College of Nursing Alumni Spotlight: Marcia Gainer, MS ’07

While Marcia Gainer, MS ’07, was studying to become a nurse practitioner, she had a difficult time paying for school. Gainer saw the importance of helping African American students and created the BLN/Gainer Family Excellence Scholarship specifically for Black Leadership Network students.  

Gainer hopes the scholarship will help alleviate some of the financial stress for USF College of Nursing, Medicine, and Pharmacy students, and that when able, scholarship recipients will help others who come after them. – USF Health Development and Alumni Relations

Q: When did you know you wanted to become a nurse?  

A: At age 13 after my grandmother had a knee replacement, I witnessed how hard her recovery was. I knew then that I wanted to have a future in nursing. 

Q: Why did you choose to study at USF? 

A: I was offered the opportunity to start school early in a program called Student Support Services. It was a great experience and I am so glad that I decided to join the USF Bulls family. 

Q: What have you been up to in your career since graduation? 

A: After graduation, I worked at Tampa General Hospital as a clinical Registered Nurse. After graduating with my Master of Science in Nursing and obtaining my certification in Family Nursing Practice, I started working as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse. I have now been working as an APRN for five years and am one semester away from earning my Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. After graduation, I hope to continue my career in academia while still working in clinical practice.

Q: What is your current role?  

A: I am a family nurse practitioner at a community health care center. With the current pandemic, I have been a telehealth provider managing chronic disease patients and treating acute illnesses. 

Q: What advice do you have for current students? 

A: Be the best you can be today so you will be proud of all you have accomplished tomorrow. Sometimes when we are young, we do not realize how every decision we make can impact our future, but they do.  

Q: Why did you choose to create the BLN/Gainer Family Excellence Scholarship? 

A: It is very important for me to give back to the community. The Gainer Family Excellence Scholarship is currently available as a BLN scholarship and a USF Foundation scholarship. I wanted to offer an award to the black community as an incentive to continue studying despite financial disparities that disproportionately affect the Black community.