UCF Associate Professor Jascinth Lindo, center, at the University of the Bahamas with (left) Terry Campbell, Chair of the School of Nursing and Susannah Gal, Dean of Pure and Applied Sciences.

Making a Difference in the Next Generation of Nurses in the Caribbean and Florida

By: Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala on

Nurses play an important role in public health, which is the basis for UCF Associate Professor Jascinth Lindo’s research.

Lindo grew up in Jamaica and says her interest in public health and personal experience growing up on the island fueled her desire to look at what works bests to help build the nursing capacity in the region.

Nurses are key in helping the region best prepare for public health challenges. Epidemics of non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, as well as communicable diseases, such as COVID-19, Chikungunya and Zika, face this region and its healthcare systems need strengthening. Being on the front line, nurses can help inform policy makers, and research provides good data for what works.

“Through research, nurses promote or advance evidence-based practice, build knowledge to enhance quality of care and patient safety, and create mentors for future generations of nurse scientists,” she says.

Jascinth Lindo

That’s one of the lessons she passes on at UCF through the many courses she teaches and with the students she mentors. However, this year she’s on loan to the University of Bahamas where she is teaching courses and conducting research as part of her 2021 Fulbright Scholar Award.

“The World Health Organization’s 2016–2020 Global Strategic Directions for Strengthening Nursing and Midwifery lists developing nursing and midwifery research as an area of high priority,” she says. “We are currently working on research project designed to assess the quality of nursing documentation at a public hospital in the Bahamas as the template on which capacity can be built.”

Once her research has concluded, she plans to publish her results with hopes of seeing some of the recommendations adopted by the university and others through the region.

UCF’s reputation as a metropolitan research university, especially in nursing, is why she joined the College of Nursing in 2018. Before that she was an associate professor at Barry University in Miami. She also taught and was the program coordinator at the University of the West Indies School of Nursing in Kingston, Jamaica.

She has doctorate in public health and is a registered nurse. Before arriving in the United States, she also served as a research consultant to the Ministry of Health and Early Childhood Commission of Jamaica. She has led or co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed papers and presented at dozens of international conferences on nursing research, education, and maternal and perinatal mortality and workplace health.

Share This Article

Featured Content image

New UCF Project is Harnessing Virtual Reality to Teach Quantum Computing

Researchers from the University of Central Florida, the University of Texas at Dallas, and Vanderbilt University have received a three-year, $927,203 grant for advancing future quantum education by using virtual...

Read More

Featured Content image

UCF Recognizes 15 Top Faculty at 2023 Luminary Awards

Fifteen faculty members were celebrated for their leadership and the impact they are making in communities, the nation, and the world during UCF’s annual Luminary Awards held Tuesday at Leu...

Read More

Featured Content image

Explore UCF’s Top Graduate Programs at the Annual Grad Fair

Pursuing graduate study is one of the most significant decisions a person will make in shaping their life. Whether you want to become an expert in your field, advance further...

Read More

Featured Content image

New DOD-funded Project Will Develop Morphing Hypersonic Engine

A new Naval Research Laboratory-funded project led by a UCF researcher will work to create a morphing hypersonic engine for ultra-fast travel, building on UCF’s already leading-edge developing hypersonic propulsion....

Read More