Holly Austin had been working at Harper Valley Sinai Hospital when she was asked to substitute teach here at Schoolcraft in 2001. As one of the nurses at Sinai who had mentored Schoolcraft nursing students during their clinical courses at the hospital, she had demonstrated to the Nursing instructors at the college an ability to really connect with students.

In 2004, Holly became a full-time faculty member and today splits her time between theory courses here on campus and clinical courses at Huron Valley Sinai. She teaches courses in Nursing Informatics, Pharmacology, Medical Nursing, Surgical Nursing and Advanced Medical/Surgical Nursing. In addition to her role as an instructor, Holly serves on a variety of committees and is the faculty liaison to the college’s nursing alumni group and is very involved in curriculum development within the nursing department.

Holly has taken her influence as a nursing instructor well beyond the boundaries of Schoolcraft College with the development of two apps for iPhone and iPod users. Last year, she launched NurseTabs,  an app that takes over 200 medical diagnoses and transforms them into practical nursing processes, a resource that did not exist until last year. Since its launch in 2009, NurseTabs has consistently ranked in the top 100 of the more than 2000 medical apps available on iTunes and is now available in more than 20 different countries. Next month, Holly will launch a new app for pharmacology.

Holly has also represented the college as a speaker at several national and international conferences sharing her expertise and knowledge in using technology to enhance learning in nursing. In fact, she will be presenting on this subject at the NISOD conference in May.

But it’s not only about the technology in the classroom for Holly. She truly enjoys her students and watching their evolution. Her efforts to make her classes interactive and making sure that she is approachable to her students is effective, and appreciated by her fellow instructors and especially her students. Congratulations, Holly, and thank you for all you do.