Minnesota Nursing Magazine Spring/Summer 2012 - School of ...

advancement news
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1) Bruce and Barbara Hiller’s planned gift will support School of Nursing students enrolled in the
DNP in Integrative Health and Healing. 2) Dean Connie Delaney at home with the Hillers and
their dog Molly, who is also contributing to health care as a registered mental health therapy dog.
Planned Giving Matters
Bruce and
Barbara Hiller
Supporting future leaders in integrative
health and healing
by tony baisley
To say that Bruce and Barbara Hiller ‘61, have a vested interest in
the health care field would put it lightly. The couple has long been
passionate about providing and advancing patient care. They met
at the University of Minnesota, Bruce graduating from the Medical
School in 1960 and Barbara from the School of Nursing a year later.
Today, their daughter Susan Hiller Thompson carries on that passion
and is currently enrolled in the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
program focusing in Integrative Health and Healing.
“We are both grateful for the opportunity we had for an
excellent education at the U of M. It is most satisfying to know that
we have the opportunity to be of assistance to students wanting to
achieve similar goals,” say the Hillers commenting on the planned
gift they had recently made to support scholarships for future
students enrolled in the DNP in Integrative Health and Healing.
The concept of the DNP was developed by the American
Association of Colleges of Nursing with further recommendations
that all new applicants for advanced practice certification should
have a DNP degree. In partnership with the Center for Spirituality
& Healing, the School of Nursing’s DNP in Integrative Health and
Healing prepares graduates with skills necessary for working
with individuals, families, communities, and health systems in
developing holistic approaches to health promotion, disease
prevention and chronic disease management, with a special
emphasis on managing lifestyle changes and incorporating the use
of integrative therapies.
With experienced insight, the Hillers understand the
extraordinarily complex nature of health care, and what is
increasingly being expected of nurses. “There’s an alarming
shortage of physicians across the country with resulting reliance
upon the nursing field to handle patient care,” Bruce says.
“Thankfully, nurses provide therapeutic, relationship-based care
that supports and empowers patients and will now be required
to take a leading role. Historically nurses have been most directly
involved with hands-on patient care, thus they are particularly
suited to understand and address the human side of patient care;
and we believe this is particularly relevant to meeting the needs of
our aging population too.”
Barbara agrees. “We have had the pleasure of seeing in our
daughter the interest and enthusiasm generated by this innovative
and exciting curriculum,” she says. “The Integrative Health and
Healing DNP degree is a training ground for nurses to appreciate
and celebrate the uniqueness of each patient as a human being and
employ their creativity in meeting the patients’ needs.”
The Hillers fervently believe that a “deep need for change” is
necessary in the way that health care is taught and practiced in
this country. “When we see in our own daughter the passion she’s
developed in discovering new skills in healing to share with patients
and others, we can’t help but have confidence that this program is
vitally important to the future of health care,” says Barbara.
For more information about making a contribution or establishing
a new scholarship that will benefit nursing students, please contact
the Director of Development, Gigi Fourré Schumacher at 612-625-
1365 or gschumac@umn.edu.
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