Deborah R. Ringdahl, DNP, APRN, CNM

Debbie Ringdahl, DNP, RN, CNM, is a Clinical Associate Professor at the Bakken Center for
Spirituality and Healing. She began teaching Reiki classes for the Center for Spirituality and
Healing in 2003 and since then has been engaged in scholarship and teaching that supports a more integrative model of nursing care. She has utilized her clinical experiences in both nurse midwifery and Reiki practice to inform her scholarship and teaching, focusing on a) integrative nursing leadership and b) use of integrative therapies for symptom management. She developed a Reiki Mastery program through the Bakken Center in 2015 to promote Reiki Mastery among health care professionals, with a focus on nursing professionals.

Dr. Ringdahl obtained her DNP degree from the UMN SoN, focusing her studies on the role of
nursing in the development of a more integrative model of health care. Her DNP project,
Implementation of a Hospital-Based Reiki Program investigated the use of Reiki by nursing staff for symptom management of patients receiving chemotherapy. She received a 2013-2014 University of Minnesota School of Nursing Foundation grant to conduct a needs assessment for implementation of a Reiki Program on a Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit (BMT). She has served as consultant for long term care facilities to support the use of integrative therapies for symptom management and quality of life. 

She retired from the University of Minnesota of Nursing in January 2021, but has continued to offer Reiki Level I, Level II, and a Reiki Mastery Program through the Bakken Center. She
remains active in the Reiki community and presented at the Usui Reiki Ryoho 1922-2022
celebration in Osaka, Japan: Reiki in Nursing: Bridging Reiki Practice with Education and
Research.

Expertise

Integrative Nursing

Nurse-Midwifery and Women's Health

Reiki

Awards & Recognition

E. Louise Grant Award, University of Minnesota School of Nursing, 2017

Daisy Award for Out of the Box Thinking, University of Minnesota School of Nursing, 2013

Public Service Award, University of Minnesota School of Nursing, 2005

Professional Associations
 

The Center for Reiki Research
International Association for Reiki Professionals

Publications

Chapters in Books

• Ringdahl, D. (2018). Chapter 38 Graduate Nursing Education for Integrative Nursing. In Kreitzer, M.J. & Koithan, M., Eds. Integrative Nursing, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press.
• Ringdahl, D., Pool, N. & Koithan, M. (2018). Chapter 15 Integrative nursing and symptom management. In Kreitzer, M.J. & Koithan, M., Eds. Integrative Nursing, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press.
• Pool, N., Koithan, M., & Ringdahl, D. (2018). Chapter 23 Nursing as an Integrative Healthcare Profession. In Kreitzer, M.J. & Koithan, M., Eds. Integrative Nursing, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press.
• Ringdahl, D. (2018). Chapter 25 Reiki. In Lindquist, R., Snyder, M., & Tracy, M.F. Eds Complementary/Alternative Therapies in Nursing, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th ed. Springer Publishing Co,
• Ringdahl, D. & Saftner, D. (2018). Chapter 8 section Nurse midwife. In Zaccagnini, M. & White, K. Eds. The Doctor of Nursing Practice Essentials: A New Model for Advanced Practice Nursing, 4th ed. Jones and Bartlett Publishers
• Beese, R. & Ringdahl, D. (2018) Enhancing spirituality as an intervention in a multidisciplinary community health and wellness Center: A health care improvement project. Creative Nursing,24(1), 111.

Funded Projects

Promoting Excellence in APRN Education: A Regional Approach to Quality, Safety and
Diversity, supported by: Advanced Education Nursing Grant, HRSA, Grant No. D09HP22637
(2011-2014). Extension for development of OSCEs (2015). Grant participation outlined below:

• Participant (5%) in objective 1 and lead (10%) for objective 2: Enhance the quality of the UMN, School of Nursing NM, ANP/WHNP and FNP specialty APN programs by providing innovative interprofessional and integrative health learning opportunities with underserved communities.
• Developed integrative health experiential day (11/2012 and 11/2013) in partnership with Northwestern Health Sciences University for women’s health, nurse-midwifery, and family nurse practitioner students.
• Developed a pilot program at Pillsbury Integrated Clinic (summer 2013) to determine feasibility and acceptability of advanced practice nursing role in the assessment/intake.

Awarded School of Nursing Foundation Grant 11/3-11/14 for “A Pilot Reiki Program on a
Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit (BMT)”.

Consultant and co-investigator: “Testing Feasibility, Acceptability, and Safety of Reiki Touch for Premature Infants”. Principle investigator: Laura Duckett, BSN, MS, PhD, MPH, awarded the Marilyn Sime Research Fellowship. Presentation by Laura Duckett at APHA Conference,
November, 2010.

Reiki Level I, II, and a 3 semester Reiki Mastery Program (through CSPH)

Academic Interests and Focus

Integrative Health and Nursing; DNP seminars; Nurse-midwifery and women's health issues; Reiki Level I and II (through CSPH)