Usha Menon, Dean, USF Health – College of Nursing

May 2026 — Invest: spoke with Usha Menon, dean of the USF College of Nursing, about investments strengthening the nursing pipeline, including a new simulation center. “As technology advances, we have the ability to do more with simulation, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality,” Menon said.

What changes over the past year impacted the college, and in what ways?

We continue to be very grateful for the investment that the legislature has made in nursing, particularly for us, with the new simulation center that will be named for Tampa General Hospital. It will be the Tampa General Hospital USF Nursing Simulation Center.

The nursing shortage affects everything, not just patient care. When there is a nursing shortage, hospitals do not have the ability to take students because they do not have enough nurses, or those nurses are taking care of too many patients. For us, simulation is often taking the place of some of those clinical interactions that we depended on before.

It is also allowing students to practice before they go into the real world. Simulation has become sophisticated, with high-fidelity tools, and students are getting an absolutely fabulous experience. We are also using AI for conflict management and leadership training before they transition to practice.

Watching the building come to fruition has been exciting. We are on track and slightly under budget, I’m very pleased. We will be launching in August 2026.

Related to that, my commitment back to the state was that we would bring in 500 additional new undergraduates. We are about 130 away from that goal, so we have done really well. Our undergraduate program is the second largest in the state of Florida, and our graduate program has the highest number of graduates in the state, so we are making an impact.

We have also been on a hiring spree, and we are grateful for the support from the community. Scholarship support has been a bright spot as well. We have been awarded $2 million to support our accelerated bachelor’s students, and we received an additional $750,000 from the Helene Fuld Foundation for the same population. Those accelerated students are often pursuing nursing as a second degree, so they are not eligible for many first-time-in-college grants, and they may already be supporting families. Scholarship support helps them stay focused on finishing the program and transitioning into the workforce faster.

Finally, our master’s program ranking reached No. 23 in the country, which reflects sustained work across the college.

What contributed to the rise in your master’s program ranking?

Our faculty are absolutely fabulous. They have worked very hard to put together a curriculum that meets national standards, or even exceeds them. We have added hours in terms of clinical experiences, and I think students are benefiting from that.

Faculty leadership also plays a role. We may have 16 or 17 faculty members serving on regional or national boards, and they are helping shape conversations about the profession, which reflects the caliber and influence of the college.

What drives student retention, and how do you measure it?

One advantage we have is that the undergraduate nursing program is lockstep. If you step out, you have to wait a whole year for that course to be offered again, so the structure discourages stepping out. Students also cannot work as a nurse unless they complete the program and pass the licensure exam, so there is a clear finish line.

We pair that structure with support. We have hired two coaches who work specifically with students to mitigate the risk of dropping out or failing courses. We are adding an advisor, and we have a robust admissions and advising operation that works closely with students so we can catch issues early.

We also provide online tutoring students can access at any time, which helps because many are in clinical during the day and balancing family and work responsibilities at night.

Outcomes reinforce confidence. Last year we hit 97% on the NCLEX-RN pass rate, which was one of the highest in the State University System of Florida. When students see that level of success, it strengthens their belief that they can complete the program and be successful. And the day-to-day culture matters, too. Faculty do not come into academia for the paycheck. They come because they care deeply about the next generation of nurses, and students feel that investment.

We also have an Office of Wellbeing that supports students through programming and connection points, including practical ways to help students manage stress around heavy clinical schedules and exams. We are fortunate to have community support through an Emergency Fund. Sometimes a student is $1,000 away from being able to pay tuition for the next semester, and that small amount can stop them in their tracks. Because the fund is not restricted, we can help students immediately when they need it.

I believe the College of Nursing has the highest four-year completion rate of any of the colleges at USF, and it is because staff and faculty are dedicated to supporting students.

What are the most important trends reshaping nursing education right now?

Nationwide, you are seeing simulation used much more robustly than in the past, partly because hospitals are balancing staffing pressures with patient volumes, which can limit the number of students they can absorb for traditional placements. As technology advances, we have the ability to do more with simulation, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality.

Another major trend is that the nursing shortage continues, and compounding that is the nurse faculty shortage. Across the country, there is a meaningful gap in faculty, and in Florida there are consistently many open positions in nursing academia. We cannot simply take in more students without enough faculty to teach them and enough clinical placements to send them to. In a place like Tampa Bay, schools are competing for those clinical placements, which adds pressure.

Burnout is also shaping the workforce. We are seeing data that many nurses plan to leave the profession in the coming years, including nurses who are not close to retirement. That is why we focus on preparing students for the realities of practice and reinforcing self-care and conflict resolution skills as part of professional readiness.

What are your key goals and priorities for the college over the next two to three years?

We want to keep our pass rates strong and our certification rates on the graduate side high, and we will continue to aim for higher national rankings.

Another major focus is advancing nursing research. There are nurse scientists doing tremendous work that improves outcomes and strengthens models of care, and we want to be more intentional about elevating that work so it is understood and supported in the region. Nurse scientists are contributing to models of care used across the country, often quietly, and we want to make sure the community understands the research strength within the college. That visibility also supports recruitment, because students get excited about working with faculty researchers.

We have also brought in interdisciplinary faculty because it creates a richer environment for patient-centered research and stronger cross-collaboration. That interdisciplinary approach will be part of our focus going forward.