HealthPartners’ Fritz tells graduates nursing remains ‘the heartbeat of care’

The University of Minnesota School of Nursing celebrated the graduation of students in the Master of Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs at a commencement ceremony Dec. 19 at Northrop.

Melissa Fritz, DNP, RN, ACNS-BC, CENP, FAONL, vice president of Patient Care and chief nursing officer at Methodist Hospital part of the HealthPartners system, delivered the commencement address, noting that graduates are living in a defining moment for health care.

“You, the Class of 2025, you are the future of nursing. We need you now more than ever,” said Fritz. “We are witnessing rapid transformations in technology, population health needs, health care policy and equity. And through all of it, the heartbeat of care has remained and that is nursing.”

She encouraged graduates to stay curious, say yes to new opportunities, find a mentor, listen more than speak and embrace their wellbeing. 

“I want you to remember that you are not just entering a job, you are entering a calling. The world of nursing will challenge you in ways you have never experienced, but it will also reward you in ways you cannot yet imagine,” she said.

Gretchen Ritter, PhD, executive vice president and provost, told graduates America’s health systems need leaders like them. “You are now poised to transform the health and wellbeing of communities throughout Minnesota and beyond,” she said.

Dean Connie White Delaney, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, FNAP, told graduates they are inheriting a legacy created when Richard Olding Beard helped found the school within the university so that nurses weren’t just trained with skills but were more fully educated.

“Class of 2025, embrace the educated spirit within you and combine what you’ve brought to nursing with what you received at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing,” said White Delaney. “You will go forward and you will continue to shape nursing’s future, you will advance equitable health care, and improve the health and wellbeing of all and our planet.”

Master of Nursing graduate Sudha Setty, MPH, delivered the remarks on behalf of students, encouraging graduates to embrace both the science and caring aspects of nursing. 

“Numbers can tell the story of a disease but it takes hands-on work and a caring heart to help people heal,” she said.

She told graduates she has faith in nurses. “We are relentless in our caring, stubborn in our advocacy, resolute in our actions, and ready to use our hard-won skills – the hard ones and the soft ones – to build a better, healthier world for all of us,” said Setty.

Regent Robyn Gulley, MPP, conferred the degrees to the graduates.

School of Nursing Alumni Society Board President Savannah Zins, PhD, RN, celebrated the new alumni and introduced the Pinning Ceremony, a tradition in which faculty present new nurses with the school’s pin. The ceremony, which goes back more than 100 years, honors the entry of new nursing graduates into the profession. 

“As our newest graduates, you represent both the future of nursing and the School of Nursing’s legacy,” Zins said. “Graduates of the Class of 2025, you make us so proud. Congratulations.”

Watch the ceremony