Igniting Transformational Change chronicles the University of Minnesota School of Nursing's bold evolution over the past two decades and offers invaluable insights and recommendations for institutions navigating their own challenges. It describes how the school's leaders have invited conversation, encouraged boldness, engaged unique strategies and tactics, created powerful partnerships, and achieved transformative outcomes.

Readers will gain a candid and inspiring look at how the school confronted difficulties and seized new opportunities, offering a powerful model for change in nursing and beyond.

Published to celebrate its 115th anniversary as the first school of nursing established within an institution of higher education, Igniting Transformational Change serves as a how-to guide that will inspire and inform leaders in higher education, healthcare, and beyond who are interested in the dynamics of organizational transformation.

Connie White Delaney serves as Professor and Dean, School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, serves as Core Faculty in the Institute for Health Informatics, and is the Knowledge Generation Lead for the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education. She served as Associate Director of the Clinical Translational Science Institute-Biomedical Informatics and Acting Director of the Institute for Health Informatics (IHI) in the Academic Health Center from 2010—2015.

Delaney serves as an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Nursing at the University of Iceland, where she received the Doctor Scientiae Curationis Honoris Causa (Honorary Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing) in 2011. She is an elected Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, American College of Medical Informatics, and National Academies of Practice. Delaney is the first Fellow in the College of Medical Informatics to serve as a Dean of Nursing.

Delaney was an inaugural appointee to the USA Health Information Technology Policy Committee, Office of the National Coordinator, and Office of the Secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). She is an active researcher in data and information technology standards for nursing and health care, and big data knowledge discovery. Delaney is past president of Friends of the National Institute of Nursing Research (FNINR) and past Vice-Chair of CGFNS, Inc. She holds a BSN with majors in nursing and mathematics, MA in Nursing, Ph.D. Educational Administration and Computer Applications, postdoctoral study in nursing and medical informatics, and a Certificate in Integrative Therapies & Healing Practices.

Mary Jo Kreitzer is the founder and director of the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing at the University of Minnesota, where she also serves as a tenured professor in the School of Nursing and as Chair for Health and Wellbeing Leadership. She is a Fellow Ad Eundem Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

She has served as the principal investigator or co-principal investigator of numerous clinical trials focusing on mindfulness meditation with persons with chronic disease including studies focusing on solid organ transplant, cardiovascular disease, chronic insomnia, diabetes, and caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease. Recent studies include the use of social technology to enhance healing and wellbeing and the impact of mindfulness on brain-computer interface performance.

Kreitzer has authored more than 150 publications and is the co-editor of the text Integrative Nursing (Second Edition) published in 2019 by Oxford University Press. She earned her doctoral degree in public health focused on health services research, policy, and administration, and her master's and bachelor's degrees in nursing. Dr. Kreitzer was named in 2020 as one of the 100 most influential health care leaders in Minnesota by MN Physician. She is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, a distinguished policy fellow in the National Academies of Practice and a Fellow Ad Eundem of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

Joanne Disch has held senior leadership roles in almost every type of national organization, including as chief nurse executive, interim dean, president of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and the American Academy of Nursing, and board member and chair of the national board of AARP. She has served on four health system boards, including as inaugural chair of Advocate Aurora Health. Currently she is chair of the Board of Trustees of Chamberlain University.

Disch served on the faculty at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing, and from 2000-2012, she was the Director of the Katharine J Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership. During that time, she launched the DNP in Health Innovation & Leadership.

Disch was an original leader of the QSEN (Quality and Safety Education for Nursing) initiative, and has received several awards for her work, including recognition as a Living Legend from the Academy; distinguished alumna awards from the schools of nursing at the University of Wisconsin, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the University of Michigan; and the Distinguished Alumna Award from the University of Wisconsin.

Mary Manthey is the founder and President Emeritus of CHCM, a healthcare consulting company that has engaged in transformation of hospitals and healthcare systems throughout the US for more than 40 years. She has taught thousands of seminars and workshops fostering the leadership and empowerment of nurses throughout the world. She is a multi-award-winning author.

Manthey is a founder of the Nursing Peer Support Network, a free-standing non-profit organization providing peer-based support to nurses in recovery from substance use disorder throughout Minnesota. She is a nurse who earned an MNA (1964) from the University of Minnesota. She was awarded an Honorary PhD (1999) from the University of Minnesota and maintains an affiliate appointment with the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota.

Manthey is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and was recognized as the recipient of the American Academy of Nursing Living Legend Award in 2015. This award recognizes persons for their extraordinary contributions to the nursing profession, sustained over the course of their careers, and continuing positive, ongoing impact on the profession. In 1993, Manthey was named a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing, the largest professional association and union for nursing staff in the world
with more than half a million members. RCN Fellows are inspirational leaders who have made an exceptional contribution to nursing and improving health and patient care.

"This book explains with great insight and commendable candor, how the School has confronted difficulties and created new opportunities. These are valuable lessons for nursing programs, but beyond as well. The innovations and approaches laid out in this book can be a model for change in other health disciplines and in other parts of higher education." - JAN MALCOLM

"The book takes an incredibly honest look at the challenges in nursing education, practice, and research — challenges which are both internal and external — and shows how, though an 'abundance mindset' possibilities arise and are implemented. This book is an essential read — a read that will do much to advance knowledge, education, and caring." - PENNY WHEELER, MD

"Transformational change goes beyond incremental improvement and transition; instead, it involves evolutionary thinking, paradigm shifts, disruptions, adaptation, and empowerment. As you read 'Igniting Transformational Change' you will find that it addresses all of these characteristics. The candor, creativity, and collaboration modeled throughout this book, along with powerful lessons learned, can serve as a roadmap for other Schools of Nursing and their collaborative partnerships. By sharing their story, the University of Minnesota School of Nursing journey has paved the way for others to follow." - LINDA D. SCOTT, PHD, RN, NEA-BC, FNAP, FAAN