Delaware Organization for Nursing Leadership

Dr. Michelle L. Collins currently serves as the Vice President, Nursing Excellence and Magnet Designation for ChristianaCare Health System. She started her nursing career as an adult/infant open heart recovery nurse at Christiana Hospital after graduating from the University of Delaware with her BSN in 1991. Michelle held multiple progressive roles in her early career between her native New Jersey and Delaware including nurse management, case management, and orientation coordination roles. She earned her MSN in Adult Health as a Clinical Nurse Specialist from the University of Delaware in 2009 and became ChristianaCare’s manager of Nursing Development and Education and then advanced in this role to a newly created director role. In 2016, Michelle completed her Juran lean six sigma black belt and transitioned to another newly created system leadership role as the Director of Nursing Excellence and Magnet Re-designation. In 2017, she launched ChristianaCare’s second professional practice model and revised professional governance structure through engagement of clinical nurses and nurse leaders.

Michelle completed her DNP in Advanced Nursing Practice and Executive Leadership in 2018. She then led ChristianaCare to its first Magnet prize for Virtual Reality in a Chemotherapy Infusion Suite and its third Magnet designation in 2020. Meanwhile, Michelle was also co-leading ChristianaCare’s organization-wide engagement and improvement framework development. In 2022, she co-facilitated ChristianaCare’s American Nurse Foundation grant acceptance for $1.5 million dollars and led implementation of a successful virtual acute care nursing pilot.

Michelle is board certified in Nursing Professional Development, Nursing Advanced Executive Leadership, and as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Adult Health. Her leadership work today includes system nursing strategy and planning, nursing professional advancement, and launching a Center for Nursing Innovation. She collaborates closely with nurses across are levels and locations, as well as interprofessional leaders and staff, in pursuit of excellence as evidenced by improved patient care outcomes, patient experience, and nurse engagement results. Michelle is an active member of the ANA Innovation community, the DNA, and the DONL. Michelle has been recognized as a finalist for the Delaware Today Top Nurse award for Advancing and Leading the Profession 2022 and 2023. She has published in multiple peer-reviewed journals and has presented at local, regional, and national conferences on a variety of nursing topics and projects.

Immediate Past President

Jennifer Painter DNP, APRN, CNS, NEA-BC, RN-BC, OCN, AOCNS, LSSBB

ChristianaCare

Jennifer has been serving in the role as Associate Chief Learning Officer & Vice President, Nursing Professional Development & Education for the last 1 ½ years. She has been a nurse for 22 years with 19 years’ experience at ChristianaCare. Jennifer initially worked as a staff nurse as both an LPN and then an RN on 6C Hematology/Oncology from 2002-2007. She then worked in Cancer Research from 2007-2012. Jennifer completed her BSN and MSN degrees from the University of Delaware in 2003 and 2006 respectively and her DNP degree from Wilmington University in 2018. She received the Audrey K. Doberstein leadership award upon graduation. In 2019, she completed the GE Health Management Academy CNO Fellow Program.

Jennifer has presented locally, nationally, and internationally related to her work within Nursing Professional Development. She is certified in Nursing Professional Development, Nurse Executive-Advanced, Oncology Certified Nurse, and Advanced Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist. She is also certified as a Juran Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.

Jennifer was a finalist for the 2015 Excellence in Nursing Practice award for the State of Delaware in the Educator category as well as a finalist for the Delaware Today Top Nurse award in 2016. Jennifer was named as a Delaware Business Times Top 40 Under 40 business professional in 2019. Jennifer was named a 2021 Top 5 Emerging Training Leader by Training Magazine. 

President Elect

Maria Brown MSN, RN PCCN, CNL 

ChristianaCare

Nursing Excellence Manager, ChristianaCare

Maria Brown has worked for ChristianaCare for over 17 years. Maria began her caregiving journey as a Patient Care Technician while a full-time college student. Maria obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from York College of Pennsylvania in 2007 and her master's degree in nursing, concentrated in Clinical Nursing Leadership from Drexel University in 2020. She is board certified in progressive-care nursing and as a Clinical Nurse Leader. Maria has worked in progressive-care nursing, focusing on the care of complex trauma and surgical patients and as an adjunct clinical instructor for senior level nursing students. Most recently, she is a Manager of Nursing Excellence, which supports the Magnet® recognition program, professional advancement, Nursing Professional Governance, and Virtual Acute Care Nursing program, in addition to establishing and maintaining collaborative partnerships related to all aspects of nursing excellence. Maria has presented locally and nationally on the innovation of Virtual Acute Care Nursing. Maria is a member of many local and national professional nursing organizations, including the American Nurses Association and the Delaware Organization for Nursing Leadership (DONL). In the past two years, Maria has led a collaborative team to increase DONL membership which resulted in a 42% increase. 

Treasurer

Greg O’Neill MSN, APRN, AGCNS-BC, NPD-BC

ChristianaCare

As Director of Patient & Family Health Education, Greg leads the strategic plan for patient education and health literacy initiatives at ChristianaCare. After moving on from direct patient care as a trauma/surgical ICU nurse, Greg has developed a team of Nursing Professional Development Specialists who champion health literacy best practices systemwide and support all manner of patient education initiatives and vendor relationships.  Greg has been with ChristianaCare since 2009 and received his MSN as a CNS from the University of Delaware. 

Secretary

Paige Merring MSN, RN, CCRN, NEA-BC

ChristianaCare