Expirience

Over my 22 years working in healthcare, I have largely served in leadership and administrative roles. While none of these were explicitly formal educator positions, each roll came with an opportunity to educate and mentor. My first professional role was with Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine where I worked for the bariatric program under Dr. Robert Merema and his team to help to facilitate community education and presentations on procedures such as Sleeve Gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass. Following my graduation from nursing school, I worked in the ICU and PCU where I assisted in clinical precepting of nursing students and new graduates of both St. John’s State College and the University of North Florida. 

I transitioned to working in hospice in 2017 where I spent countless hours educating patients and families on palliative and hospice care. After becoming a clinical team manager for Vitas Hospice in 2018, I worked directly with community leaders and facilities to present monthly support groups and education sessions for patients and their loved ones. It was during this time that I developed a passion for education. Particularly regarding the destigmatization of mental health and palliative care. In 2022, I was offered a seat on the board of directors for OCD Jacksonville, an affiliate chapter of the International Obsessive Compulsive Disease Foundation. I have and continue to work with this organization to promote education among the public and clinicians about the pathophysiology and care of individuals with anxiety driven disorders. Some of the material I created can be found on the materials page. 

In the same year, I was recruited to help open St. Augustine’s first In-Patient Rehabilitation Hospital with Encompass Health. Though working towards education and mental health, I saw an opportunity to continue my work as an educator working as a clinical liaison to Flagler Hospital, community providers and the public. I work directly with Flagler Hospital, the local ACO and the Counsil On Aging to host education session on the scope and benefits of intensive rehabilitation hospitals, which, at the time, was nearly an unknown concept in the community having all rehabilitation performed in Skilled Nursing Facilities. This is also where I learned more about the phycology of loss and vulnerability in patients who have endured traumatic injuries necessitating this level of rehabilitation. When I relocated to Orlando for graduate school in 2023, I elected to remain working in this field, having developed a thorough understanding of and passion for this population. I continued working as a liaison focusing on clinical education throughout graduate school and continue in that role now working with Orlando Rehabilitation Hospital alongside Dr. Kent, Dr. Fry and Abigail Dela Pena who are all adjunct educators with the University of Central Florida. 

We are now proud to be serving as a clinical site for both the College of Medicine and College of Nursing’s graduate program. I am currently working with our CEO to extend the same opportunities to the CON’s undergraduate program.  

UCF MSN-Ed Internship Spring 2026

As part of master’s program, I spent sixteen weeks working across a range of educational settings teaching undergraduate nursing students. These settings included in person didactic lectures, online teaching through Canvas, precepting students at clinical sites, assisting in instructing in the essentials lab and working as a simulation facilitator with the UCF STIM Center.

Didactic hours

I work directly with Dr. Brian Peach to teach NUR3145 Pharmacology for Nurses. I worked with Dr. Peach to adapt the existing curriculum to align with the newly adapted ATI format and tests. I presented two lectures myself during this time. The first on CNS Pharmacology and the second on Gastrointestinal Drugs. During this time, I also assisted in proctoring, grading, analyzing and writing test questions for the class. The most significant takeaway from this portion of the internship was a strengthened understanding of lesson planning and item discrimination and Kuder-Richardson 20 interpretation.

Online hours

For my online teaching hours I worked with Mrs. Donna Breit, MSN to assist in the facilitation of NUR4637 Public Health Nursing and NSP1800 Nursing as a Profession. As the content was largely already developed, I spent most of my hours engaging in YellowDig, promoting discussion and critical thinking on topics and grading aggregate healthcare projects. The most significant takeaway from these hours was a greater appreciation for the challenges of asynchronous education and a strong command over the Canvas rubric and grading tools.

Clinical site hours

I worked with Abigail Dela Pena to assist in clinical site precepting of first year nursing students in NUR3755 Essentials of Nursing Practice Clinicals. I spent 5 weeks on site as Winter Park Health and Rehabilitation working with a cohort of 11 students instructing in head-to-toe assessment, attainment of clinical histories and an array of other foundational nursing concepts. While this was the most familiar learning / teaching setting for me, I did come away with a better understanding of the preceptor’s role and responsibility in oversight and maintaining safety for students and patients.

Essentials Lab Hours

I worked alongside Mrs. Kaylee Nettles, MSN for NUR3028L to Essentials of Nursing Practice to assist in the teaching of core nursing competencies such as would care, patient ambulation and foley insertion utilizing practical and low fidelity mannequins. Here I learned the value of bridging concepts with hands on application such as in the case of maintaining sterile technique.

STIM Center Hours

I worked closely with Mr. Danny Hernandez and Mrs. Daniella Mutinelli where I learned the art and science of facilitating high fidelity healthcare simulations. During this time, I was able to become familiar with the hardware and software used in these settings as well as the integration of simulated patients / actors. My most significant take away from these hours were a better understanding and appreciation for the debriefing process. Having facilitated several psychologically stressful simulations I was taught how to effectively maintain psychological safety while bridging concepts and guiding students to comprehension through carefully crafted feedback. This experience was also transformative for the direction of my dissertation and interest in research.