Dr. Heather Nielsen, Instructor of Nursing, joined Augsburg University Department of Nursing in 2024. She is an Augsburg University Graduate from the Doctor of Nursing Family Nurse Practitioner Program. Go Auggies! Her primary teaching responsibility has been in the graduate nursing program in the Master of Arts in Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice tracks.
Throughout her career, she has been afforded opportunities spanning various settings in the non-profit sector, including administrative and direct patient care, inpatient and outpatient care, and internationally. Her professional work history includes Mayo Clinic, University of Minnesota, Southside Community Health Services Inc. here in Minneapolis, as well as a span of four years living and working in the rural highlands of southwest Guatemala with International Hands in Service, a non-profit more widely known as Project Salud y Paz (Health and Peace).
Dr. Nielsen currently practices as a bilingual primary care provider in an outpatient family medicine clinic in Rochester, MN, where she consults with a panel of 1500+ patients across various lifespans. She has a passion for partnering with marginalized communities to decrease barriers to and increase access to primary care services. She is involved in the Clinical Practice Committee on the organization level reviewing new clinical services, procedures, and/or processes. She also is involved in the Advanced Practice Clinician leadership team representing and supporting all Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants in the organization. Outside of the clinical sphere, she holds memberships in The Association of Southeastern Minnesota Nurse Practitioners, Minnesota Nurse Practitioners, and The Minnesota APRN Coalition. Her passions in these realms include supporting nurses’ transition to practice and removing barriers to APRN practice. She also remains connected to her previous work in Guatemala, where she served as a consulting member on the International Hands In Service Health Committee. In recent years, she led the first Women’s Health Team to Guatemala to provide women’s centered healthcare and cervical cancer screening services at the clinic where she previously worked, as this was a need identified by that community.
She has a vocational aptitude for teaching and mentoring students during their education journey in both the clinical setting and the classroom. She is committed to preparing the next generation of nurses in the amalgamation of evidence-based and métis-based practice.
EDUCATION
- Doctorate of Nursing Practice, Family Nurse Practitioner (DNP-FNP), Augsburg University, Minneapolis, MN (2018)
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (2007)
AREAS OF TEACHING RESPONSIBILITY
- Nielsen has led courses focusing on transcultural nursing and mentored students in the translation of evidence-based knowledge impacting practice through their DNP Scholarly Project.
- Nielsen also facilitates experiential learning through practicum options locally and abroad. Areas of current focus include Immersions to Guatemala: Politics of Healthcare, which explores the relationship of health and illness to inequities in society and the dynamics of power in systems of healthcare, as well as Transformation in Practice: Addressing Soul Trauma Healing, which explores soul healing by reconnecting with authentic self through traditional health/healing practices and ceremony.
PRESENTATIONS/PUBLICATIONS
- 2018, September — Presentation Nobel Peace Prize Forum, Augsburg University “The Paradox of Peace: The Healing and Harmful Effects of Water: a Transcultural Perspective.”
- 2016, April – Presentation at International Hands in Service Board of Directors Meeting, New Smyrna Beach “Photo-elicitation: An Alternative Method for Engaging Indigenous Voice in Health Care Delivery.”
- 2013, July/August – National United Methodist Church New World Outlook published article “Mission is Courage.”
- 2013, May – Presenter at UMC Rx Consultation, Milwaukee, WI “Bridging the Gap for Maximal Impact; Re-defining short-term mission.”
- 2012, November – United Methodist Committee On Relief (UMCOR) published article “Amigas Health Program Empowers Women.”
CURRENT CERTIFICATIONS
- Registered Nurse (RN) and Advanced Practice Registered Nursing, Certified Nurse Practitioner (APRN, CNP), Minnesota State Board of Nursing
- Family Nursing Practitioner (FNP-BC), American Nurses Credentialing Center