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Holden joins AACC from Prince George’s Community College, where she worked for the past 11 years. As a nurse for more than 23 years, Holden has practiced in a medical-surgical unit, emergency room, ICU, nephrology, orthopedics, dermatology, pre-surgical testing in the Philippines, United Kingdom and in the United States.
In her previous role as an associate professor, she was the course coordinator for medical-surgical nursing and the LPN to RN transition course. Holden has a master’s degree in nursing and recently completed the professional certificate in Organizational Leadership from Harvard University. She has successfully passed the Certified Nurse Educator exam and the Certified Professional in Health IT exam.
We chatted with her to learn more of her passion about improving students' learning experience, promoting positive working relationships, and ensuring quality and equity in nursing education.
What do you hope to accomplish in this position?
I plan to improve the clinical learning experience of the nursing students. The clinical part of the nursing program is where the students connect the theory to actual clients’ situations in different settings. It’s the application part of their learning, which helps them improve their clinical judgment skills. With this in mind, the adjunct faculty plays a huge role in making this connection and application happen. I wanted to help clinical adjunct faculty to get the support and resources they need to meet the clinical objectives by utilizing appropriate pedagogies in clinicals. I also want to foster a sense of community and support among adjunct faculty. Working in silos is quite common especially when we all had to work from home during the pandemic. I want to promote connections, engagements and collaboration among the adjunct faculty members and full-time faculty across different courses. I believe if we work together, support each other and share our best practices and resources, then it will improve faculty retention and student learning outcomes. Our goal is to continue our program success and educate our nursing students to provide safe, effective and competent care with compassion.
What makes you passionate about equity, and how do you see that show up in your work?
Having the chance to live and work in three different countries provided me the opportunity to learn about various cultures and norms, and also to witness and experience inequity and discrimination. In my nursing profession, I have seen patients who are not given equitable care because of their ethnicity, gender orientation or social status. We have observed inequity and injustice in different levels of the society and in different settings. In the academic field, I witnessed students who have multiple challenges that may be related to their lack of support or resources, while struggling to complete their degree. Our role in academia is so critical in ensuring there is equity and support among all students. We need to connect with our students with empathy and help them with any identified barriers to their success. Our words of encouragement can make a difference in motivating them to continue and work harder to finish what they started.
I believe that we as a society must all work together to change our culture and approach to promote equity and inclusion. We don’t only educate people about diversity and equity, but we must intentionally practice the principles we learn in our daily lives. We need to accept that we live in a world where people are from different origins, culture, ethnicity or gender orientation. If we become advocates for equity and model it every day, we can influence the people around us, especially our younger generations who look up to us. In our classrooms and with our daily encounters with students, we must strive to educate them with the soft skills that promotes equity, empathy and compassion. I believe that if we all start with an attitude of acceptance, respect and the culture of kindness, then the world will be a better place for all of us and the future generations.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I like traveling to different places and learning about various cultures. I also love cooking recipes from different countries. My husband and I always compete with our recipe versions. I also love watching movies, reading books, photography and decorating.