Florida Tomorrow is a day...
when well-educated nurses lead in the transformation of care.
Higher Calling
Afua Arhin and Ann Huesinger share a dream — to make a lasting
impact on their profession by educating the next generation of nurses. Although they came to teaching from very different backgrounds, UF’s flexible doctoral-study options made it possible for both to pursue that goal while juggling jobs and families.
The College of Nursing’s effort to prepare high-achieving students for academic careers has established UF as a leader in addressing the shortage of nursing faculty nationwide. While the shortage of direct care nurses often makes news, the faculty shortage compounds the growing crisis. A survey by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing estimates that nursing schools in the United States turned away 42,866 qualified applicants in 2006, largely due to lack of faculty.
Arhin was already teaching at Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University in Tallahassee when she went back to school. She needed a doctorate to advance her career in nursing education and enrolled in UF’s North Florida Ph.D. Nursing Consortium to complete her degree without leaving her job. Partnering with state nursing programs at Florida A&M, Florida State and the universities of North Florida and West Florida, the consortium allows students to pursue UF doctoral degrees while studying in Tallahassee, Jacksonville or Pensacola. Arhin graduated from UF through the consortium in 2005 and is now an associate dean at Grambling State University in Louisiana.
“The research opportunities I had at UF gave me a stronger resume,” she says. “Without that, I don’t think I would be an associate dean just two years after graduation.”
Huesinger, who took classes in her hometown of Jacksonville, looked forward to combining her doctoral studies and years of practice experience to better educate tomorrow’s nurses.
She’d worked in patient care for 25 years and initially went back to school at UF’s College of Nursing to earn a bachelor’s degree, but was encouraged to consider the college’s fast-track B.S.N. to Ph.D. program.
“I saw myself as a mom and a nurse,” she says. “A doctorate was not something that was part of my reality. But the faculty at UF really thought I could do it.”
“There were places I wanted to go as a nurse that I couldn’t go with the education I had,” Huesinger says. “To me, the best thing about being a nurse has always been being able to teach, whether it was teaching new nurses or teaching patients. It’s really fulfilling to be able to make a difference.”
Doctoral preparation from UF allows Huesinger and Arhin to teach in the most meaningful ways: inspiring the next generation of excellent professional nurses.
