As we close out National Nurses Week — a time when we honor the heart and soul of health care — it’s easy to focus on those frontline nursing professionals. But behind every compassionate caregiver is a teacher, a mentor and a leader who believed in their potential and helped guide their journey.
Today, we focus on two extraordinary UF College of Nursing educators proving that nursing is more than a profession — it’s a calling.
“Nursing is a Ministry”
For Elidia Benitez, DNP, AG-ACNP, nursing is sacred work. An acute care nurse practitioner at UF Health, she helps treat some of the toughest cases in the southeast. But her impact stretches beyond the hospital. As a clinical assistant professor and co-track coordinator at the UF College of Nursing, she prepares advance practice students to treat patients with clinical skill, confidence and compassion.
“To me, nursing is a ministry,” Benitez said. “You can’t do this just for a paycheck — it has to come from something deeper.”
That “something deeper” is rooted in her own family story. Raised in an immigrant household, her father suffered a debilitating stroke at 37. She was a teen, thrust into the role of translator and advocate in a health care system that left her family overwhelmed.
“I remember feeling helpless,” she said. “I didn’t want to ever feel that again. And if I could help others not feel helpless or scared, I knew I wanted to do that.”
Mentors along the way helped guide her journey from a frightened 13-year-old to a dedicated nurse and educator. After becoming the first in her family to graduate college earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing , she returned to UF for her Doctor in Nursing Practice degree and eventually transitioned into the educator role.
“I had people who pulled me aside and said, ‘Let’s talk about where you’re going.’ That changed everything,” Benitez said.
That mentorship is something she is mindful of offering her students.
“It reminds me of how much grace we need to offer our learners. I have to be patient, because this is hard — and if it’s hard for me, it’s probably 10 times harder for them,” she said.
In her dual role as clinician and educator, she brings fresh clinical experience into her lectures. Along with other clinical professors at the college, she’s part of a model in which educators split their time between teaching and clinical care.
“The students motivate us. They give us fulfillment. We get to be a support system for them,” she said. “Our students are exposed to complex clinical situations while they’re still learning. It prepares them better. And they challenge me too. They ask questions that keep me sharp.”
Despite a demanding schedule, she prioritizes self-care with gardening, salsa dancing, kayaking and paddleboarding.
“I’ve learned to pause. Burnout is real,” she says. “You have to protect your passion.”
From the ICU to Jedi Robes
Michael Aull, MSN, RN, CEN, CNECL, never imagined his career would lead him to his current clinical lecturer role at the College of Nursing.
Aull’s journey to the classroom took several decades and made its way through telemetry, cardiac surgical units, emergency rooms and the ICU — but it all led to the discovery that his true calling was teaching.
“I never thought I’d be a professor,” Aull said. “I started by mentoring new staff, then guest lecturing. That snowballed into a full-time teaching role.”
Today, he teaches adult complex care and pharmacology to Accelerated BSN students at the college’s Jacksonville campus. He enjoys mentoring those students beginning the program, many unsure of their abilities.
“Watching their growth — that’s the best part,” he said. “They go from barely knowing how to take a blood pressure to managing complex care with confidence.”
He’s known not only for his deep knowledge but for his unforgettable teaching style. One day he might show up in a pink wig for breast cancer awareness, the next he’s the Grinch — in full body suit — or a Jedi, turning clinical lessons into memorable moments.
“If students feel comfortable, they learn better. Skills labs should be places where you can mess up, laugh and ask questions. That’s where real learning happens.”
He also stresses the depth and breadth of nursing to his students using his own past as an example.
“Nursing is far broader than the public often sees,” he said. “Bedside care is the foundation, yes. But nurses are also CEOs, researchers, consultants, community leaders and global health advocates. It’s not a one-path profession. You never know where it might take you.”
His own career spanned ICU care, infection control and nurse management. He once considered going into nursing administration, but it was the teaching moments —educating families, mentoring new nurses — that became his passion.
That passion will soon take Aull back to graduate school, where he will begin DNP courses.
“Your first job won’t be your last. Try everything — find what lights your fire,” he said.