Essentia Health, University of Minnesota forge nursing partnership

Essentia Health and the University of Minnesota School of Nursing announced a new partnership aimed at fostering creativity and innovation and improving the nursing pipeline.

The partnership, or collaboratory, is designed to be a nursing think tank and incubator for creativity and innovation to engage nursing faculty, staff and students. It will foster innovative educational experiences for University of Minnesota nursing students at Essentia, advance nursing knowledge to improve and support the health of individuals and their families, address workforce needs at Essentia by supporting a smooth transition of graduates into practice, and address shared problems as they emerge.

“The nursing collaboratory is a co-creation that formally acknowledges the interdependence of education and practice,” says Connie White Delaney, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, FNAP, dean of the School of Nursing. “By linking together we partner to directly and indirectly benefit our patients, their families and communities.” 

The partnership is part of Essentia Health’s pursuit of Journey Towards Magnet Nursing, which honors health care systems for creating and sustaining a culture of excellence, “with contented nurses at its heart.”

“This is a really innovative way to ensure we maintain adequate staff levels to continue providing high-quality care to our patients,” says Rhonda Kazik, DNP, RN, CENP, Essentia’s chief nursing officer. “By sitting at the same table as the University of Minnesota, this establishes a critical pipeline, not only to address staffing needs, but also to ensure we have some of the most skilled nursing students working in our facilities after graduation.”