ROOTED IN NURSING
UF Health nurses share where they started and how they’ve grown.
May 12-18 is the week that we honored and celebrated all of our wonderful nurses at UF Health Shands. This year’s Nurses Week theme for UF Health — “Rooted In … Leadership, Wellness, Innovation and Solidarity” — encouraged us to recognize and celebrate how our nurses keep all of us and our organization grounded. Our nurses truly represent the above attributes — leadership, innovation, wellness and solidarity. Their roots run deep through the passion that they have for patient care and one another.
“I reflect on the saying ‘When you give of yourself, you get so much more in return,’” said Irene Alexaitis, D.N.P., R.N., NEA-BC, vice president of Nursing and Patient Services. “I truly feel that you all have provided that as you continue to give selflessly to serve our patients and their loved ones. I hope that you take time to reflect on the contributions and impact you all have on our patients, this community and the nursing profession as a whole.”
Below, we’ve gathered a few stories of where some of our amazing nurses got their #NursingRoots and why they are passionate about being a nurse.
Viva Riley, R.N., UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital Unit 6 West
Over 20 years at UF Health
“When I was five years old, my grandmother would babysit me while my parents worked during the week back in the ‘70s. I told her that I wanted to be a nurse and take care of her. Ever since then, I held to that belief that I was meant to be a nurse and I never wavered. As nurses, we have the ability to impact the lives of others. Whether its co-workers, family, friends or students. This is what I have been called to do and it makes my heart smile.”
Courtney McCallum, R.N., UF Health Heart & Vascular Hospital Unit 76 Cardiology Intensive Care ICU
Less than one year at UF Health
“In 2015, my nursing journey began after my father was diagnosed with Stage 3 lung cancer. I had spent 10 years working in business for Lockheed Martin, but after spending an entire month in the ICU during his initial diagnosis and treatment, I knew my true calling was to become a nurse. His nurses in that ICU were the closest thing to angels. The compassion and care that they displayed toward my father and our family during our time with them has never been forgotten. It was with that same compassion and care that I set out to begin my career as a nurse. Soon after, I enrolled in nursing school and finally became a registered nurse in 2019. I began my career in the same ICU where my calling was birthed, working alongside many of the same nurses that cared for us four years before. Being on the receiving end of nursing care, the little acts we perform have the ability to make such a lasting impact. Each shift, I commit myself to be that very same light for my patients and their families during their darkest days. To be able to help others is an opportunity not to be wasted. It has been my greatest honor to become a nurse and to advocate for those who need it most. The community of nurses that I get to work alongside here at UF Health Shands Hospital has further fueled my passion to become the best nurse I could be for my patients.”
John Cornille, R.N., nurse coordinator, UF Health Psychiatric Hospital
8 years at UF Health
“Almost 30 years ago, I stumbled into health care as a mental health tech at a residential home for teens with psychiatric issues. Soon after this, I completely changed paths and went to certified nurse assistant school for six months. Leaving the psychiatric world, I said that if I was going to work with people, I wanted to work with people who wanted my help. I proceeded to work as a nursing assistant, E.R. tech, monitor tech, support tech and then attend nursing school to gain more education and training. My previous statement about wanting to help people who wanted my help was not a limited thought. As nice as it is to help someone who comes into our care and needs our help, there is, I feel, a deeper calling to help those who don’t want our help or are so sick, they don’t know they need our help. That has brought me back full circle to working with patients with psychiatric needs as I finish my MSN as a nurse executive. May we never lose the vision to see and help those in need whether they know they need us or not. Nursing is a profession like no other. Literally, people place their lives in our hands. We hold the hands of those who are dying. We celebrate with the cancer patient who has finished their treatment. We provide the most intimate care. People are naked and exposed before us. People trust us. Nurses have been ranked as the most trusted profession for 20 years in a row! Is there any wonder? We are there for people in a way no one else can be. May we never say that we are “just” a nurse. No! We need to lose the “just” — we are nurses. We make a difference!”
Mojdeh Bannister, R.N., UF Health Shands Transplant Center
Over 20 years at UF Health
“My nursing roots may have been there all of my life. My grandmother was a midwife and reproductive health specialist in her small town almost a century ago. Access to affordable health care was not always available to my family, so self-medical care and home remedies were always used when I was growing up. Then, after I became a mother, my 3-year-old son’s accident revealed my talent for nursing care. I am closer to a patient’s way of life and perception of their health. I can interpret medical goals to form a care routine and educate my patients in attaining healing or implementing effective change in their current condition. When my patients have a successful transplant and regain their freedom from dialysis, I get a resurge of energy to continue my line of work.”
Gwen Crispell, R.N., UF Health Bariatric Surgery Center
Over 20 years at UF Health
“I was a patient myself for the first seven years of my life and never wanted to be in a hospital again. After graduating with a degree in business while playing collegiate soccer, I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. The summer after my graduation, I was working as a camp counselor supervisor when the camp nurse asked me to shadow her at the local hospital. So, I did. I decided to work as a tech and apply for nursing school at Florida Atlantic University. The next thing I knew, I was graduating with a second bachelor’s degree in nursing. I realized I had a calling to help people from the other side of not being the patient and loved the science. One day during my first year of being a registered nurse, one of my patients needed to be transferred to “Shands” from South Florida due to having a previous liver transplant. I was so excited about the complexity and story of this patient, I was sad to see him leave from the West Palm Beach Airport on a fixed wing with a gator on its tail. I decided I was going to work where that fixed wing was from and where that patient was going. And I am still here at UF Health almost 25 years later. We, as nurses, have endless possibilities in everyday tasks and as a career. I am passionate about finding that moment to connect with patients and families when sometimes it feels like the odds are against you. It’s making the worst situation seem possible and understandable. It’s the art of caring.”
