Jenna Nelson and Valerie DeCora Guimaraes, two nurses pursuing advanced degrees at 绿茶直播, have received the inaugural Nilsson Transcultural Nurse of the Year Award. Transcultural nursing emphasizes care in culturally diverse settings, including outreach to people who are underserved by traditional care systems and who exist outside of the social mainstream. The award is named for professor emerita Beverly Nilsson, who chaired Augsburg鈥檚 Department of Nursing and championed care for people living in poverty.
Nelson has spent the majority of her career working with marginalized communities as an emergency department nurse. While working to become a family nurse practitioner, she has engaged extensively as an intern and volunteer at Augsburg鈥檚 Health Commons. These nurse-led drop-in sites provide hospitality and care to guests from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, many of whom are unhoused or living with mental illness. When the pandemic closed the drop-in locations, Nelson joined a team making weekly food deliveries to local encampments. 鈥淛enna truly accompanies people on their journeys, wherever the path may bring her,鈥� said Health Commons Executive Director Katie Clark.
Guimaraes is the Mayo Clinic鈥檚 first Patient Experience Ambassador to work solely with Native American patients. In this role she works to dispel myths about Native American patients and educates colleagues across the Mayo enterprise about health disparities and spiritual care practices. She established a medication initiative to coordinate care with the Indian Health Service upon patient discharge from Mayo, developed a Native American family fund to address food and transportation needs, and successfully advocated to hire additional Native American Patient Navigators in Minnesota and Arizona. 鈥淭hese successes for Native American patients have not been easy,鈥� said Guimaraes, who is pursuing a doctor of nursing practice degree at Augsburg. 鈥淚t is my passion to help my people that keeps me going.鈥�
Augsburg offers a comprehensive set of programs for nurses who want to advance their careers, including bachelor鈥檚 degree completion, master of arts in nursing, and doctor of nursing practice. Health equity and inclusion have been a major focus of the curriculum and experiential learning both locally and globally since the program鈥檚 founding. Augsburg鈥檚 doctor of nursing practice was one of the nation鈥檚 first programs to focus on transcultural nursing leadership.
Learn more about Augsburg’s nursing programs and Health Commons sites.