Kim Nielsen founded her own healthcare company years before she ever enrolled in a degree program at Chamberlain University.

She told Anderson-Mariemont Journal, "my path to the CEO title did not follow a traditional leadership track. I built it."

Nielsen started CONNECT Transitional Care Management in January 2014, a clinical case management organization in the Salt Lake City area that coordinates care for patients moving between hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies and the community. She was already running the company as CEO when she decided to go back to school.

In a LinkedIn post on July 15, Nielsen explained her reasoning.

"I actually became the CEO of CONNECT Transitional Care Management before I completed my BSN," she wrote. "Some people might assume that once you've reached a leadership position, additional education isn't necessary. I saw it completely differently."

Nielsen said the degree deepened her understanding of evidence-based practice, healthcare systems, leadership principles and quality improvement. She wrote that the credential also carried weight with the physicians, hospitals and insurance companies she works alongside.

"When you're leading nurses and working alongside physicians, hospitals, health systems, and insurance companies, your education matters," Nielsen wrote in the same July post.

CONNECT's clinical results reflect the company's model. A partnership with Tanner Clinic reduced patient readmission rates from 11% to a 4% average across panels, according to a Utah Health Information Network case study published in March 2025. Utah's statewide readmission rate at the time was 13.9%, and the national average was 14.6%.

Nielsen's profile comes as Chamberlain expands its physical footprint. The university, which calls itself the largest nursing school in the United States, opened its 25th campus in Cincinnati on Aug. 20. Hamilton County Commissioner Denise Driehaus declared that day "Chamberlain University Day" in Hamilton County. The first cohort of Cincinnati students began classes Aug. 31.

Greater Cincinnati employers posted nearly 50,000 open healthcare jobs last year, with six open healthcare positions for every graduate coming out of local programs, according to Chamberlain.

Chamberlain is also opening a 26th campus in Sandy, Utah, with classes set to begin Oct. 26. The university now serves roughly 40,000 students across 17 states, with more than 155,000 alumni practicing nationwide.

Nielsen's advice to working nurses weighing whether to go back to school, from her July post: "Don't pursue another degree simply because someone says you have to. Pursue it because it changes you."

Chamberlain's Cincinnati campus is accepting applications for its next cohort at chamberlain.edu.

Editor's note: Cincinnati is home to one of Chamberlain University's newest campuses. As part of that opening, the Anderson-Mariemont Journal is profiling select alumni who have gone through the program as part of a partnership with Chamberlain University.