Christiana Care Health System is one of the largest health care providers in the mid-Atlantic, serving all of Delaware and parts of PA, MD and NJ.

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President-elect Delaware Organization of Nurse Leaders

Delaware Nurses Association

American Nurses Association with specific focus in Nursing innovation

Improving Nursing Knowledge of Alcohol Withdrawal: Second Generation Education Strategies

All the World's a Stage: Integrating Theater and Medicine for Interprofessional Team Building in Physician and Nurse Residency Programs

Especially due to the pandemic, most of us have had at least one telemedicine interaction – maybe sitting at home talking to a clinician via smartphone app when you have a fever or sore throat. But virtual interactions can now also be part of your care when you’re actually in the hospital.In this episode discover how virtual nursing is making acute care more efficient and effective. Michelle Collins, ChristianaCare vice president for nursing professional excellence, and Melanie Ries, a nurse providing virtual acute care at ChristianaCare, are with us to share the positive impact this innovation is having on patient experience, shrinking lengths of stay and enhancing overall outcomes.Listen as we explore not only what virtual acute care nursing looks like today but how the success ChristianaCare and other health systems are seeing with this work could have future benefits far beyond nursing in the hospital.Michelle L. Collins leads ChristianaCare's systemwide efforts to support nursing practice innovation and problem-solving. She also has led ChristianaCare to achieve its third Magnet designation, a preeminent excellence designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Only 9 percent of the nation’s hospitals hold the prestigious Magnet designation. ChristianaCare has earned Magnet designation for Christiana Hospital, Wilmington Hospital, Ambulatory Services, and ChristianaCare HomeHealth.LinksChristianaCare Virtual Acute Care Nursing (video)Virtual Nursing as a Practice Model InnovationVirtual Nursing: Improving Patient Care and Meeting Workforce Challenges Virtual nursing is rapidly changing how hospital virtual care is delivered; patients and nurses are benefitting (video)Thanks for listening and subscribing! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Virtual Nursing in the Hospital with Michelle Collins and Melanie Ries

Using a lean six sigma approach to yield sustained pressure ulcer prevention for complex critical care patients

Journal for Nursing Administration

Ochsner Journal

Michelle L. Collins leads ChristianaCare's systemwide efforts to support nursing practice innovation and problem-solving. She also has led ChristianaCare to achieve its third Magnet designation, a preeminent excellence designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Only 9 percent of the nation’s hospitals hold the prestigious Magnet designation. ChristianaCare has earned Magnet designation for Christiana Hospital, Wilmington Hospital, Ambulatory Services, and ChristianaCare HomeHealth.

Clinical Nursing Advancement

Magnet Designation

Virtual Acute Care

Nursing Professional Governance

Nursing Innovation

Development and Education

Downloadable Photos of Michelle Collins

Power in the People

Nursing Professional Practice Models

Technology : Innovations that Make a Difference

Emerging Nurse Leader workshop

Pressure Ulcers Safe Table

Evidence-Based Leadership

Michelle Collins 

Health care is about more than broken bones and blood pressure readings. Join For the Love of Health hosts Michael Chesney and Megan McGuriman every other Thursday for engaging conversations about fascinating treatments, innovative programs, groundbreaking research and cutting-edge technology. Learn how medical experts are creating health today and delivering the care of tomorrow.

For the Love of Health

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ChristianaCare is first in Delaware to earn fourth consecutive Magnet designation for nursing and interprofessional excellence.

Vice President, Nursing Professional Excellence

Chief Nurse Executive

 Hundreds of nurses and their colleagues at ChristianaCare gathered in a conference room at Christiana Hospital and listened through a livestream across the organization’s campuses and practices for an announcement they’ve been anticipating for many months.

“For your commitment to nursing excellence and quality care, we are thrilled to recognize ChristianaCare with its fourth consecutive Magnet designation,” said David Marshall, JD, DNP, RN, chair of the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Magnet Recognition. “This accomplishment is a powerful testament to your dedication to the nurses who practice there, the entire health care team, and — most importantly — the patients you serve.”

Shouts erupted, balloons and streamers floated up and, in the happy commotion, there was even a little cowbell. As the only four-time Magnet-designated health care organization in Delaware, ChristianaCare has achieved this global recognition — the highest honor in nursing practice — for continued dedication to excellence and innovation, high-quality patient care and experience, nurse engagement and work culture.

“Magnet designation recognizes ChristianaCare nurses are simply the best!” said ChristianaCare President and CEO Janice E. Nevin, M.D., MPH. “A fourth Magnet designation is an incredible achievement and reflects the vital importance and commitment of our nurses as we serve together with love and excellence.”

ChristianaCare has more than 3,000 nurses, and they make up the largest segment of ChristianaCare’s workforce. ChristianaCare is the largest nonprofit organization and private employer in the state of Delaware.

This most recent designation for ChristianaCare includes Christiana Hospital, Wilmington Hospital, ChristianaCare HomeHealth and Community Care Services, through early 2029.

What it means to be Magnet “Our fourth consecutive Magnet designation means that our nurses and all of our caregiver colleagues have upheld the ANCC’s very high standards in patient care since our first recognition in 2010,” said ChristianaCare Chief Nurse Executive Danielle Weber, DNP, RN. “That is a long time to bring your ‘A’ game every day — through 15 years of change, including a pandemic — and to sustain growth in professional practice, innovation and culture. Magnet recognition raises the bar for patient care and inspires every member of our team to achieve excellence every day.”

The Magnet Recognition Program — administered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, the largest and most prominent nurses credentialing organization in the world — identifies health care organizations that provide the very best in nursing care, exceptional nurse engagement and professionalism in nursing practice. The Magnet Recognition Program serves as the gold standard for nursing excellence and provides consumers with the ultimate benchmark for measuring quality of care.

The ANCC Magnet Recognition Program® has conferred Magnet status to less than 10% of hospitals and health systems in the United States. There are 621 Magnet-designated health organizations internationally. ChristianaCare was the first in Delaware to achieve Magnet designation, in 2010.

For nurses, Magnet Recognition means education and development through every career stage, which leads to greater autonomy at the bedside. For patients, it means the very best care, delivered by nurses who are supported to be the very best that they can be.

While Magnet is a nursing-led initiative, the designation reflects the work of caregivers across the organization. Magnet redesignation itself is a rigorous process. Health care organizations must reapply for Magnet status every four years and demonstrate adherence to the Magnet concepts for nursing excellence and engagement and measurable improvements in patient care and quality.

The ANCC commended ChristianaCare on these exemplars:

Advocacy for and acquisition of organizational resources specific to nurses’ well-being. particularly through the Nursing Integrative Care Program. An innovative strategy to address the shortage of certified registered nurse anesthetists in Delaware through a partnership program between ChristianaCare and Wilmington University to launch the state’s first Nurse Anesthesiology program. Outstanding nursing research engagement and growth of the nursing research enterprise especially through the Nursing Research Fellowship in Robotics and Innovation. 

Four-Peat! ChristianaCare Achieves Magnet® — the Top Recognition for Nursing Excellence — for the Fourth Time

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Michelle Collins, DNP, APRN, and Danielle Sarik, Ph.D., APRN, honored for exceptional contributions in nursing

In recognition of their extraordinary impact on the nursing profession, two ChristianaCare nurses have been named as Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). This prestigious recognition highlights their significant contributions to nursing leadership, innovation and health care policy.

 Michelle Collins, DNP, APRN, CNS, ACNS-BC, NPD-BC, NEA-BC, LSSBB, currently serves as vice president of Nursing Professional Excellence at ChristianaCare. Throughout her accomplished 30-year career, Collins has played a crucial role in improving how nurses practice and learn.

Her leadership was significant in achieving ChristianaCare’s third Magnet® designation, highlighting her commitment to excellence. Collins’ initiatives, including pioneering a Virtual Acute Care Nursing model and securing a $1.5 million grant for nursing technology integration, have set new standards in health care innovation.

Danielle Sarik, Ph.D., APRN, CPNP-PC, is a nurse scientist consultant at ChristianaCare. Her research contributions have been integral in shaping policies that improve health care outcomes for children and families. Sarik is renowned for developing and implementing the Baby Steps model, recognized by the AAN as an Edge Runner designee. This pioneering transition of care approach addresses health equity for neonatal patients and families following discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit.

“Induction into the Academy represents the highest honor in nursing,” said AAN President Linda Scott. “Earning the Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN) credential is a significant recognition of one’s accomplishments and signifies the future impact they will make in collaboration with their colleagues in the Academy.”


ChristianaCare Nurses Inducted as American Academy of Nursing Fellows

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Two ChristianaCare nurse leaders have been named fellows in the 2024-25 cohort of the prestigious Johnson & Johnson Nurse Innovation Fellowship Program.

The fellows are Danielle Weber, MSN, MSM, RN-BC, NEA-BC, chief nurse executive, and Michelle Collins, DNP, APRN, CNS, ACNS-BC, NPD-BC, NEA-BC, LSSBB, vice president of Nursing Professional Excellence. These nurse innovators will work collaboratively to address a real-world challenge in ways that can be implemented at ChristianaCare.

 Weber, who also is chief nursing officer of Wilmington Hospital, leads ChristianaCare’s nursing staff in setting strategic imperatives, advises leadership on best practices in nursing, establishes nursing policies and procedures, oversees nursing education and research and creates a collaborative environment to ensure evidence-based care practices in both the acute care and home health settings.

 Collins leads ChristianaCare’s systemwide efforts to support nursing practice innovation, governance infrastructure and problem-solving, including a successful initiative in virtual acute care nursing. She also led ChristianaCare to achieve its third Magnet designation, the preeminent designation for excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

With a strong commitment to innovation in nursing, ChristianaCare is at the forefront of virtual acute care nursing. This entails experienced nurses practicing virtually in another location supporting hospital-based nurses by documenting health information, providing patient education, monitoring patient lab work, completing patient admission documentation and helping with discharge planning and care coordination.

 The fellowship, administered by Penn Nursing and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, is a one-year, team-based program for chief nursing officers, nurse executives and other senior nurse leaders that aims “to advance health care by powering up nurse-led innovation and leadership within health systems.”


Nurse Leaders Danielle Weber and Michelle Collins Named Fellows in Nursing Innovation

In the spirit of serving together, the team at Christiana Care's Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute team partnered with the Innovation Center to bring virtual reality to patients for a more relaxing chemotherapy experience. This pioneering approach earned Christiana Care 2018 American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet Prize at the National Magnet Conference.

Christiana Care Virtual Reality at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center &amp; Research Institute

These practices and the other components of our Making Tomorrow Happen work are guided by our values. When we lead with love, excellence follows.

Making Tomorrow Happen - Huddles

At ChristianaCare, excellence is at the foundation of our nursing practice, having recently secured a fourth consecutive Magnet® designation - the gold standard and ultimate benchmark for measuring quality of care, administered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

On this episode of For the Love of Health, Michelle Collins, Vice President of Nursing Professional Excellence at ChristianaCare, and Paige Merring, ChristianaCare Nursing Excellence Manager explain what makes ChristianaCare's nurses excellent.

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