Diversity, Inclusion, and Engagement University of Florida College of Nursing

The University of Florida College of Nursing is committed to fostering an environment that supports all individuals and values diversity, inclusion and equity. As nurses who strive to Care, Lead and Inspire, we must express our core values of diversity, respect and courage in our thoughts and actions.

News Updates

EMBRACE GRatitude

YOU are invited

EMBRACE GRATITUDE

We invite all students to join us in recognizing the power of gratitude by submitting a six-word story, which is a form of narrative. Submit your own six-words (or more) gratitude story using the form below. If you prefer to add an original drawing or artwork, you can instead upload a file.

embrace

Faculty and Staff Engagement

Think Collectively about Diversity

“Think Collectively about Diversity” dialogues started in the fall semester of 2019 in the College of Nursing. This program provides an opportunity for faculty and staff to have conversations about relevant issues of diversity, inclusion and social justice. Meetings are held online every fourth Friday of the month, from noon to 1 p.m.

Student Engagement Groups

EMBRACE Program

The purpose of the EMBRACE Program is to provide unique research and leadership opportunities for nursing students from multiple backgrounds, toward creating an inclusive environment for different viewpoints in the scholarly nursing community.

Nurses Leading Change

NLC, has created a safe space to empower individuals of marginalized communities to speak and be heard. The organization advocates for social issues related to race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ability, etc. 

LGBTQ+ in Nursing

The goal of this inclusive student-interest group is to build a safe supportive community that affords members the opportunity to generate dialogue about professional development and leadership for LGBTQ+ identified nursing students and allies.

International Nursing

The goal of the International Nursing student-interest group is to generate dialogue about professional development and leadership for International nursing students.

Men in Nursing

The goal of the Men in Nursing student-interest group is to generate dialogue about professional development and leadership for male nursing students.

Multicultural Nursing

The goal of the Multicultural Nursing student-interest group is to generate dialogue about professional development and leadership for self-identified multicultural nursing students.

Research in Diversity and Inclusion

Investigating Movement-evoked Pain in osteoArthritic Conditions (IMPACT): An Observational Study to Inform Culturally-Tailored Intervention Development

Dr. Staja ‘Star’ Booker’s study focuses on elucidating and understanding movement-evoked pain, or MEP, in older African Americans with knee osteoarthritis. MEP is an emerging concept and represents a shift in assessing pain during movement-based activities rather than simply at rest. Goals include identifying biopsychosocial-behavioral factors implicated in MEP and associated physical function, while developing a collaborative intervention with older African Americans to improve knee pain and function/physical activity.

The Florida-California Cancer Research, Education & Engagement (CaRE2) Health Equity

The Florida-California Cancer Research, Education & Engagement (CaRE2) Health Equity is proposed by the University of Florida, Florida A&M University and the University of Southern California-Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center to eliminate cancer health disparities in Florida, California and nationally. The long term goals of the CaRE2 center are to reduce cancer disparities in Blacks and Latinos, to train and increase the pool of underrepresented Black and Latino scientists conducting health disparity research, to increase research capacity at FAMU, and to increase cancer disparity research at UF and USC-NCCC. The bi-coastal location offers access to uniquely diverse populations of Blacks and Latinos, facilitating in an unprecedented way, the study of cancer disparities in these incredibly heterogeneous populations.

A Stress and Pain Self-management mHealth App for Adult Outpatients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD)

The long-term goal of Dr. Miriam Ezenwa’s research is to reduce stress and improve SCD pain control with less opioid use through an intervention with self-management relaxation/distraction exercises (RDE), named You Cope, We Support (YCWS). Americans living with SCD suffer recurrent episodes of acute and chronic pain, both of which are exacerbated by stress. Building on the successes of our prior formative studies, we now propose a well-designed, appropriately powered study to test efficacy of YCWS on outcomes (pain intensity, stress intensity, opioid use) in adults with SCD.

Contributions of Biopsychosocial Factors in Sickle Cell Disease Pain

In patients with SCD, pain results in an amalgam of negative physical and emotional consequences. A significant barrier to adequately address the pain of SCD is the insufficient information about underlying mechanisms affecting the variable degree and types of pain experienced by patients. Multiple biological and psychological factors known so far to contribute to other pain conditions are under-studied in SCD. Dr. Keesha Roach’s research will utilize existing data for several vasopressin-related biological/psychosocial factors and quantitative sensory testing (QST) to investigate these mechanisms (and potential interactions) in SCD pain.

A Nurse-led Intervention in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Cancer and Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Feasibility Pilot Study

More than 100 million Americans have diabetes or pre-diabetes and 1.8 million new cancer diagnoses are expected in 2020. Epidemiologically, a strong link exists between type 2 diabetes (T2D) and several forms of cancer including liver, pancreatic, and endometrial cancers. Given these linkages and the potential for improved oncologic treatment, it is imperative to detect and manage T2D in newly diagnosed cancer patients. Dr. Lisa Scarton’s long-term goal is to routinely screen for and effectively manage T2D in adults with newly diagnosed cancer. Attempting to harmonize treatment of two chronic conditions can be difficult for the treatment team and patients. In collaboration with their physician colleagues, nurses are well positioned and trained to bridge the gap between cancer and T2D care.

Campus-Wide Resources

THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW

#Academics4BlackLives

Academics for Black Survival and Wellness was organized by a group of Black counseling psychologists and their colleagues who practice Black allyship. Guided by a Black feminist frame, they hope to foster accountability and growth for non-Black people and enhance healing and wellness for Black people. Academics cannot stay silent about anti-Black racism. Academics cannot remain silent in the face of racial injustice. Everyone needs to do their part.

“Academics for Black Lives," June 19-25, 2020

Leadership

Jeanne-Marie Stacciarini

ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND Engagement

Jeanne-Marie Stacciarini

The University of Florida College of Nursing is committed to fostering an environment that supports all individuals and values diversity, inclusion and equity. As nurses who strive to Care, Lead and Inspire, we must express our core values of diversity, respect and courage in our thoughts and actions.