How UF's Arts in Medicine Empowered a Nursing Student

May 16, 2025
“I feel proud and lucky to have found such a diamond of a program at the right time."

 
_{Victoria Vitale wearing her nursing coat with a stethoscope around her neck.}

You’ve been admitted to the hospital. The nurses and doctors are professionals of the highest degree, but you’re still in pain. Loved ones visit and send cards with well wishes, but your anxiety is still overflowing. Then, in walks the artist in residence. They bring something you’ve desperately needed: genuine fun. Together, you create a work of art and a memory that brings color to your stay at the hospital. Despite the situation, you’re smiling again. That smile is the goal of Victoria Vitale, a College of Nursing student empowered by the University of Florida’s Arts in Medicine Program.

The College of the Arts’ Center for Arts in Medicine teaches a unique way to approach healthcare. One where professionals with an artistic discipline create art with patients to enhance health and uplift the body, mind, and spirit. Undergraduates can participate in the Combined Degree program or earn a certificate in Dance in Medicine, Music in Medicine, or Visual Arts in Medicine.

Learning to incorporate art into patient care was a breakthrough for Vitale, whose first passions were dance and theater.

 “Being part of the program showed me how creative expression—whether through music, visual art, or storytelling—can be just as healing as any clinical intervention,” Vitale said. “It made me want to become the kind of nurse who not only manages symptoms but also helps patients feel more whole in the middle of everything they’re going through.”

Vitale has witnessed the power of art and storytelling many times. She grew up on the stage, bringing joy to many in various roles, from Roxie Hart in Chicago to The Donkey in Shrek. This is where she learned how stories can reach audiences emotionally and psychologically. She’s seen her art cause tears, laughter, and moments of genuine reflection. Of all the lessons her performances taught her, one truth stuck out the most: people want to feel seen.

“Whether it’s on a stage or in a hospital room, the act of truly seeing someone is healing in itself,” Vitale explained. “Patients often carry more than physical symptoms – they carry stories, histories, fears, and hopes. My training in theatre has prepared me to hold space for all of that, to listen beyond what’s being said, and to respond with presence and care.”

What Vitale described is called empathy, a hallmark trait of the greatest nurses. While acting taught her that people possess great emotional depth, the Center for Arts in Medicine gave her a greater understanding of the empathetic impact of art in patient care.

“From a psychological perspective, I saw how art opens up space for patients to process trauma, reclaim agency, and feel seen beyond their diagnosis,” Vitale said. “That emotional and spiritual layer of care isn’t an ‘extra’ – it’s essential.”

The Arts in Medicine Program helped refine Vitale’s goals. Previously, she struggled to balance her passion for theatre and dance with her pursuit of a nursing degree. Healthcare made her deeply miss her art. After completing the program, Vitale is confident she can combine art and nursing. Today, she dreams of opening her own practice as a Nurse Practitioner in New York City, the home of Broadway.

According to the Center for Arts in Medicine website, over 50% of US hospitals have arts programming, and that number is growing. Vitale aims to actively participate in that growth by setting an example and becoming an active spokesperson.

“I would love to one day be a public advocate and innovator in the field of integrating the arts into healthcare, particularly mental health,” she said. “I hope to speak with current and future healthcare workers about changing the system so that these initiatives can be more supported in our current structure. I hope to one day become involved in healthcare policy and advocate for the hiring of art practitioners in spaces to improve the mental health of all people, not just those in mental health hospitals or institutions. Most of all I hope to lead by example, building my own practice as a Nurse Practitioner and facilitating arts-based therapies such as dance workshops, sociodramas, and more to include all people in the act of creating art – all with the purpose of improving their mental wellbeing by providing purpose and meaning (two core drivers of mental wellbeing) into their lives.”

Interested in joining Vitale’s mission to inject more art into the healthcare system? Whether or not you have artistic talent, Vitale encourages anyone pursuing a healthcare career to consider the Arts in Medicine Combined Degree or certificate opportunities. 

“When I came to UF, I had no idea I would find myself standing at the epicenter of cutting-edge research on the very topic that drives both my passion and my desire to serve my community,” Vitale said. “I feel proud and lucky to have found such a diamond of a program at the right time. If you hop into the world of Arts in Medicine, you are joining the pioneers and founders of what I hope will soon be a revolutionary new way to do healthcare.”

Written by Braden Blue.