Briefly

DNP program climbs to 18th in US News ranking

The University of Minnesota School of Nursing Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program rose to 18th in the 2022 U.S. News Best Graduate Schools rankings. The school tied with Ohio State University and University of Alabama Birmingham. The University of Minnesota’s DNP program is the largest full-time program in the county and offers 12 specialties.

Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, University celebrate 10-year partnership

On Dec. 10, 2020, the University of Minnesota School of Nursing and the Nursing School of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil commemorated and celebrated the signing of a new partnership agreement. The agreement is anchored in a commitment to scholarship and research.

Dean Connie White Delaney, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, FNAP, noted two unique aspects of the agreement at the virtual signing ceremony, including that it is the first time the school is signing a 10-year agreement and it is the first signing that was agreed to without a visit to the partner campus.

“Your visits to the University of Minnesota and sharing the depth and the breadth of your university and your commitment and vision are so compelling, we’re ready to commit,” said Delaney, noting the value of virtual tours and richness of the relationships built over the years.

“This agreement will be a great opportunity for us to share knowledge in nursing science,” said Professor Ana Maria Muller Magalhães, PhD. “We are happy with this partnership to promote coordination and exchange in research activities, academic publications, exchange of faculty members and students between our universities.”

School of Nursing 12th in NIH funding, 1st in Big Ten

With nearly $6 million in awards to the School of Nursing and Earl. E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing in 2020, the University of Minnesota ranked 12th in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding to schools of nursing.

The annual tabulation conducted by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research placed the University of Minnesota School of Nursing first among Big Ten Academic Alliance institutions and sixth among all public universities.

School of Nursing research is addressing health issues across the life span in local, state, national and global contexts. Its areas of excellence include health promotion among vulnerable populations, prevention and management of chronic health conditions, symptom management, and nursing informatics and systems innovation.

Class of ’20 honored with virtual commencement ceremony

The University of Minnesota School of Nursing celebrated the graduation of students at a virtual commencement ceremony, Dec. 18, 2020. Joanne Disch, PhD, RN, FAAN, School of Nursing professor ad honorem and American Academy of Nursing Living Legend, delivered the commencement address to graduates.

School of Nursing students in the Master of Nursing, Post-Baccalaureate and Post-Masters Certificate and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs graduated, as well as students in the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing Post-Baccalaureate Certificate and Master of Arts in Integrative Health and Wellbeing Coaching programs.

Disch congratulated graduates, noting they are entering or advancing in a profession that will ask much of them and give them much in return. “Nursing puts us in touch with being human. Without even asking, we are invited into the inner space of other people’s existence,” said Disch. “For where there was loneliness, suffering, the tolerable pain of cure or the solitary pain of permanent change, there is a need for the kind of human service we call nursing.”

Dean Connie White Delaney, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, FNAP, presented the graduates to Regent Kendall Powell, MBA, who conferred the degrees to the graduates.

“We deeply celebrate your accomplishments here at the University and our imaginations are filled with your potential upon graduation,” said Delaney. “You all stand ready to improve health and wellness when we need it the most. You are going to have a profound impact on our profession and on health care because of 2020, not in spite of it.”