losing one person to suicide is a tragedy. However, with prenatal suicide, we lose not only the mother’s life, but we may also lose the baby. To say this a tragedy would be an understatement and why I am very passionate about this issue.”
Her resolution titled, In Support of Increasing Prenatal Suicide Screening for Expectant Mothers with Prenatal Depression, passed unanimously in the House of Delegates. She plans to bring her resolution to the national convention in the spring.
“It certainly meant a great deal to see my resolution passed, and to have the weeks of hard work rewarded while also raising awareness on this issue,” says Sink.
Recognizing Chapter and Student Excellence
For her efforts, Sink was honored with a legislative award during the convention — and she wasn’t the only one recognized for excellence.
For the fifth year in a row and 11th time overall, the Student Nurses’ Association at UCF Orlando earned the Diamond Chapter Award — the state’s top honor. The award recognizes outstanding chapters for volunteering, mentoring, professional development and outreach efforts.
“The Diamond Chapter Award reflects who we are — not just the events we’ve completed, but the culture of service, leadership and compassion our chapter has built together,” says Crighton, who serves as the chapter president.
“The chapter’s sustained success is not by chance,” says Associate Professor Brian Peach, who has served as co-faculty advisor of the chapter with Instructor Kate Dorminy ’06BSN ’10MSN since 2019.
“It’s a combination of outstanding students who are passionate about nursing and eager to grow as leaders, dedicated faculty and staff who value mentorship, and support from the college throughout the year to develop our nation’s future nurse leaders,” he says.
Other honors for UCF at this year’s convention include:
- Community Health Chapter Award: Marion Jones, community health director, UCF Orlando chapter
- Breakthrough-to-Nursing Project Award: Brooke Bynum, breakthrough-to-nursing director, UCF Orlando chapter
- Heather Scaglione Scholarship: accelerated student Alexandria Duran
- FNSA Scholarships: Seniors Allyson Crighton, Aiya Falhi and Ciaera Ambroise
- Star RN Award: Instructor Sotos Djiovanis ’20MSN, ’15BSN
“Dr. Djiovanis goes above and beyond for his students and the community he serves,” says Crighton, who is also an Honors Undergraduate Thesis scholar. “His presence inspires students to grow into confident, compassionate leaders.”
“What truly sets him apart is the way he leads with empathy, wisdom, and a sense of humor that brings ease and joy to anyone around him — whether he is teaching, mentoring, or simply having a conversation, he speaks from the heart and leaves a lasting impact,” she adds.
The Student Nurses’ Association at UCF offers students valuable professional development, networking, community service, and leadership opportunities that extend beyond their collegiate education and into their nursing careers.
UCF’s College of Nursing has chapters at each of its three Central Florida campuses: Lake Nona in Orlando, Cocoa and Daytona.
Article by Julie Harper ’01
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