Kimberly Lindquist has only ever wanted to do one thing.
Lindquist is a life-time resident of Monroe County. She’s married, has two children and a grandchild. She loves to read, exercise – particularly running, and is an avid deer hunter with a gun or bow. She loves all of these things, but what she is most passionate about is nursing.
“I can recall wanting to be a nurse for as long as I can remember. I never really had any interest in doing anything else besides being a nurse,” Lindquist said. “It’s always been nursing since the very beginning.”
Lindquist, who is taking over next week as dean of MCCC’s Health Sciences Divison, has been a nurse for twenty years.
She graduated from MCCC’s own program in 1992 before going on to earn her bachelor’s degree from Eastern Michigan University and her master’s from University of Toledo.
“I graduated with my ADN degree from MCCC 20 years ago, and thanks to that fundamental nursing education, have enjoyed a very diverse and successful nursing career,” Lindquist said after she was promoted last month.
After earning her master’s degree, Lindquist was hired by Henry Ford Community College. She worked at HFCC for four years, teaching a variety of courses including Medical Surgical I, II, and Leadership/Management, and obtaining tenure.
“I thought I had found the position I was going to be in for quite some time” said Lindquist.
Soon after gaining tenure, Lindquist learned of an opening at MCCC.
“Even though I had obtained my tenure status at HFCC, being a Monroe County resident and an MCCC graduate, and having the utmost respect for this program, I decided to make the jump, leave a tenured position, and start over here,” Lindquist said.
Lindquist was hired by MCCC as an assistant professor of Nursing last year.
“It was a good decision and one I don’t regret at all,” Lindquist said.
Besides teaching, Lindquist has done many things during her career, including a six-month stint as a medical surgical nurse.
“It’s a very diverse career. That’s the nice thing about nursing, you can do a lot of different things,” Lindquist said.
The majority of her time has been spent working in the emergency room.
“At heart, I’m an emergency room nurse, and always have been and always will be,” Lindquist said. “I’ve spent about 11 or 12 years working in the emergency room, and until very recently I was still working in the emergency room as a contingent nurse.”
She starts her new position as dean of Health Sciences Division and Director of Nursing at MCCC on May 1.
“I have experience teaching. I’ve spent a lot of time in the classroom, so I’m pretty well-versed when it comes to teaching strategies, student-centered learning, some of those things that are very important to today’s college student,” Lindquist said.
Lindquist also has experience working in an administrative role. She spent four years on the nursing evaluation committee at HFCC, contributed to the college’s Self-Study Report, and helped with its program accreditation; she also had extensive administrative experience from her time as a nurse.
“I was the director of nursing at a long-term care facility for a period of four years. I had some administrative responsibilities in that environment, so I have a good understanding of employee dynamics and what it takes to lead and manage a group of professionals; so I think that is helpful as well,” she said.
Lindquist has plenty of work ahead of her in her new job. The most pressing issue is an overhaul of MCCC’s nursing program to ensure it stays accredited.
“We are a fully accredited program, but we do have some areas we have to address,” she said. “The faculty is working very hard on a complete curricular revision and update, so that really is the priority right now.”
“I’m a graduate of this program, so I am certainly invested in the program. I’m also a community member. The success of this program is very important to me.”
Lindquist went on to praise her faculty.
“I feel very fortunate to be here at this community college, stepping into a leadership role. I have to compliment the faculty here. They work very hard. They’re very passionate about the program,” she said.
“This has been a reputable program for many years and they are adamant in maintaining that reputation. They’re a big reason why I became interested in becoming the dean of Health Sciences,” she said.
Lindquist said she it was important to her that the faculty was collaborative, cooperative and supportive of the nursing program.
“It’s not without challenge,” she said. “But they’ve done a phenomenal job and will continue to work together and move the program in the right direction.”
