Title:Reflections on Health with Carol Holland (N’60)

Growing up, I always wanted to be a nurse. But first, I had to go to college. I only applied to two schools: Duke and Georgetown—and was accepted by both. I chose Georgetown because it was the closest to my hometown of Freehold, N.J.

During senior year, I had three months of pediatric nursing at District of Columbia General Hospital, three months of tuberculosis nursing at Glendale Sanatorium, and three months of psychiatric nursing at Seton Institute.

After graduation I worked for two years at a 5,000-bed state mental institution in New Jersey. Almost everybody that walked in the door received 20 shock treatments. I was there when we first started administering tranquilizers and that made a big difference, as did President Kennedy’s Community Mental Health Act of 1963. I was promoted to head nurse on the women’s admission unit and worked with a young doctor from Ireland and a clinical director from Scotland. We turned two onsite buildings into men’s and women’s intensive treatment units with the goal of getting patients discharged in 90 days. We accomplished our goal and I left to join the Air Force.

I worked in mental health at Travis Air Force Base hospital in California for two years. I then returned to New Jersey and joined the New Jersey Air National Guard. I was one of the first four full-time Air National Guard nurses in the country.

When the Vietnam war ended, I went back to school and earned a master’s degree in community health nursing. In 1978 I moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming to work as a public health nursing consultant with the Wyoming State Health Department.

I completed 20 years of Air Force Reserve service with the Wyoming Air National Guard, but stayed on for another 10 years to work with the U.S. Air Force Academy and Wyoming Air Force ROTC.

Since retiring in 1985, I’ve stayed involved in my community. I really enjoy volunteering for Cheyenne Frontier Days pancake breakfast hosted by the Cheyenne Kiwanis Club. During Frontier Week, the last full week of July, we served as many as 10,000 people per day. Sometimes people lined the streets for three blocks.

I also chair the Wyoming Georgetown Alumni Admissions Program (AAP) Committee. There are six Wyoming AAP members. One of my first interviewees returned to Wyoming after graduating from Georgetown and joined the AAP. He went on to serve in the Wyoming Legislature for 20 years and continues as an AAP member. I often interview nursing school applicants. It’s my privilege to recommend bright young people who will carry on the tradition of outstanding Georgetown nursing care.