Combining academics and service

With a passion for science and helping others, Brianna DiTullio realized that nursing was the perfect fit for her. The senior from Hingham, Mass. will graduate in May 2015. She offers, “Villanova Nursing impresses me with its balance of scientific and liberal arts focus.  We've been taught to critically think in a way that has helped me become a well-rounded person.”

Brianna participated in an individual research project with a faculty advisor to determine links between factors related to osteoporosis and vision health in American women. This year, she is conducting another faculty-assisted research project related to pediatric nursing. Her global perspective was enhanced last spring when she learned about the Irish health care system and nursing education during an international experience in Galway with Villanova nursing students and faculty.  

Villanova has become home to Brianna and her community of classmates has grown into a family. “We all want each other to succeed and are willing to help each other out along the way,” she says.

Brianna’s commitment to academics is matched by her service. Outside of the nursing realm, she is involved in multiple activities on campus. She served on the Special Olympics Fall Festival committee, was elected as the vice president of New Member Education for the Kappa Delta Sorority, and was chosen to go on a service break trip to El Salvador through Campus Ministry. Brianna enjoys traveling and exploring new countries, so when her family moved to Germany, she was able to spend time traveling Europe with them this summer.

Brianna put her education to work this summer as a patient care technician on a medical floor at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. After graduation, she plans to move home to Massachusetts and work in one of the many great Boston hospitals as a staff nurse. Brianna sees graduate school in her future as she hopes to continue her studies to become a nurse practitioner.