Susan O’Conner-Von, PhD, RN-BC, CNE, FNAP

Susan O’Conner-Von, PhD, RN-BC, CNE, FNAP, is a Professor in the School of Nursing. A distinguished Professor and holder of the Katherine R. & C. Walton Lillehei Chair in Nursing Leadership, boasts an extensive background as a practicing nurse, specializing in pediatric pain management, intensive care, and palliative care. Her impactful contributions span a program of research, teaching, and service activities, with a central emphasis on holistic pain and palliative care, underscoring her commitment to interprofessional and inclusive healthcare. Driven by a passion for nursing research and professional development, she fosters a profound connection with her students, inspiring them to deliver compassionate and equitable patient care while nurturing their own lifelong learning.

Beyond academia, she has notably pioneered the use of therapy dogs in hospice care and volunteered extensively with hospice organizations. Having dedicated 33 years to Children’s Hospital in St. Paul, Dr. O'Conner-Von's exceptional contributions have earned her numerous awards, culminating in her induction into the University of Minnesota Academy of Distinguished Teachers. Her academic interests encompass children's care with chronic health conditions, pediatric pain, palliative care, ethics, and spirituality. Through her research endeavors, she has explored topics such as spiritual care barriers, expert critical-care nurses' thinking processes, parent decision-making for premature neonates, and integrative health approaches for pediatric pain and palliative care. As a testament to her expertise, Dr. O’Conner-Von serves on the editorial board of Pain Management Nursing, where her insights continue to shape the field.

Academic Interests and Focus

• Care of Children with Chronic Health Conditions
• Pediatric Pain
• Palliative Care
• Ethics
• Spirituality

• Katherine R., & C. Walton Lillehei Chair in Nursing Leadership, 2022
• Distinguished Fellow, National Academies of Practice, 2020
• President's Award, American Society for Pain Management Nursing, 2020
• Excellence in Practice, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Nurses Alumni Award, 2020
• Outstanding Nurse Educator , Mpls St. Paul Magazine, 2019
• Outstanding Contributions to Graduate and Professional Education, University of Minnesota, 2019
• Dr. Jo Eland Excellence in Pediatric Nursing Award, American Society for Pain Management Nursing, 2017
• Certified Hospice and Palliative Pediatric Nurse of the Year, Hospice and Palliative Credentialing Center, 2016
• The Daisy Faculty Award for Exceptional Mentorship, The Daisy Foundation, 2013
• Distinguished Alumni Award, Mt. Mercy University, 2011
• Pain Research Methodologies Boot Camp Participant, NIH/NINR, 2011
• Innovator's Award: Excellence in Nursing Education, University of Minnesota School of Nursing, 2011
• Nurse of the Year: Palliative and Hospice Care, March of Dimes, 2010
• E. Louise Grant Award for Excellence in Nursing , University of Minnesota School of Nursing, 2010
• Ellen Rudy Clore Excellence in Research Writing Award, Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 2009
• Nurse Educator Award, Minnesota Nurses Association, 2007
• Public Service Award, University of Minnesota School of Nursing, 2006
• APSMN Research Poster Award, American Society for Pain Management Nursing, 2006
• Excellence in Nursing Education, University of Minnesota School of Nursing, 2004
• Award of Merit – Research Poster Presentation, AORN Congress, Anaheim, CA, 2002
• First Susan Schmidt Memorial Achievement Award, Upper Midwest Chapter of ASPMN, 2001
• ASPMN Members’ Choice Poster Award, American Society for Pain Management Nursing, 2000
• Katherine Densford Dreves Research Award, Minnesota Nurses Association, 1999
• Kellogg Foundation Award, Rush University, Chicago, IL., 1995
• Kellogg Foundation Award, Rush University, Chicago, IL., 1994
• Professional Nurse Traineeship, University of Minnesota, 1992
• Pi Lamda Theta, University of Minnesota, 1983
• Professional Nurse Traineeship, University of Minnesota, 1982
• Sigma Theta Tau, University of Minnesota, 1982

• American Society for Pain Management Nursing
• American Society for Pain Management Nursing, National Research Committee
• American Nurses Association
• Hospice and Palliative Care Nurses Association
• Midwest Nursing Research Society
• Minnesota Nurses Association
• Minnesota Network of Hospice & Palliative Care, Board of  Directors
• Minnesota Network of Hospice & Palliative Care, Chair - Education Committee
• National League for Nursing
• Sigma Theta Tau Member, Zeta Chapter

Eull, D., Looman, W., & O’Conner-Von, S. (2023). Transforming acute pain management in children: A concept analysis to develop a new model of nurse, child and parent partnership. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 00, 1– 11. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.16625

Bennett, F. B., & O'Conner-Von, S. (2022). Continuous commitment: long-term care RNs' experience communicating with residents and their families about end-of-life care preferences. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 48(11), 29–36. https://doi.org/10.3928/00989134-20221003-08

Hagstrom, S., O’Conner-Von, S., & Tracy, M. F. (2022). Survey of nurses’ use of the Clinically Aligned Pain Assessment (CAPA) tool. Pain Management Nursing, 23(5), 568-575.

Hagstrom, S., O’Conner-Von, S., Mathiason, M., & Tracy, M. F. (2022). Nurses’ use of the Clinically Aligned Pain Assessment (CAPA) tool. Pain Management Nursing, 23(4), 377-384.

Bennett, F., Hadidi, N., & O’Conner-Von, S. (2021). End-of-life care communication in long-term care between nurses and older adult residents: A critical review of qualitative research. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 47(7), 43-49.

O’Conner-Von, S., & Turner, H. (2021). Male Infant Circumcision Pain Management: Position Statement. Retrieved from www.aspmn.org American Society for Pain Management Nursing.

Smith, E. C., Kaur, A.,  Gach, K. Z., Terveen, L., Mary Jo Kreitzer, M. J., & O'Conner-Von, S. (2021). What is spiritual support and how might it impact the design of online communities? Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 5, no. CSCW1, 1-42. https://doi.org/10.1145/3449117

O’Conner-Von, S., & Bennett, F. (2020). A focus group study of long term care nurses and their experience with patient and families’ end of life preferences. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 46(12), 23-29.

Smith, C. E., Levonian, Z., Ma, H., Giaquinto, R., Lein-McDonough, G., Li, Z., O'Conner-Von, S., & Yarosh, S. (2020). "I Cannot Do All of This Alone": Exploring Instrumental and Prayer Support in Online Health Communities. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 27(5), 38. https://doi.org/10.1145/3402855

Bennett, F., O'Conner-Von, S. (2020). Communication Interventions to Improve Goal-Concordant Care of Seriously Ill Patients: An Integrative Review. Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing, 22(1), 40-48. https://doi.org/10.1097/NJH.0000000000000606

Meghani, N., Tracy, M. F., O'Conner-Von, S., Hadidi, N. N., Mathiason, M. A., Lindquist, R. (2020). Generating Evidence of Critical Care Nurses' Perceptions, Knowledge, Beliefs, and Use of Music Therapy, Aromatherapy, and Guided Imagery. Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing, 39(1), 47-57. https://doi.org/10.1097/DCC.0000000000000391

Kalb, K. A., O'Conner-Von, S. (2019). Holistic Nursing Education: Teaching in a Holistic Way. Nursing Education Perspectives, 40(3), 162-164. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000000405

O'Conner-Von, S. (2019). Integrative Nursing Management of Grief. In Kreitzer, M. J., & Koithan, M. (Eds.), Integrative Nursing (pp. 334-349). Oxford Press.

O'Conner-Von, S., & Heck, C. (2018). Complementary and integrative therapies for pain management. In Czarnecki, M., & Turner, H. (Eds.), Core curriculum for pain management nursing (pp. 505-532). Elsevier.

Pruinelli, L., Ma, S., Westra, B. L., Johnson, S. G., O'Conner-Von, S., & Speedie, S. M. (2018). Multiple Factors Drive Opioid Prescribing at the Time of Discharge. In Annual Symposium proceedings. AMIA Symposium, 2018 (pp. 916-921).

Kamrath, H., O'Conner-Von, S., Needle, J.S., Osterholm, E.A., George, T., & Stover-Haney, R. (2017). Lasting Legacy: Maternal Perspectives on Perinatal Palliative Care (FR419D). Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 53, 359.

O'Conner-Von, S. (2018). Animal-assisted Therapy. In Lindquist, R., Tracy, M., & Snyder, M. (Eds.), Complementary & Alternative Therapies in Nursing (pp. 225-246). Springer Publications.

Stevens, M., O'Conner-Von, S. (2016). Parent Coping with Adolescent Trichotillomania. The Journal of School Nursing, 32(6), 423-435.

Kalb, K. A., O'Conner-Von, S. K., Brockway, C., Rierson, C. L., & Sendelbach, S. (2015). Evidence-based Teaching Practice in Nursing Education: Faculty Perspectives and Practices. Nursing Education Perspectives, 36(4), 212-219. https://doi.org/10.5480/14-1472

Quinlan-Cowell, A., & O'Conner-Von, S. (2014). Shifting the Paradigm of Pain. Southern Pain Society Journal, 2-3.

O'Conner-Von, S. (2014). Spirituality in Children. In Kline, N. E. (Ed.), Essentials of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nursing: A Core Curriculum (4th ed.). Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses.

Twycross, A., & O'Conner-Von, S. (2014). Education for Paediatric Pain. In McGrath, P., Stevens, B., & Zempsky, W. (Eds.), The Oxford Textbook of Paediatric Pain (2nd ed., pp. 653-660). Oxford University Press.

O'Conner-Von, S. (2014). Animal-assisted Therapy. In Lindquist, R., Snyder, M., & Tracy, M. (Eds.), Complementary & Alternative Therapies in Nursing (pp. 229-252). Springer Publications.

O'Conner-Von, S., & Turner, H. N. (2013). American Society for Pain Management Nursing Position Statement: Male Infant Circumcision Pain Management. Pain Management Nursing, 14(4), 379-382. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmn.2011.08.007

Reeder, C., LeGrand, A., & O'Conner-Von, S. (2013). The Effect of Fenugreek on Milk Production and Prolactin Levels in Mothers of Preterm Infants. Clinical Lactation, 4(4), 159-165.

O'Conner-Von, S. (2022, March). How Can Technology Better Support Spiritual Care? Presented at the Spiritual Care Association: Caring for the Human Spirit Virtual International Conference, Virtual.

O'Conner-Von, S. (2019, May). Pediatric Workshop: Integrative Care at End of Life. Presented at the Integrative Nursing Conference, Galway, Ireland.

O'Conner-Von, S., Hagstrom, S., & Tracy, M. F. (2022, October). Nurses’ Use of the CAPA Tool: A Mixed Methods Study. Presented at the American Society for Pain Management Nursing Conference, Minneapolis, MN. Virtual.

O'Conner-Von, S. Smith, Estelle. (2022, September) How Can Technology Better Support Spiritual Care? MN Network of Hospice and Palliative Care. Virtual.

Award: Spiritual Care Barriers to Serious Illness and End of Life Care in the Muslin Community
Co-Principal Investigator: O'Conner-Von, Susan K
Sponsoring Organization: University of Minnesota, Community Health Collaborative
Award Dates: 2020 - 2022

Award: Learning How Expert Critical Care Nurses Think: An Action Approach
Principal Investigator: Peden-McAlpine, Cynthia
Sponsoring Organization: American Assoc of Critical-Care Nurses
Award Dates: 2020 - 2022

Award: Learning How to Think From Expert Nurses: The Power of Practice Narratives
Principal Investigator: Peden-McAlpine, Cynthia
Sponsoring Organization: Minnesota Nurses Association
Award Dates: 2019 - 2023

Award: Good Parent Values Based Decision-Making for Premature Neonates
Co-Investigator: O'Conner-Von, Susan
Sponsoring Organization: University of Minnesota Department of Neonatalogy
Award Dates: 2018 - 2021

Award: Advance Care Planning and Goals of Care for Represented and Unrepresented Older Prisoners
Principal Investigator: O'Conner-Von, Susan K
Sponsoring Organization: The Rita & Alex Hillman Foundation
Award Dates: 2018 - 2021

Award: The Experience of Nurses in Long Term Care and Patients’ End of Life Decision Making
Principal Investigator: O'Conner-Von, Susan K
Sponsoring Organization: University of Minnesota School of Nursing Foundation
Award Dates: 2019 - 2020

Award: Nurses’ Use of the CAPA Tool
Co-Investigator: O'Conner-Von, Susan K
Sponsoring Organization: Fairview Health
Award Dates: 2017 - 2021

Award: Northeast MN AHEC-Rural Health Workforce Development Pro
Principal Investigator: O'Conner-Von, Susan K
Sponsoring Organization: Northeast MN Area Health Education Ctr
Award Dates: 2013 - 2014

Award: Rural Health Workforce Development Program
Principal Investigator: O'Conner-Von, Susan K
Sponsoring Organization: Northeast MN Area Health Education Ctr
Award Dates: 2010 - 2012

• Pediatric pain and palliative care
• Spiritual care
• Integrative therapies