Nursing student puts compassion into action as part of 1st graduating Palm Coast Cohort
Mia Scarcella, who will graduate this Friday, was chosen by her peers to represent the first graduating Palm Coast nursing cohort during this year’s nursing convocation.
Reflecting on her childhood, Scarcella shared that she had always aspired to join the healthcare field. Her mother, a hardworking and dedicated individual who juggled multiple jobs while also attending nursing school and raising Scarcella and her siblings, played a pivotal role in inspiring her passion for nursing. Together, they often watched medical shows, and her mother’s own career in nursing fueled Scarcella’s fascination with the world of healthcare.
As fate would have it, Scarcella’s own health struggles as a child further solidified her determination to become a nurse. Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at 15 years old, she experienced firsthand the profound impact that compassionate and skilled nurses can have on a person’s life. Their care and support left an indelible mark, planting the seeds for her future career.
After receiving her bachelor’s in sociology at Florida State University, Scarcella was led to get a second bachelor’s in nursing from UNF.
“I contemplated joining FSU’s nursing program, but then COVID happened, and I had a hard time doing online classes,” Scarcella said. “So, I applied to UNF as my number one choice and got in. They then told me they were opening a new cohort in Palm Coast, and I was like ‘That’s where I’m from!’ Everything lined up so perfectly and it felt like it was meant to be.”
The Palm Coast cohort started in the fall of 2021 as an extension of UNF’s main campus and regular prelicensure program.
“I liked visiting the main campus, but I preferred having our Palm Coast classroom and sim lab,” said Scarcella. “The program allowed us to have experiences in various hospitals in cities like Palm Coast, St. Augustine and Jacksonville with a smaller-knit group, which I’ve enjoyed because I’m also able to learn more about my classmates and have a stronger connection with my professors. Everyone has been really supportive of us and making sure we succeed.”
Scarcella had no doubts about staying in the program, especially after an experience that occurred during her first day in a labor and delivery unit, where she was supposed to witness a c-section.
“We got all gowned up and stood in the back of the room out of the way,” Scarcella recalled. “Then they started the c-section, and they hadn’t even gotten to the baby part when the nurse looked at me and said, ‘You don’t look so good.’”
She was escorted to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), where she was instead put in charge of holding a baby whose family was not involved, providing it with a needed human touch. Being a surgeon wasn’t her path, but after she held the child, she remembers feeling that “if this was what nursing is like, then there’s nothing else I want to do.”
Through the program, Scarcella didn’t just feel empowered to be a nurse, but she also discovered which nursing profession was best suited for her.
“What made me want to do critical care happened during one of our clinicals. I was really scared, but the nurse I had was fantastic. A patient had just come out of surgery, and I was mind blown how at the beginning she was hooked up with tubes and drains and wires, but by the end of the day, we were able to take them out and get her out of bed and into a chair. I just knew I had to do this.”
Scarcella was also inducted into UNF’s Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing this past spring.
After walking across the stage at UNF’s 2023 Summer Commencement, Scarcella will go straight into nursing in the critical care setting. Down the line, she plans to get her master’s degree and become a clinical instructor.