Angelina Flores-Montoya is an RWJF Nursing and Health Policy Collaborative Fellow. Angelina was born in California and has lived in Albuquerque since grade school. She attended the University of New Mexico, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in 2004 and a Master of Science in Nursing degree, with a concentration in Education, in 2010. Angelina has been accepted into UNM’s Health Policy PhD program to begin in May 2014 and received a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nursing and Health Policy Collaborative fellowship.

Angelina’s nursing career began in 1999 as a licensed practical nurse working in a long-term care facility, which sparked her interest in and commitment to the aging population. Her nursing specialties include long-term care, perianesthesia, and surgical care. In 2008, she began her path as an educator by teaching nursing students at a community college. In 2010, she joined the faculty at the University of New Mexico-Taos, where she taught didactic and clinical courses, assisted in the school’s initial accreditation process, and participated in the New Mexico Nursing Education Consortium, streamlining nursing education across the state. Most recently, she lived in Seattle, working as a Professional Development Specialist, where she designed five nurse residency program curricula for nurses transitioning to a new practice specialty and developed a sustainable annual competency program for procedural teams.

Angelina’s experiences in urban and rural settings at the bedside and in nursing education have offered opportunities to be involved in policy work at the local and state levels. She recognizes it is essential for nurses to be involved in policy work at every level to impact changes in health care. Her research interests include access to care in rural areas, delivery of care to the aging population, and cost-effectiveness in health care. She is enthusiastic about completing her PhD studies at UNM as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nursing and Health Policy Collaborative fellow.