A long-time friend of USF and 22 USF Health nursing students and their faculty program director, all veterans, received handmade quilts in honor of their military service this week.

Philanthropist and community leader Frank Morsani was among those presented with a quilt from the local chapter of the Quilts of Valor Foundation during an emotional recognition ceremony Nov. 6 at the USF Sam and Martha Gibbons Alumni Center.

Korean War veteran Frank Morsani is draped with a handcrafted quilt by Sharon Kalinowski of the Quilts of Valor Foundation.

Frank, a U.S. Navy veteran who served in the Korean War, and his wife Carol, have been dedicated supporters of USF and numerous other academic, medical, cultural and artistic effort across the Tampa Bay area, state and country. The Morsanis are the namesake of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and the Morsani Center for Advanced Healthcare.

Each of 22 student members in the Veteran to Bachelor of Science in Nursing program (known as VCARE), set to graduate next month, was also awarded a Quilt of Valor. And, the USF Office of Veteran Success presented a handcrafted quilt to VCARE Program Director Alicia Rossiter, DNP, a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves Nurse Corps.

Members of the graduating cohort of the Veteran to Bachelor of Science in Nursing program (VCARE) with Victoria Rich, PhD (front row center), dean of the USF College of Nursing, and Alicia Rossiter, DNP (far right), program director of VCARE.

“The recognition of Frank Morsani’s service in the Korean War is well-deserved, and we are extremely grateful for his service and for his ongoing commitment – and that of his wife Carol – to our university and our community,” said USF System President Judy Genshaft. “I also want to thank our outstanding VCARE students, and congratulate you on your graduation in just a few short weeks. Your service to our country, and your continuing service to others, are truly inspiring.”

According to the Quilts of Valor Foundation, the nonprofit was founded in 2003 by Catherine Roberts whose son Nat was deployed in Iraq. Since its inception, more than 170,000 quilts have been awarded to veterans from the grassroots quilting organization.

Alicia Rossiter, a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserves Nurse Corps, is presented with a handmade quilt by Denise Appleman (right).

The quilts are made by volunteers, follow specific quilt-making dimensions, and can take up to 60 hours to sew. The first Quilt of Valor was awarded in November 2003 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to a young soldier from Minnesota who had lost his leg in Iraq.

The handmade quilts awarded this week were sewn by the Tampa-based quilting club CT Quilters, which is the local chapter of the Quilts of Valor Foundation. Member Sharon Kalinowski said presenting veterans with a quilt is a way to thank them for their service while giving them something tangible and comforting to hold.

Each year the Office of Veteran Success coordinates with CT Quilters to recognize graduating USF veterans with a quilt. So far, about 60 quilts have been awarded to USF veterans. This was the first time the quilts have been given to an entire nursing graduating class.

From left: Larry Braue, EdD, director of the USF Office of Veteran Success; Jessica Panasewicz, a student in the Veteran to Bachelor of Science in Nursing program; and Frank Morsani.

“This is a huge honor, especially for individuals who spent their entire military career caring for others. To have the care be returned to them is just so meaningful and special for these students,” Dr. Rossiter said.

Nursing student Tamara Maynard, who was a Navy Corpsman and served in Iraq, said she was honored to receive the handmade quilt and grateful for the recognition.

“It’s a physical representation of what veterans have done,” Maynard said. “Every time that I see it, it will remind me of this ceremony. It will remind me of my classmates and my cohort. We’ve been through a lot together. We’ve all had diverse, individual experiences in combat and deployments. This is a good reminder of what we’ve all been through.”

Each year the Office of Veteran Success coordinates with CT Quilters, the local chapter of the Quilts of Valor Foundation, to recognize the military service of USF veterans with a quilt hand-sewn by volunteers.

-Story by Elizabeth L. Brown, USF College of Nursing, and Anne DeLotto Baier, USF Health Communications
-Photos by Freddie Coleman, USF Health Communications

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=5evxbZjaXYY

Tampa, FL (Sept. 25, 2014) – The University of South Florida College of Nursing has partnered with Hillsborough Community College (HCC) to offer a concurrent bachelor’s degree in nursing. This is a first-of-its-kind partnership between USF and HCC.

The partnership allows students to simultaneously enroll in HCC’s associate degree in nursing (ASN) and USF College of Nursing’s bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN). Qualified students will be able to complete both an ASN and BSN in an accelerated manner from USF and HCC.

The concurrent degree takes effect immediately, with all courses taught online.

“We are absolutely thrilled about the partnership between USF College of Nursing and HCC,” said Dianne Morrison-Beedy, PhD, RN, WHNP-BC, FNAP, FAANP, FAAN, senior associate vice president of USF Health and Dean of the College of Nursing. “This is a collaboration that is vitally needed by the community, state and country to fill the gap of nurses with baccalaureate degrees.”

USF College of Nursing students in the bachelor’s degree program.

This ASN to BS degree will allow individuals who meet the qualifications to enroll at both institutions simultaneously. Students can begin taking courses at USF after they complete their first semester at HCC.

“Rather than competing or duplicating with HCC, we chose to collaborate and leverage each other’s resources to meet the needs of our community,” said Rita D’Aoust, PhD, ACNP, ANP-BC, CNE, FAANP, FNAP, associate professor and associate dean for academic affairs and interprofessional initiatives at the USF College of Nursing. “Through this collaboration, HCC students will have the opportunity to learn in a high-tech environment and take classes taught by world-class faculty at the USF College of Nursing.”

HCC serves more than 47,000 students on five different campuses. The community college offers more than 160 academic programs including a two-year nursing degree. HCC is the largest community college feeder to USF.

“Providing HCC nursing students with concurrent enrollment at USF is just one of the many examples of our efforts to expand educational opportunities for our students,” said Ken Atwater, PhD, president of Hillsborough Community College. “This collaboration between HCC and USF will provide expanded clinical opportunities for students, enabling them to gain valuable work experience and ensuring their placement into the USF bachelor’s degree program.”

-USF Health-

USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. The University of South Florida is a global research university ranked 50^th in the nation by the National Science Foundation for both federal and total research expenditures among all U.S. universities. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu.

-Hillsborough Community College-

Hillsborough Community College serves more than 46,000 students annually at five campuses and three centers throughout Hillsborough County. HCC is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Media Contact:
Vjollca “V” Hysenlika, College of Nursing Communications
(813)974-2017, or  vhysenli@health.usf.edu

Video produced by Vjollca Hysenlika and shot and edited by Jose Donneys, USF Nursing Communications.
Photo by Ashlea Bailey, USF College of Nursing

This is the College’s second annual B.E.A.R.S. campaign —  the cuddly teddy bears are a hit at Tampa Bay hospitals

Tampa, FL (Dec. 3, 2013) –This holiday season, the University of South Florida College of Nursing are delivering 800 cuddly brown teddy bears to children in Tampa Bay area hospitals to help brighten their stays.

For the second consecutive year, more than 75 students, faculty, alumni, and staff are personally bringing the teddy bears wearing USF Nursing uniforms to pediatric patients as part of the USF College of Nursing Bulls Encouraging and Assisting through Research and Scholarship (B.E.A.R.S.) program. The college started B.E.A.R.S. to encourage alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends to support the college while sharing a little joy with Tampa Bay area children.

USF nursing students deliver one of their signature teddy bears to a pediatric patient at Tampa General Hospital.

Volunteers are delivering the teddy bears to children at the following hospitals:

• Mease Countryside Hospital – Friday, Nov. 22, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital – Monday, Dec. 2, 2 to 4 p.m.
• Tampa General Hospital – Tuesday, Dec. 3, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Florida Hospital Tampa – Wednesday, Dec. 4, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Morton Plant Hospital – Thursday, Dec. 5, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Sarasota Memorial Hospital – Friday, Dec. 6, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“The B.E.A.R.S. initiative demonstrates USF College of Nursing as a positive force in Tampa Bay in partnership with our hospital and corporate partners, allowing us to fund new research and scholarship,” said Dianne Morrison-Beedy, PhD, RN, WHNP-BC, FNAP, FAANP, FAAN, senior associate vice president of USF Health and dean of the College of Nursing.

Students distributed 100 donated teddy bears to children at Tampa General Hospital on Dec. 3 as part of the USF College of Nursing’s second annual B.E.A.R.S. program.

Students fan out to deliver the boxed bears to patient rooms.

Last year, the College of Nursing delivered over 300 bears to children at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Florida Hospital Tampa, Tampa General Hospital, and St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital. As a result, the College received the 2013 Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Circle of Excellence Bronze Award for making a long-lasting impact in the community and helping transform health care and quality of life in the Tampa Bay region.The teddy bears were generously donated both years by college supporter Christopher J. Davis, president of LAD Enterprises, Inc. This collaboration ensures 100 percent of B.E.A.R.S program funds support USF College of Nursing strategic priorities in research and scholarship. To date, sponsorship of the bears by the college’s community of donors has raised more than $11,000.

“The B.E.A.R.S. program’s success is a direct result of the outpouring of charitable support from College of Nursing’s alumni and friends as well as the teamwork and generous time committed by faculty, staff, and students,” said Don Snyder, assistant director of Alumni Relations at USF College of Nursing.

The donated teddy bears are charitable gifts that contribute to the USF Unstoppable, a comprehensive fundraising effort by the University of South Florida to celebrate the energy, vision and future of one of the country’s most exciting and engaged universities.

College of Nursing Dean Dianne Morrison-Beedy, far left, showed her support for USF and the college’s B.E.A.R.S. initiative during a delivery to St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital earlier this year.

For information on how to participate in the B.E.A.R.S. program, visit www.usfnursingbears.com.

-USF Health-

USF Health’s mission is to envision and implement the future of health. It is the partnership of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, the College of Nursing, the College of Public Health, the College of Pharmacy, the School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences; and the USF Physician’s Group. The University of South Florida is a global research university ranked 50^th in the nation by the National Science Foundation for both federal and total research expenditures among all U.S. universities. For more information, visit www.health.usf.edu.

Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications

When higher education and business leaders rallied this spring to announce Graduate Tampa Bay, a campaign to boost the number of local college graduates, a new USF College of Nursing program was among those cited for helping to elevate the region’s 21^st century workforce.

USF has launched a “first-of-its-kind”  RN-to-BS degree that provides an entirely online curriculum to assist nurses with obtaining a bachelor’s degree.

With a focus on clinical practice, education, and leadership, the College of Nursing’s online program allows students the flexibility to study and learn at a time and place that’s most convenient to them. The 30-credit program can be completed in three semesters if attending full-time, and costs less than $6,000. In spring 2012, the college enrolled 50 students in the program, and another 85 were enrolled this summer.

USF President Judy Genshaft,left, with USF nursing student Cheryl Combs at the Graduate Tampa Bay event in March 2012. – photo by Eric Younghans/USF Health Communications

“We’re really trying to prepare them for not only what they’re facing now, but what they’ll be facing in the next 20 years,” said Rita F. D’Aoust, PhD, associate dean for academic affairs and interprofessional initiatives at the USF College of Nursing.

Dr. D’Aoust was quoted in a recent article about the innovative curriculum posted by 83 Degrees Media. The story also included comments by Cheryl Combs, a home health nurse currently enrolled in the online program.

“I can tell I’m going to become a better nurse,”  Combs said in the article. “A lot of the projects they’re having us do are making me better at my profession.”

To read the full article, visit the 83 Degrees website at “USF Attracts Nurses To New Degree Program, Tampa.”