Welcome Noles Nursing Alumni!

Welcome to your Florida State University College of Nursing Alumni Website. We are proud of the contributions you are making, and have made to the health and well being of the people of Florida, across the country, and around the world. The purpose of this site is to showcase and celebrate those accomplishments and successes. We invite you to participate by sharing some of yours with us by contacting us at alumni@nursing.fsu.edu.

To the left you see links to other activities and organizations to which we hope you also will contribute and enjoy.

Spotlight on Alums

Susan Hassmiller

The path from graduate nurse to Senior Program Officer for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has been filled with professional accomplishments for alumna Susan Hassmiller, B.S.N. (1977), Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N.

Of her bachelor's degree Hassmiller said: "I came to FSU with an associate degree in hand. I was already an RN... BSN was THE foundation for my career! I could never have done what I have done without it."

She continued an academic course, earning a Master of Science degree in community health education at Florida State University and following that with another master's degree in community health nursing from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Ten years after the second master's degree, Hassmiller earned the Ph.D. in Nursing Administration from George Mason University.

While Hassmiller completed two FSU degrees, she also began her professional career as a staff and charge nurse at a Tallahassee hospital, and then moved to the American Red Cross in Tallahassee as Assistant Chapter Manager. After two years as an instructor in home health care, she left Tallahassee for Lincoln Nebraska where she held several positions in community nursing and spent three summers as a camp nurse attending children with diabetes while earning her second master's degree.

After a move to the greater Washington D.C. area, and while pursuing Ph.D. studies at George Mason University, Hassmiller worked as a nurse educator, consultant and hospital nurse. At the U.S. Public Health Service in Rockville, M.D., she became curriculum and evaluation coordinator of the Primary Care Policy Fellowship and then coordinator and core faculty of the same program and subsequently Executive Director of the Primary Care Fellowship Society. She was employed on the public health nursing faculty of George Mason during doctorate studies.

Currently Senior Program Officer and Unit Leader at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton N.J., a position she has held for ten years, Hassmiller has continued in a caring role: "When I was a nurse in the hospital and in the community it was all about helping one person or one family. I knew I made a difference as a nurse then... I know I am making a difference as a nurse now... in a different and a bigger kind of way. Now my intent is to make a difference for ALL nurses and patients they care for in this country. I love being able to have the resources to come up with the most effective solutions possible whether it be putting together a national collaborative, starting a center to focus on the nursing workforce, (or) encouraging nursing associations to pay attention to important issues."

Some RWJF projects in which Hassmiller is involved are funding a national nurse faculty scholars program and a new center on nursing at AARP. One of her favorites is the "Transforming Care at the Bedside" a strategy aimed at making inpatient care both safer and focused on the patients. In her work at RWJF she and her colleagues are doing everything possible to address the nurse faculty shortage, nationwide and especially in New Jersey, with special funds from the state.

Hassmiller believes that leadership skills are inherent in nursing practice, and is launching a national program "Pipeline to Placement: Getting Nurses on Boards" to help nurses achieve leadership positions, Her goal is getting "more nurses into more board rooms so that they can have a voice and others can take advantage of our expertise and skills." To achieve this she believes that nurses, the healthcare providers who know more about patient care than anyone else, must "step up to the plate to take on leadership responsibilities."

She has received recognition for the contributions she has made to healthcare, both as an individual and in partnership with others. This year she received the George Mason University College of Health and Human Services Distinguished Alumnus Award, the National Excellence in Public Health Award and has been inducted into the New York Academy of Medicine.

Hassmiller's professional life provides an example of what she espouses for nurses. Obtaining graduate education and embracing leadership roles has been important to the realization of her own goals; and she works now to illuminate the leadership path for others.

About her personal life, Hassmiller noted that she met her husband, Bob Hassmiller, at FSU on the day he defended his doctoral dissertation in 1979. She observed--some years and two children later, "We have been together happily ever since."

To learn more about Susan Hassmiller, go to RWJF.org and click on Building Human Capital under "Programs" then click on Team Members and find Susan B. Hassmiller listed at the head of the team.

Betty King Wajdowicz

As a member of the College of Nursing class of 1957, Betty King Wajdowicz, Ph.D. R.N., had a somewhat different learning experience than CON students have today. Different, but an excellent preparation for her career in nursing. One way Betty's nursing preparation was different: instead of attending a two-year nursing program that was the norm in the 50s, she earned a four year bachelor's in nursing. This was important, she said, "Because I had the bachelors degree in nursing (from FSU), I was able to walk through that door when it opened. If you have your credentials in order, when doors open, you're able to walk through them."

Another difference: she was able to declare a nursing major as a freshman and began taking some nursing and science courses along with FSU required courses. After the first two years and with good academic standing, she and her classmates began a 15 month program, starting with summer school, in Miami at Jackson Memorial Hospital. While in Miami, the FSU students had clinical experiences in the hospital, attended classes taught by CON faculty and lived in "nursing homes" –dorms for the Jackson diploma program students. At Jackson Memorial, the FSU students worked alongside nursing and medical students from the University of Miami. Betty said, "It is a large teaching hospital, and we saw all kinds of things that we would never have seen otherwise."

Returning to the FSU campus in October for their senior year, Betty and her classmates completed coursework and studied psychiatric/mental health and public health nursing, each for 10 weeks. She graduated in the spring of 1957 with the Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

In addition to the BSN from FSU, Betty holds a master's degree in education from the University of South Florida, and a doctorate in nursing from the University of Texas at Austin. She was a hospital nurse at the beginning of her career, and then became a visiting nurse for a short time. She taught at St. Petersburg College for the majority of her career, bringing her nursing expertise and caring attitude to the education of the next generation of nurses.

In the spring, Betty Wajdowicz was at CON for the 50th reunion of her class. Still going strong, she continues to be a Red Cross volunteer, currently in disaster nursing. She also teaches online courses for the RN to BSN program at St Petersburg College and goes on medical missions to Honduras.




	Welcome Homecoming Class News The Legacy Project FSU Alumni Association FSU Foundation Contact Us FSU Nursing Main Click here to check out FSU's new Online Alumni Community! Check here for past Alumni Spotlights			Welcome Noles Nursing Alumni! Welcome to your Florida State University College of Nursing Alumni Website. We are proud of the contributions you are making, and have made to the health and well being of the people of Florida, across the country, and around the world. The purpose of this site is to showcase and celebrate those accomplishments and successes. We invite you to participate by sharing some of yours with us by contacting us at alumni@nursing.fsu.edu. To the left you see links to other activities and organizations to which we hope you also will contribute and enjoy. Spotlight on Alums Susan Hassmiller The path from graduate nurse to Senior Program Officer for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has been filled with professional accomplishments for alumna Susan Hassmiller, B.S.N. (1977), Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N. Of her bachelor's degree Hassmiller said: "I came to FSU with an associate degree in hand. I was already an RN... BSN was THE foundation for my career! I could never have done what I have done without it." She continued an academic course, earning a Master of Science degree in community health education at Florida State University and following that with another master's degree in community health nursing from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Ten years after the second master's degree, Hassmiller earned the Ph.D. in Nursing Administration from George Mason University. While Hassmiller completed two FSU degrees, she also began her professional career as a staff and charge nurse at a Tallahassee hospital, and then moved to the American Red Cross in Tallahassee as Assistant Chapter Manager. After two years as an instructor in home health care, she left Tallahassee for Lincoln Nebraska where she held several positions in community nursing and spent three summers as a camp nurse attending children with diabetes while earning her second master's degree. After a move to the greater Washington D.C. area, and while pursuing Ph.D. studies at George Mason University, Hassmiller worked as a nurse educator, consultant and hospital nurse. At the U.S. Public Health Service in Rockville, M.D., she became curriculum and evaluation coordinator of the Primary Care Policy Fellowship and then coordinator and core faculty of the same program and subsequently Executive Director of the Primary Care Fellowship Society. She was employed on the public health nursing faculty of George Mason during doctorate studies. Currently Senior Program Officer and Unit Leader at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton N.J., a position she has held for ten years, Hassmiller has continued in a caring role: "When I was a nurse in the hospital and in the community it was all about helping one person or one family. I knew I made a difference as a nurse then... I know I am making a difference as a nurse now... in a different and a bigger kind of way. Now my intent is to make a difference for ALL nurses and patients they care for in this country. I love being able to have the resources to come up with the most effective solutions possible whether it be putting together a national collaborative, starting a center to focus on the nursing workforce, (or) encouraging nursing associations to pay attention to important issues." Some RWJF projects in which Hassmiller is involved are funding a national nurse faculty scholars program and a new center on nursing at AARP. One of her favorites is the "Transforming Care at the Bedside" a strategy aimed at making inpatient care both safer and focused on the patients. In her work at RWJF she and her colleagues are doing everything possible to address the nurse faculty shortage, nationwide and especially in New Jersey, with special funds from the state. Hassmiller believes that leadership skills are inherent in nursing practice, and is launching a national program "Pipeline to Placement: Getting Nurses on Boards" to help nurses achieve leadership positions, Her goal is getting "more nurses into more board rooms so that they can have a voice and others can take advantage of our expertise and skills." To achieve this she believes that nurses, the healthcare providers who know more about patient care than anyone else, must "step up to the plate to take on leadership responsibilities." She has received recognition for the contributions she has made to healthcare, both as an individual and in partnership with others. This year she received the George Mason University College of Health and Human Services Distinguished Alumnus Award, the National Excellence in Public Health Award and has been inducted into the New York Academy of Medicine. Hassmiller's professional life provides an example of what she espouses for nurses. Obtaining graduate education and embracing leadership roles has been important to the realization of her own goals; and she works now to illuminate the leadership path for others. About her personal life, Hassmiller noted that she met her husband, Bob Hassmiller, at FSU on the day he defended his doctoral dissertation in 1979. She observed--some years and two children later, "We have been together happily ever since." To learn more about Susan Hassmiller, go to RWJF.org and click on Building Human Capital under "Programs" then click on Team Members and find Susan B. Hassmiller listed at the head of the team. Betty King Wajdowicz As a member of the College of Nursing class of 1957, Betty King Wajdowicz, Ph.D. R.N., had a somewhat different learning experience than CON students have today. Different, but an excellent preparation for her career in nursing. One way Betty's nursing preparation was different: instead of attending a two-year nursing program that was the norm in the 50s, she earned a four year bachelor's in nursing. This was important, she said, "Because I had the bachelors degree in nursing (from FSU), I was able to walk through that door when it opened. If you have your credentials in order, when doors open, you're able to walk through them." Another difference: she was able to declare a nursing major as a freshman and began taking some nursing and science courses along with FSU required courses. After the first two years and with good academic standing, she and her classmates began a 15 month program, starting with summer school, in Miami at Jackson Memorial Hospital. While in Miami, the FSU students had clinical experiences in the hospital, attended classes taught by CON faculty and lived in "nursing homes" –dorms for the Jackson diploma program students. At Jackson Memorial, the FSU students worked alongside nursing and medical students from the University of Miami. Betty said, "It is a large teaching hospital, and we saw all kinds of things that we would never have seen otherwise." Returning to the FSU campus in October for their senior year, Betty and her classmates completed coursework and studied psychiatric/mental health and public health nursing, each for 10 weeks. She graduated in the spring of 1957 with the Bachelor of Science in Nursing. In addition to the BSN from FSU, Betty holds a master's degree in education from the University of South Florida, and a doctorate in nursing from the University of Texas at Austin. She was a hospital nurse at the beginning of her career, and then became a visiting nurse for a short time. She taught at St. Petersburg College for the majority of her career, bringing her nursing expertise and caring attitude to the education of the next generation of nurses. In the spring, Betty Wajdowicz was at CON for the 50th reunion of her class. Still going strong, she continues to be a Red Cross volunteer, currently in disaster nursing. She also teaches online courses for the RN to BSN program at St Petersburg College and goes on medical missions to Honduras.