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CHRISTINA WOLINE

DNP STUDENT

When Christina Woline arrived at Iowa Wesleyan College as a
freshman on a volleyball scholarship, she was contemplating two
majors: accounting and nursing. “The day I visited I checked out both
departments, and everyone I met in nursing was so warm and welcoming
that it made my decision easy,” says Christina, who grew up in a rural
farming community in Western Illinois. She moved through the program
with just three other students, graduating with the BSN in 2004.

A career at the University of Iowa Healthcare

Christina began her nursing career at the University of Iowa Healthcare
(UIHC), to which she was drawn to for its strong reputation as a leading
academic medical center. She joined the neuroscience inpatient unit as a
staff nurse, inspired to learn more about brain diseases like the aggressive
form of brain cancer that her grandmother battled before she passed away.
After a few years, she was promoted to assistant nurse manager of the
same unit.
After a few years in the role, Christina was approached to take on
educating the nursing department on the new Medication Dispensing
Cabinets that were being installed throughout the entire hospital. She
became the educational lead for this project. As it progressed, she
began working on new hire orientation programs splitting time between
developing and evaluating staff educational needs and delivering the
education itself. During that time, she completed the University of Iowa’s
MSN nursing education program as well. “As I’d made that transition from
assistant nurse manager to the staff development role for the automated
cabinets, I acquired a love of teaching others,” Christina says. “That’s what
led me into the master’s: a desire to become a better educator and open
up those opportunities.”

Clinical education

During her MSN program, Christina became familiar with the life of a
clinical educator at UIHC. As soon as she graduated, she joined UIHC’s
Nursing Clinical Education Center as a nursing practice leader—a role
she has held ever since. “We look at the macro of the hospital system and
oversee the delivery of education to the entire institution,” she says, adding
that her department partners with the University of Iowa’s College of
Nursing. “My role is onboarding new hires and making sure all staff receive
the professional development and educational opportunities they want and
need.”
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