SICP Member Interview: Marsha Holton, BS, CCRN, RCIS, FSICP, Takoma Park, Maryland

Marsha Holton, BS, CCRN, RCIS, FSICP, is the staff educator in the cardiac cath lab at Washington Adventist Hospital, and the Project Director for Educational Corners, an exciting project that will bring to the labs an on-site, computer-based, web-supported orientation and continuing education ergonomically structured workstation. She is currently on the SICP Board, part of the SICP/HMP Communications Regional Speakers Bureau, and on the Editorial Board of Cath Lab Digest (CLD) and Diagnostic Imaging and Review. Why did you choose to work in the invasive cardiology field? The world of invasive cardiology is particularly suited to critical care nurses. We like having everything at our fingertips to fix whatever problem our patients present with. What is the most bizarre case you have ever been involved in? There have been many, but one that comes to mind is when we had a set of identical twins 19-year-old men with the same pulmonary artery stenosis sent to the U.S. for treatment. We corrected both in the lab, without surgery. Where do you see yourself professionally when it is time to retire? That is pertinent because we are all getting closer to that age; however, I see myself and others like me continuing to be a resource and teacher, facilitating the growth and development of our field and its members. Anyone can feed someone dinner, but to teach him or her how to cook guarantees others a hot meal. Why did you choose to get involved with the SICP? Remember how the AACN was started? A group of nursing friends such as Joan Vitello and others were sitting around talking about making the critical care nursing field a better place and professionally supported. I was reminded of the story of that early AACN meeting in thinking of the beginning of the SICP. One meeting of friends led to another, then committee work. Early members of the SICP, like Robert Roth, Rae Ann Simmons, Brad Ferguson, and Chuck Barbiere helped form the SICP in much the same way as the AACN was formed. A group of friends worked toward making the world (of the cath lab professional) a better place. I also met Barbara Fabyan (the first Managing Editor of Cath Lab Digest), who was the most wonderful mentor and encouraged budding writers to enter the publishing world. One thing builds on another! Can you describe your role with the SICP? I originally helped to write the SICP Orientation Standards and Guidelines, as well as helped develop the roles and responsibilities of the editorial staff for the SICP section of CLD. I served as an assistant editor, then editor, always helping staff network and find educational and publishing opportunities. If I have a role, I could be called ˜Mom.’ Your work for the SICP is volunteer. What motivates you to continue? To be perfectly frank, I believe there is no bigger compliment than to have someone ask for your help. Not just to ask for your help, but to trust you with their needs. It is humbling to me. What is the biggest challenge you see regarding your role with the SICP? Being good enough to help. If you could send a message back to yourself at the beginning of your cath lab career, what advice would you give? Go to every educational meeting you can get to, from the very first day in the lab, you will learn from the best in the field, and what you don’t know, you will learn. (Especially since you don’t even know what you don’t know!) Are there any websites or texts you would recommend to other labs? There is a newer website out there called HealthStream.com, a wonderful nursing and radiology journal. Look for an abstract in this issue of CLD on Angiography by Nurses, originally run in the British Heart Journal and reprinted on HealthStream.com. As for texts, Ken Gorski (a SICP board member) helped to write Sandy Watson’s Invasive Cardiology: A Manual for Cath Lab Personnel (Physician’s Press, Birmingham, Michigan). Sue Apple’s Principles and Practices of Invasive Cardiology (Lippincott) also comes to mind as a good resource. What changes do you think will occur in the field of cardiology in the coming decades? Better, smaller, easier to use equipment, and in any artery that is in the body. We are becoming distance methodology-supported. But what won’t change is the patients who come to us for help. Helping them get better is what we are all about.

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