The College of Nursing鈥檚 Alicia Gill Rossiter, DNP, APRN, FNP, PPCNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN, was inducted Thursday into the , one of the greatest honors in the State of Florida.
The Florida Department of Veterans Affairs selected Rossiter for induction into the Hall of Fame after she was nominated by a colleague. She was then approved by both the Florida Cabinet and the Governor.
Established in 2013, the Florida Veterans鈥� Hall of Fame recognizes and honors veterans who have made an impact in the state during or after military service. At this year鈥檚 ceremony in Tallahassee, Rossiter was one of only five inductees, bringing the total number of honorees to just 135 veterans to date. She is the second nurse practitioner to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Last year, co-founder of the nurse practitioner profession, Dr. Loretta Ford, who received the Honorary Doctor of Nursing degree from 91视频in 2016, was inducted posthumously.
Alicia Rossiter on a military airstrip with her parents
Military service runs in Rossiter鈥檚 blood. Her family has served in every branch of the armed forces except for the United States Space Force.
鈥淟ike many others, I come from a multigenerational military family,鈥� she said. "It's pretty much a family business."
Rossiter's career began with an ROTC scholarship at the University of Alabama. She became an RN and served in the Army Nurse Corps for four years. Her service took her from the front lines treating wounded warriors in Saudi Arabia to the villages of Honduras on humanitarian missions. She then settled in Tampa to reconnect with family.
Rossiter aboard a helicopter during medical outreach in Honduras
Rossiter continued her service after transferring into the Air Force Reserve while enrolled in the Master of Science in Nursing at 91视频College of Nursing. Rossiter served as a perioperative nurse and nurse practitioner at MacDill Air Force Base and as adjunct faculty in the Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. She served in the Air Force for 20 years before retiring in 2015.
In the summer of 2011, she found her way back to USF: teaching a pediatric nurse practitioner summer course. She didn't know she would call 91视频her home until learning that a College of Nursing faculty member had secured a grant to study the effects of military service on female veterans.
鈥淚 remember thinking, this is something I鈥檇 be interested in, not only as a female veteran myself, but for the opportunity to research the impact of military service on women veterans,鈥� Rossiter said. 鈥淭hat led me to really want to stay at USF.鈥�
Rossiter giving the Grace-Gill Leadership award to a V-Care alumnus
It was the perfect way to continue her service, giving back to veteran and military family communities. She joined the College of Nursing as an instructor and completed her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree. Over her 14 years at the College of Nursing, she has risen in the ranks from instructor to Full Professor. She has published widely鈥攊ncluding first-of-its-kind book 鈥攁nd has served on and led several grants totaling over $3 million. Her leadership at the college continues with her work as the inaugural Chief Officer of Military and Veteran Affairs at the college.
Among the many initiatives Rossiter has led, USF's major stands out as the ideal fusion of her passions for military service and nursing. The program provides medically trained service members and veterans a pathway to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Rossiter began as V-CARE鈥檚 project manager and director, later stepping into the role of principal investigator for a $1.25 million HRSA grant that funded the program鈥檚 development and implementation. To date, almost 200 veterans have completed the pathway.
Many of these students were accepted into the V-CARE Pathway after other doors were closed elsewhere, despite the fact that they served their country and trained as medics and corpsmen. About 60% have gone on to earn master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees. I still keep in touch with most of them and write letters of recommendation. Seeing them excel has been the greatest part of my life and my career.
Alicia Rossiter, DNP, APRN, FNP, PPCNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN
Lieutenant Colonel (Retired), United States Air Force Reserve Nurse Corps
Rossiter鈥檚 induction into the Florida Veterans鈥� Hall of Fame is a recognition not just of her military service, but of a lifelong commitment to healing, mentoring, and leading. The College of Nursing, its students, and veterans and their families everywhere are privileged to benefit from her continued service and dedication.