Overview

2025 Nursing annual report

Welcome to the Children’s Minnesota 2025 Nursing Annual Report 

I am proud to recognize the extraordinary nurses who show up, day after day, with skill, compassion and unwavering commitment to the kids and families we serve. Nursing is both a calling and a craft. It demands clinical excellence, sincere empathy, critical thinking, and creative problem solving — often in fast-changing situations where the stakes are high and the needs are complex. In pediatric nursing especially, we care for the whole family, meeting parents and caregivers where they are, earning trust, and partnering in moments that families will remember forever.

In the pages that follow, you’ll see how Children’s Minnesota nurses responded to the ever-changing realities of health care with leadership, innovation and heart. You’ll read examples of nurse-led initiatives that improved patient flow and experience, advanced care delivery and safety, and supported families beyond the hospital walls. You’ll see how nurses pushed quality to new levels, how our teams strengthened workplace culture and safety, and how our organization continues to invest in professional development through simulation and training.

This report also highlights how Children’s Minnesota nurses are helping shape the profession beyond our walls — through research, evidence-based practice, scholarship and ethics leadership. Our nurses are elevating the standards of practice for the future.

The work of Children’s Minnesota nurses makes a remarkable difference in every inpatient unit, ambulatory clinic, procedural area and community setting we serve. This annual report is both a tribute to what we accomplished in 2025 and a clear reminder of who we are — every family’s essential partner in raising healthier children.

With gratitude,

Caroline Njau, MBA, BSN, RN, NEA-BC
Senior Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer

Children’s Minnesota overview

Children’s Minnesota is one of the largest freestanding pediatric health systems in the U.S., and the only health system in Minnesota to provide care exclusively to children — from before birth through early adulthood.

An independent and not-for-profit system since 1924, Children’s Minnesota serves the Upper Midwest at three hospitals, nine primary care clinics, six rehabilitation sites and eight specialty care sites.

At Children’s Minnesota, we bring together more experts across more specialties than any other pediatric hospital system in the Midwest. As the region’s largest pediatric program, we partner every day with clinicians across the Midwest to make sure every child has the best possible health care.

We champion the health needs of children and families. We are committed to improving children’s health by providing the highest-quality, family-centered care, advanced through research and education.”
–Children’s Minnesota mission statement.

Trusted, nationally recognized care

Children’s Minnesota is regularly recognized nationally for excellence in care, quality, innovation and industry leadership.  

In 2025, the Children’s Minnesota Simulation Program received re-accreditation in the areas of teaching/education and systems integration from the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH).
U.S. News & World Report recognized Children’s Minnesota as a Best Children’s Hospital in two specialties: our cardiology and heart surgery collaboration with Mayo Clinic and our joint nephrology program with M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital.
U.S. News & World Report also named The Mother Baby Center locations in St. Paul and Coon Rapids, a partnership between Allina Health and Children’s Minnesota, among the Best Hospitals for Maternity Care.
From developing and implementing new mental health scrubs for smaller patients, to being the first health system in the state to offer an innovative new cleft lip treatment, to caring for the tiniest baby in the country, our innovation saves lives, enhances quality of life and supports positive patient experiences.
We’re Minnesota’s only Level I Pediatric Trauma Center in a hospital dedicated solely to kids.