On Aug. 9, Anastasia Albanese-O’Neill, B.S.N., M.S.N., Ph.D., a three-time UF Gator Nurse graduate, got the rare honor of pinning her daughter, Cassidy O’Neill, as Cassidy also graduated as a Gator Nurse during the Summer 2024 College of Nursing Pinning Ceremony.
Pinning is a traditional ceremony that symbolically welcomes graduating students to the nursing profession. Many who receive their pins during the summer are part of the 15-month Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. The program is designed for those who already hold a bachelor’s degree in another field.
But for Albanese-O’Neill and her daughter, their story began when Cassidy was just 5 years old and overheard her mother on the phone urging a friend to join a juvenile diabetes walk. Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at just 16 months old, the youngster had already endured years of daily insulin injections and frequent blood sugar checks.
Albanese-O’Neill, a marketing executive at the time, continued trying to persuade her friend to participate in the event, asking, “What are you going to do to find a cure for diabetes?”
“As Cassidy was getting out of the car to go to kindergarten, she asked me, ‘What are you going to do, mommy?’” Albanese-O’Neill recalled.
The question shook her. She pulled into a parking lot to reexamine her career and motivation. It was then she decided to enter health care to try to make a difference.
In 2008, she graduated from UF’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. A master’s followed, and then a Ph.D. in 2014.
Albanese-O’Neill has worked with patients, participated in research, was a UF faculty member, and now works for Breakthrough T1D, a global Type 1 diabetes research and advocacy organization originally founded as the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.
Cassidy O’Neill had no interest in following in her mother’s footsteps despite having inspired them. But she had her own “Aha!” moment halfway through her women’s studies and political science classes at UF.
“If you had told me in my freshman year of college, ‘Five years from now you’re going to be graduating from the nursing program at UF,’ I would have said, ‘No way!’ I would have told you I’d be in law school,” she said.
This time, it was mom’s turn to inspire her daughter.
“Seeing what she’s done, I’m just so proud of her,” O’Neill said. “She inspires me so much. I was raised in a home where they instilled in me to do something to make a difference and not just work a job. It took me some time, but I finally decided that working with diabetes patients, pediatric diabetes patients, is something I want to do and something where I can make a tangible difference.”
O’Neill also plans to attend graduate school.
“I love being face-to-face with people, but I am also drawn to the research and clinical advancement side of things. I want to be able to do that as well,” she said.
O’Neill said she hopes to do her graduate work at UF.
“You can tell the faculty want us to have the best level of education. We can see it from interactions we have had with students who have studied in other places. It really does feel like another level here. I’ve learned what it means to be a good nurse. Not just the technical side of things, but the compassionate person-centered care. It’s rigorous, but I wouldn’t have wanted to get my nursing degree from anyplace else,” she said.
More than 80% of UF B.S.N. students pursue a graduate degree within three years of graduating, and the college is currently ranked No. 10 in the nation for National Institutes of Health research funding among public colleges of nursing. Additionally, it has the No. 1-ranked nursing B.S.N program in Florida in 2024, according to U.S. News & World Report.
The mom and daughter got the chance to enjoy the unusual moment because Albanese-O’Neill is a College of Nursing Alumni Council member. The council hosts the pinning ceremonies and members historically pin the graduates.
“It was such a great honor,” Albanese-O’Neill said. “It was so emotional for both of us.”