Nursing

Dr. Fatima Arastu is a seasoned healthcare professional with over 21 years of experience, excelling in both clinical care and leadership roles within the industry. She holds a Doctorate in Nursing Practice from Johns Hopkins University, School of Nursing, emphasizing healthcare expertise. Dr. Arastu also obtained post master’s certification in education from the same institution. Additionally, she holds dual master's degrees in MSN and MBA from Holy Names University, showcasing her proficiency in both healthcare and leadership domains. Dr. Arastu is board-certified in nursing leadership (NEA-BC) and brings extensive experience in navigating the complexities of the healthcare sector. In 2023, she was recognized as an Advocacy Fellow of the American Nurses Association: California Advocacy Institute on Racism in Nursing Campaign, underscoring her commitment to addressing broader healthcare issues. Currently, Dr. Arastu serves as the Nurse Manager of Research Quality & Compliance at the Office of Research Patient Care Services at Stanford Health Care. Dr. Arastu's dedication to healthcare extends beyond her professional roles. Dr. Arastu founded the Bay Area Indian Nurses Association Chapter (BAINA) in California with a vision to advance nursing practice through mentorship, advocacy, education, and equity by bridging the realms of healthcare and leadership seamlessly for the betterment of nursing professionals and communities.

Teaching adult learners requires a shift in mental, emotional, and behavioral processes. Thus, advancing healthcare, nursing education, scholarship, and the art of teaching and learning become more meaningful when learners are prepared to think critically and practice safely as efficient, caring, and compassionate professionals. My teaching philosophy is inspired by pedagogical learning principles, and the QSEN framework, but built upon by ethics of caring, thus balancing the art of learning with the science of caring. In the past 7 years, I have held Nursing Professional Development Specialist positions with growing responsibilities in progressive care, Informatics, and Caring Science at Kaiser Permanente. One of my most significant achievements is becoming a Caritas Coach with the Caritas Coach Education Program®. My interest in transformative learning has led to my recent involvement in the ongoing research study “Evaluating changes in caring behaviors and perspectives of healthcare professionals with the Kaiser Permanente Caring Science Academy and my upcoming research publication on the “Art of Caring and Artificial Intelligence Technology.” These accomplishments highlight my unwavering commitment to guiding learners on their transformative journey toward achieving their personal and programmatic goals.

Dawkins is a registered nurse with 38 years of experience, a healthcare simulationist, a researcher, and an educator. Her teaching experience includes undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students. She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from the Northern California Consortium of California State University, a Master of Science in Nursing degree from California State University, Bakersfield, and a Bachelor of Science degree from City University of New York, Hunter College. The focus of her research is on the healthcare needs of communities and groups that have historically faced oppression, discrimination, and indifference.

Monika Eckfield, RN, MSN, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Nursing with expertise in psychiatric mental-health nursing, gerontological nursing, and community-based care. She earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from U.C. San Diego, her master's degree in gerontological nursing and case management at San Francisco State University, and her PhD in geropsychiatric nursing at U.C. San Francisco. Her research has focused on treatment and services for adults and older adults with hoarding disorder, and she has worked closely with county and city agencies, as well as non-profit agencies, to apply research findings to practice settings.

While at Cal State East Bay, Dr. Eckfield has collaborated with others to establish the Diversity in Nursing Task Force and to develop strategies to prepare a diverse nursing workforce for the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Dr. Linda Gregory earned her MSN and PhD from UCSF SON and her BSN from Holy Names University Oakland. She has over 40 years of nursing experience in various capacities: critical care, medical-surgical clinical instructor, nursing administration, and academia. Among her many leadership roles, Dr. Gregory facilitated Northern Kaiser Permanente’s Nurse Outreach Ambassador Program. She is the executive director of the Coalition for Nursing Careers in California (CNCC), co-founder of the Nurse-to-Nurse Initiative, and co-founder of UCSF School of Nursing's student-led Global Nursing Committee, each of which represents her commitment to contribute and advocate the significance and imperative to achieve diversity at all levels within the profession and supports her diversity research.

Dr. Kim has been a Professor in the Department of Nursing since 2001. Dr. Kim teaches adult health, health promotion, EBP research, and professional role development in nursing. Her research focuses on various fields involving quality and safety education for nurses (QSEN), clinical competency of senior nursing students and novice nurses, health outcomes of underserved older adults in the community, and symptom management and sleep studies in post-surgical patients. Recently, Dr. Kim evaluated the QSEN competency skills of novice nurses that participated in the transition program and found that newly licensed nurses perceived informatics as the most developed competency and patient-centered care as the least developed competency among six categories of QSEN competency skills. Dr. Kim aims to improve nursing values and standards by working closely with Quality Matter online and blended education. Dr. Kim is a Quality Matter (QM) certified reviewer and her preceptorship synthesis course has been QM certified.

Dr. Sahar Nouredini earned her BSN at California State University Sacramento and both her MSN/CNS in Community Health and International Nursing and PhD at the University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. Nouredini has been practicing nursing for 12 years and has been teaching for five years. She has practiced in multiple settings including as a bedside oncology nurse, home health nurse, public health nurse, and school nurse. She has also been fortunate enough to volunteer abroad.

Dr. Nouredini’s research interests include occupational and environmental health disparities related to chemical exposure, environmental justice, and school health.

Dr. Jenny Richardson was born and raised in Oakland, California. Her nursing career spans over 36 years and includes critical care, emergency, organ and bone marrow transplant, and nursing leadership experience. She earned her BSN from Samuel Merritt University, her MBA with an emphasis in Healthcare Administration from Strayer University-Jack Welch Executive Management Institute, and her DHA in Healthcare Quality and Data Analytics from Capella University. She trained as an Improvement Advisor at the Institute for Health Improvement and is Heartmath Certified.

Dr. Richardson’s educational philosophy is foundationally derived from her parents, who raised her to believe that getting a solid education was a bridge to a better life. She believes if one has the privilege to educate others, one must embrace the opportunity from a podium of service to others. She strives to make education not only academic but skill building and experiential endeavor broadening through thought exchange and communication of ideas. In her teaching, she leverages various methods, such as simulation and case studies to keep knowledge exchange engaging, thought-provoking, fun, and interesting so that students have successful learning opportunities to solidify real-life applications.

Dr. Aura Sanchez-Mundi is a double board-certified nurse practitioner living in the Bay Area. Her experience includes primary care, med surg, transplant, occupational health, addiction medicine, and pre-op anesthesia. She encourages her students to challenge themselves and enjoys empowering them to achieve their goals.

Dr. Sanchez-Mundi received her first bachelors in Latin American and Iberian Studies from UC Santa Barbara, Bachelor of Science in Nursing at New York University, Master of Science in Nursing with a specialty in Adult Geriatric Acute Care from New York University, and a Doctorate of Nursing Practice with a second specialty in Family Practice from Touro University California.

Dr. Joan Spicer has worked in health care operations for five decades, including acute care, ambulatory, and home health care. Her clinical focus is the continuum of care. She has participated at the federal, state, and county levels in developing strategic solutions for transitions in care. Dr. Spicer’s focus in the classroom has been health care finance and business administration. Dr. Spicer’s work is not only local but international. She has worked with nurses in five countries, most recently in Indonesia. She is on peer review panels for international journals. She is a published author and co-editor of three books. Dr. Spicer teaches and designs curricula for graduate programs and the Doctor of Nursing Practice program.

Dr. Alicia Swartz is a pre-tenure assistant professor of pediatric nursing at California State University, East Bay (CSUEB), a clinical researcher at the University of California San Francisco, and a practicing Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in Oakland, CA. She was recently awarded the title: “Changemaker in Family Planning” for her work exploring the training of nurses in sexual and reproductive health. Her current work has evolved to include the diversity, equity, and inclusion in nursing training programs. Dr. Swartz is a founder and co-chair of the Dismantling Racism in Nursing Education at CSUEB, and she has provided numerous trainings for nursing faculty on the topic of anti-racist pedagogy and its application in nursing.

Dr. Claire P. Valderama-Wallace utilizes a variety of participatory, reflective, and evidence-based methods to support individual and collective learning through a dynamic and inclusive learning environment that emphasizes the connection between critical thinking and action. Dr. Valderama-Wallace’s teaching philosophy is informed by her personal, academic, and professional experiences and is based in critical social theory (anti-racist, anti-colonial, and critical pedagogies). Her research interests lie at the intersection of nursing education, social justice, and public health.

After completing her bachelor’s degree in Physiological Sciences at UCLA, Dr. Valderama-Wallace completed her master’s in public health at George Washington University with an emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention. After working with the National Association of County and City Health Officials, Dr. Valderama-Wallace decided to pursue nursing and completed the Master’s Entry Program in Nursing at UCSF with a specialty in Community Health Nursing, Transformative Pedagogy. Dr. Valderama-Wallace completed her PhD at Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, UC Davis.  

Dr. Lynn Van Hofwegen is the founding director of the MSN program and former chair of the Department of Nursing. She received a BS in Nursing from Grand Valley State College in Michigan, an MS in Nursing from the University of Michigan and a Doctorate of Nursing Practice degree from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. Dr. Van Hofwegen has practiced as a clinical nurse in Adult and Pediatric Intensive Care and as a licensed Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in Pediatric Emergency and primary care. Dr. Van Hofwegen lived in Central America for six years where she worked in community health development and in teaching Transcultural Nursing to nursing students. Teaching responsibilities and interests include Leadership, Health Policy, Community Health, Pediatrics, and Global Health. Her research focus is on Latino Day Laborer family health, health disparities, and innovation in nursing education. Dr. Van Hofwegen has published her work on social justice, Latino health, innovative clinical placements, and nursing education. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International, The American Public Health Association, the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, and the Association of California Nurse Leaders. She is a Fulbright Specialist in Community Health and Education.

Dr. Van Hofwegen is passionate about community health, upstream thinking, social justice and diversity, and most importantly the education of nurse leaders.

Dr. Michelle Y. Williams has served as assistant professor at CSUEB since 2011 in the Nursing Department. Additionally, Dr. Williams is the Executive Director, Research and Health Equity at Stanford Health Care, and Clinical Assistant Professor in the Division of Primacy Care Population Health, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Williams holds a bachelors and master’s degree in nursing from Holy Names University, Oakland, California, and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in nursing science from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

Dr. Williams spent just under 30 years at Kaiser Permanente where she held a variety of roles prior to retiring in 2017, including national director of technology innovation research, maternal-child health director at the Kaiser Oakland Medical Center, and chief nurse executive at the Kaiser Richmond Medical Center. A longstanding health policy and health systems scientist, Williams has advanced health equity research, catalyzed clinical and systems transformation, and empowered stakeholders during her esteemed tenure at complex health care organizations and academic institutions, including the University of California, San Francisco, General Clinical Research Center; Alameda County Health System: Highland General Hospital; Telecare Mental Health Corporation, and the Veteran’s Health System: Sacramento Medical Center, to name a few.

Dr. Williams is the recipient of several Health Equity and Diversity, Inclusion and Equity (DEI) grant awards, co-author of numerous published articles on these subjects, co-investigator, or principal investigator on several clinical studies, and will soon launch a Health Equity and DEI grant award to support faculty and clinical staff led research across Stanford Medicine. Williams is the founder and current president of the Stanford Medicine Black Nurses Association Chapter of the National Black Nurses Association.