Heather Nelson-Brantley, PhD, RN, NEA-BC

Dr. Heather Nelson-Brantley, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, is Assistant Professor and Program Director, Leadership at the University of Kansas School of Nursing. She is an associate member of the KU Cancer Center. Her nursing practice includes medical and pulmonary critical care and cardiothoracic surgery progressive care.

Dr. Nelson-Brantley received her PhD in Nursing with a minor in Organizational Leadership from the University of Kansas, BSN from the University of Kansas, and B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Business Administration from Kansas State University. She is a 2019 Training Institute for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (TIDIRH) scholar, and a Jonas Nurse Leader Scholar alumna.

Dr. Nelson-Brantley has authored over 30 peer-reviewed publications and 50 presentations in the fields of nursing leadership, implementation science, cancer care, and rural health. She is the Vice President of Research for the Association for Leadership Science in Nursing (ALSN) and Co-Chair of the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) Foundation - ALSN Foundation Research Collaborative. Dr. Nelson-Brantley serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Nursing Administration and as peer reviewer for the Journal of Nursing Management, Implementation Science Communications, Journal of Advanced Nursing, Nursing Administration Quarterly, and International Journal of Nursing Studies. She has served on several Boards of Directors including ALSN, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Greater Kansas City Chapter, and the KUMC Nursing Alumni Association.

Dr. Nelson-Brantley is the recipient of the ALSN Early Careerist Award, Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award, Phyllis Lawrence Keeney Teaching Award, KUMC Faculty Research Investigator Award, KUMC Early Career Achievement in Nursing Alumna Award, DAISY Faculty Award, Taunton Scholar Award, Roma Lee Taunton Research Medal, Sigma Theta Tau Research Endowment Award, and KU Jayhawker Lecturer Award, among others.

Dr. Nelson-Brantley employs qualitative, quantitative, mixed, and implementation science methods to study healthcare quality optimization. Her research interests include health systems leadership, nursing practice environment, patient-clinician communication, cancer and palliative care, rural and underserved populations. Her research focuses on organization development, with an emphasis on leading organizational change, interprofessional healthcare teams, and improving patient and clinician experience of care.

Dr. Nelson-Brantley is the principal investigator of the KU Cancer Center Pilot Grant “Optimizing Patient-Clinician Communication in Cancer Treatment and Palliative Care: An Exploration of the Use of Open Notes”, MacArthur funded study “Using Implementation Science to Close Disparities in Advance Care Planning in Rural Primary Care” and ALSN funded study “Team Learning and Safety Culture in Perioperative Hospital Units: Understanding the Nursing Unit Leader Perspective”. She also is a co-Investigator on a number of NIH and PCORI federal grants focused on implementation science and rural healthcare.

Dr. Nelson-Brantley has served in research leadership roles at local, regional, national, and international levels including Vice President of Research for ALSN, co-chair of the 2019 Midwest Nursing Research Society Conference Host School Planning Committee, chair of the School of Nursing Research Committee, and School of Nursing representative for the KUMC Faculty Assembly Research Committee. She has reviewed grant applications and abstracts for the Midwest Nursing Research Society, ALSN, and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

Characteristics of the nursing practice environment associated with lower unit-level RN turnover

Disruptive innovation: Impact for practice, policy, and academia

Interprofessional education: Advancing team science to create collaborative safety cultures

Leading change: A case study of the first independent critical-access hospital to achieve Magnet® designation

Leading change: A concept analysis

Magnet and Pathway to Excellence: Focusing on research and evidence-based practice

Nurse executives leading change to improve critical access hospital outcomes: A literature review with research-informed recommendations

The effect of an evidence-based practice education and mentoring program on increasing knowledge, practice, and attitudes towards EBP in a rural critical access hospital

The role of a symptom assessment tool in shaping patient-physician communication in palliative care

Using implementation science to further the adoption and implementation of advance care planning in rural primary care

Comparative Effectiveness of Obesity Treatment Models in Rural Primary Care: A Pragmatic Cluster Randomized Trial

KanSurvive: Testing a Model for Improving Cancer Survivorship Care in Rural Practice

Leading Change in Critical Access Hospitals: A Case Study of the Journey to Magnet®

Optimizing Patient-Clinician Communication in Cancer Care: An Exploration of the Use of Open Notes in Rural and Hispanic/Latino Communities

Optimizing Patient-Clinician Communication in Cancer Treatment and Palliative Care: An Exploration of the Use of Open Notes

Setting the Research Agenda for Nursing Administration and Leadership Science: A Delphi Study

Team Learning and Safety Culture in Perioperative Hospital Units: Understanding the Nursing Unit Leader Perspective

TEAMSPORT to Community TEAMSPORT: Validating and adapting a precision oncology reflex testing team intervention to reduce rural disparities in cancer care delivery

Using Implementation Science to Close Disparities in Advance Care Planning in Rural Primary Care