Alumni and Their Stories: 2000—2016

Danielle Moore-Griffeyjones  2001

Once I graduated in 2001, I worked at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center for 15 years in Orthopedics as a staff and charge nurse; worked for Kaiser Permanente for 2 years as an Assistant Manager and will graduate this summer with a MSN in Leadership Management.


Kristine Leroy 2001

Since graduation, I have worked at the Kaiser Permanente's Pediatric Oncology department. I am a pediatric oncology nurse since 2011.
In 2012, I had to move to France (where I was born) for family reasons. Because France doesn't recognize the US Nursing degree, I am studying nursing... Again!  I'll be able to practice nursing pretty much around the world with these 2 nursing degrees, my wish is to be able to do some humanitarian work.


Jonathan Freiberg 2002

Staff nurse at CPMC PAC campus
starting in MSICU
transferring to CVIU.  I retired 2013, too worn out at 67 to work bedside anymore.


Tina Hazelton 2002

Completed 2002 preceptorship at Bothin Burn Center-SF and was hired directly into this wonderful unit for over 10 years.  RN Case Management Coordinator at Novato Community Hospital -initiated Palliative Care Program.  In 2010 I transitioned to Case Management at Kaiser Permanente (San Rafael) and in 2014 transitioned to Quality and Transitions in Continuum of Care for Santa Rosa/Marin


Clarissa Locks 2002

Staff RN at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley, CA in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. RNC and SN III. Involved in Respiratory Improvement task force, Partnership Council and teamwork between departments. 


Randy Ruiz 2002

After graduation, I started in a new grad program for a few weeks at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Fortunately, I had a very supportive mentor. This was the perfect place for me to start my nursing career. If you had five patients there, it was often a very heavy load. I managed to survive a whole seven months there. Though I had a steep learning curve it provided a good foundation for my future nursing positions. I then worked for Kentfield Rehabilitation Hospital. We moved to Sacramento so we could afford to buy a house and I commuted back to Marin for another year.
I got a temporary position at "New Folsom" prison (CSP- Sac). I found that I enjoyed correctional nursing. I worked a juvenile hall in Sacramento for a short time and then to the Sacramento Sheriff Dept. Jail where I have worked as a staff nurse ll for over 9 years.


Susannah Woerner (Susannah O’Boyle) 2002

I have been nursing in so many different capacities since getting my degree. It was the best decision I ever made to get my RN degree.
 I use the CRITICAL THINKING skills I learned in Nursing school!!  I am forever grateful to COM!


Hazel Callahan (Hazel de Los Cientos) 2003

I have been a staff nurse at UC Davis medical center in Sacramento for 12 years. I worked in the orthopedic/trauma unit for 4 years and 8 years now in the GI lab as a conscious sedation nurse. I am active in our nursing practice council and help with our evidence based practice projects. I am always doing medical missions when I go home to the Philippines. I was certified in trauma nursing and now working on my GI certification. I just received an award for my role in Relationship based Care in nursing. I love my job as nurse and very proud to be part of the nursing community.


Kelly Guinn (Kelly Teixeira) 2003 

After graduation in 2003 I was hired at Kaiser Sacramento Labor and Delivery and Postpartum. I  became an on -call RN in Mom/Baby (postpartum.) I've been doing that for almost 8 years.  It's has been amazing for my family and I absolutely love my job.


Nancy Kraus 2003

Staff RN at UCSF Transplant Unit, Staff RN Marin General Surgical Unit. Clinical Manager Marin General Surgical Unit, Master’s Degree (MSN) from Dominican, Currently working as Home Care Infusion RN for Sutter Care at Home and loving every minute of it.


Roxana Oshiro 2003

I graduated in 2003 and shortly after that I was hired at Children's Hospital Oakland. I have been working there for the past 12 year as a Pediatric surgical nurse.


Aldona Valaitis 2003

Completed 1-year new grad program in the ICU at CPMC/Davies Campus immediately out of school. Joined Kaiser in San Rafael in the ICU in 2004; working there still, now an SNIV.  


Amy Fry 2006

I'm a Neonatal Intensive Care nurse at UCSF and I absolutely love it! 
I'm forever grateful to the College of Marin for all that it did for me to prepare for an extraordinary career.


Maynard Geisler 2006

Since graduating from College of Marin Nursing School, I have been a staff nurse at Marin General Hospital on the cardiac unit.


Barbara Gionet Hasson  2006

After graduating with an excellent nursing foundation from COM in 2006, I worked as a Med-Surg RN at Marin General for 4 years. I found that what I loved most was working with the elderly patients on my unit. This led me to UCSF's Gerontology Nurse Practitioner program.  After graduating in 2011, I accepted an Adjunct Faculty position at Dominican University of California, teaching a Gerontology Nursing clinical.  Currently, I work at California Pacific Medical Center's Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP), a delirium and functional decline program for inpatient older adults.  I am currently working on a plan to bring the principles of the HELP program to all other hospitals in the Sutter system. I also work as a Dermatology NP at the Veteran's Administration. My volunteer work currently includes RotaCare Clinic, providing urgent care at a free clinic serving an underserved, primarily Spanish-speaking population in San Rafael. I am grateful for the excellent nursing education I received at College of Marin. Heartfelt congratulations to COM Nursing for its 50th anniversary!


Andrea Leonard (Andrea Soule) 2006

After nursing school I was in a NICU new grad program at California Pacific Medical Center-California campus. I spent 6 years there as a Staff Nurse II. I resigned when I was 35 weeks pregnant and decided to stay home with my family. After 3 years as a stay at home mom, I went back to work and was hired as a per diem Staff Nurse II at Kaiser Santa Rosa in their NICU. I love being a nurse and the flexibility it has allowed me.


Lizann O’Malley 2006 

I worked at the San Francisco VA Medical Center on the Oncology /Med Surg floor for 10 years and recently retired. I was a key leader in the Johnson & Johnson year long, nationwide nursing study TCAB (Transforming Care at the Bedside) and spoke at several conferences regarding this work. I was a unit peer leader and train the trainer in developing our floor to be the ACE Unit of the hospital (Acute Care of the Elderly).


Ismael Torres 2006 

Worked at Kaiser, ICU and then transferred to Perioperative services. Then worked at other Surgery centers at SF, Larkspur and Novato. I went back to school, Sonoma State University, to get BSN. Now I work at Advanced Surgery Institute as an interim lead nurse, in Santa Rosa. There I also function as the fire safety officer.   


Leslie Evatz 2008 

Worked at a skilled nursing facility in Phoenix. Now i work at a Dr office/urgent care in Tahoe. In the winter i work at two different ski resorts in the medical clinic. I have amazing coworkers and enjoy my job. I like having a relationship with the ongoing patients and enjoy fixing broken people at the urgent care clinic. I have work there for 5 years and plan on staying quite a while.


Lelah Levin 2008 

I went straight into ICU as a new grad at Kaiser San Rafael. In 2010 I was hired in CVICU at UCSF, the same year I finished my BSN at SSU. I was recently hired as the heart transplant coordinator at UCSF and will enter an ACNP program fall 2017. Looking forward to advancing my career. Thank you!


Christina Lowney 2008 

From July 2008 to Feb 2009 (8 months, right after graduation) I worked as an ICU RN at Kaiser, San Rafael - I was an RN II when I quit - it was likely the worst 8 months of my life (hazing by staff I had known/worked alongside as a Unit Asst and Staffer 4 years prior to my nursing job) - I am no longer practicing - I quit to take care of my parents.  I keep my license current but will likely never get the opportunity to practice again. 


Molly Donahoe Pierce 2008 

My first job right out of COM Nursing Program was as an RN at On-Site Healthcare, Inc., where I travelled all over the Bay Area with a flu-shot clinic, I worked at Google, Restoration Hardware, and a Biotech Firm in Hercules as a Flu- shot RN. I then worked at MGH for Radiology (as a receptionist) while looking for any place that would hire a new grad. I was next hired at The Greenbrae Care Center (SNF) and worked as a floor RN and eventually got promoted to Nurse Supervisor after a year.  After two years there, I worked as an RN at San Quentin State Prison for a few months. I worked in the hospital and in all the nursing clinics within the prison blocks. I wore my scrubs and stethoscope and a bullet proof vest sometimes and was always protected by heavily armed officers. 
After that brief but memorable experience as a Prison RN, I was offered a position at Kentfield Hospital as an RN. I have been with Kentfield for 5 1/2 years now Every day is an adventure at Kentfield and every day is different. I'm glad that I get to have a few different rolls with this Hospital. It keeps things interesting!


Zuhra Reiss 2008 

After graduation I worked at a sub- acute facility and podiatry office. From March 2011-July 2015 I worked in Fresno Ca on a post-partum floor. I commuted from Marin to Fresno all those years.
I am currently in San Fran at Kaiser on the post-partum floor working .8 (part time) and super happy with not having to commute anymore!


Christy Bill  2002 

Immediately after completing the LVN to RN program, I continued to work as an LVN in skilled nursing facilities. After a year, I took my RN boards, passed, and received my license in 2003. In the Spring of 2004 I accepted a position as a staff RN at Petaluma Valley Hospital in the ICU. In 2007, I took a position as a staff RN at Stanford Hospital. I received ADN 2009.  Subsequently, I accepted a teaching position in an academic environment teaching Vocational Nursing students and what would be the start of a 6 year academic career in educational administration, teaching, and management. As of recent, I am currently interviewing for a Nurse Case Manager for UCSF at the UCSF Mission Bay Children's Hospital. 


Phil Krieger 2009 

Hired at May 2010 at St. Helena Hospital, Center for Behavioral Health in Vallejo as a psych nurse for 6 years. Promoted to Floor Supervisor.  


Al Davies 2010 

medical surgical RN at UCSF for 5 years post-graduation.


Genevera Wells 2010 

I got my first nursing job in a local rehab center a few months after graduation.  I moved back to my home state of New Mexico so I could get real hospital experience. I got a job on a surgical stepdown unit and worked there for a little over a year. This hospital did not have a nursing union and I had 10 patients at a time! It was a very good experience and I really loved my coworkers. I happened to be visiting the Bay Area when a friend of mine told me Marin General was hiring on the Surgical unit and I should come in and meet the managers. It ended up being a full interview and I was hired out of 320 applicants! I have been at MGH now almost three years now. I have learned a lot and grown a lot as a RN . I feel so fortunate to have this job and I wish all the future graduates good luck in getting into the jobs that they want!


Theresa Henderson 2012 

RN, part-time in Phase III cardiac rehab. Current student, RN-BSN program, San Francisco State University.
Owner, Terri Henderson Associates, Private practice massage therapy, bodywork and health education. 


Indie Mari 2012 

I graduated from COM with my RN in the May of 2012. I moved out of the state, as I had difficulty finding an acute care nursing job as a new grad. I moved to Jackson Hole, WY and worked at the local hospital on a very demanding floor for 6 months. During my time in Wyoming, I gained 3 years of experience in critical and acute care, and graduated from University of Wyoming with my BSN.  The journey has been tear jerking and long, but I am very grateful. I can't express how wonderful COM was for me and my daughter, nor can I imagine getting my nursing degree anywhere else. It was one of the best decisions of my life. It truly saved me!


Ingrid Scozzafava 2012 

I'm a staff nurse at UCSF and I work as a labor and delivery nurse. I was lucky enough to enroll from a administrative job into a nursing position right after graduation and have enjoyed my learning experience tremendously. I'm In the process of enrolling back into a online college to obtain my bachelor’s degree to broaden my options concerning future job adventures.


Lori Davidovitz 2013

After graduation I continued my nursing education at Sonoma State and graduated with my BSN in 2014.
While working and studying for my BSN, I worked as an RN at Petaluma Post-Acute Rehab as a floor nurse for one year. I then got a job as a floor nurse in Acute Rehab at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.  I am learning more and more each day. I love being a floor nurse. I also do community service as a Bridge Watch Angel on the Golden Gate Bridge, I have worked at flu clinics volunteering at San Rafael Community Health. I am a member of the Sigma Theta Tau International, Honor Society of Nursing. I have also been Nationally certified through my work at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in Traumatic Brain Injury.


Molly Elizabeth Haro (Molly Elizabeth Ogden) 2013

I graduated from College of Marin in 2013. I completed the RN-BSN program through SSU and graduated with my BSN in May 2014. My very first RN job was as a Staff Nurse at Petaluma Health Center. After I graduated from SSU I applied to the Nurse Residency Program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville Tennessee. It was the best choice I ever made. My first choice was to be placed in Labor and Delivery- and I was one of 3 chosen out of over 2500 applicants for L&D. I moved to Nashville in June of 2014. I worked there a year, and began applying for jobs in California over summer 2015. I got accepted by Kaiser SF and began working there in September 2015. This is where I am currently working.


Alison Moore (Allison Holloway) 2013 

I am an RN in community nursing, at the Marin Community Clinic Hospital positions were few and far between and I was thrilled to be working as an RN so soon after graduation, and especially to be working alongside such an amazing group of people who make up the Marin Community Clinics staff. I have now been on staff, full time, for the past 18 months.  My role as a family practice RN combines the nursing skills I learned at COM, with the admin skills I already possessed from my earlier career. As a clinic RN, I work a regular day shift, with frequent overtime, but get weekends and holidays off. I work with adults, children and pregnant mothers. Community Nursing will become ever more valuable as we try and control healthcare costs by educating our community and encouraging people to stay healthy and fit. As a clinic RN, I never know what situations I might have to deal with from day to day, but I go home each evening feeling certain that I really have been able to make a positive difference to my patients.


Norman Langlois 2014 

I was unable to find a job in the Bay Area and so followed three of my classmates to Bismarck North Dakota where I spent a year working on a Medical Oncology floor. In 2015 I was hired to work in Med-Surg at Sutter Solano Medical Center in Vallejo where I worked for 13 months. In January of 2017 I started work on the Medical Unit at Marin General Hospital. I became certified in Chemotherapy/Biotherapy while in Bismarck and am very interested in pursuing a wound care certification. Currently I am working toward my BSN with Grand Canyon University.


Kelly Painter 2014 

I am currently completing the Emergency Nursing Training Program at San Francisco General Hospital. I have worked in acute psych nursing and spent some time as a house supervisor at a 92 bed acute psychiatric hospital. I also spent a year working med/surg before starting at SFGH.


Sue Smith  2014 

I went to work for Kentfield Hospital soon after getting my RN license in 2014 and am still working there. I was able to be a superviser and co-educator when they transitioned to EMR in 2015.


Jessica Deming 2015 

Still waiting to leave my mark as a new grad!


Patricia Dorward 2015 

I am currently a new RN graduate working on completing certifications and looking for training programs/jobs. My goal is to advance into Pediatric Oncology.


Kasie Rau 2015 

I did two clinical rotations at Kentfield Hospital: Med Surg and Neurology. I did my 120 hrs of preceptorship at Kentfield Hospital and interviewed during this time for a position at Kentfield. The Director of Nursing said as soon as I pass my NCLEX to come back and I would be hired. I started working as an RN at Kentfield Hospital on Aug 24, 2015.


Steven Santos 2015 

After graduation and passing the NCLEX exam, I struggled with finding a job. I eventually worked at a skilled nursing facility for a couple months until my fellow graduate told me to send her my resume and she gave it to the Director of Nursing at Kentfield Hospital. I have worked there since April 2016 and approximately 12-15 of my fellow classmates also worked there which has made for an enjoyable experience!  I would love to work with children and my 5+ years of being a stay-at-home dad have prepared me for that role. That is the dream that I am working towards.


Julia Skinner 2015 

After graduating in May, 2015 I completed the Sonoma State Transition Into Practice program at Marin General Hospital on the L&D/postpartum unit. Upon completed of this program I accepted a full time position on the unit - a DREAM come true!
I am also completing my BSN through the Sonoma State Bridge program, and am set to earn this degree in May 2016.


Caitlin White 2015 

During my nursing program at COM, I was accepted into the bridge program with Sonoma State University.  I took the NCLEX in June and passed. I accepted a position as Registered Nurse at Kindred Smith Ranch in San Rafael. I started working there beginning of August 2015. I also decided to take a TNCC certification class, which is helpful and necessary for nurses who want to work in trauma centers or the ER and is good for 4 years, which is eventually my goal.