Amy Schlachtenhaufen, MSN, RN

Caritas Coach®
WCSI CCEP® Faculty
Caritas Leader®
Decorah, IA
  Caritas Colleague

Amy Schlachtenhaufen has always had a passion to help people, so nursing seemed like a great match. She discovered the impact a nurse makes, when she went on a mission trip with YWAM (Youth with a Mission) and Mercy Ships to England for three months and then on to Ghana and Togo for two months. She was able to volunteer as crew on the Mercy Ship, Anastasis. There she was able to observe and learn that compassion and care are the cornerstones of healing. This exposure to global health and her first glimpse of how caring transforms patients outcomes, made her sure that nursing was her calling.

Amy graduated from Denver School of Nursing in 2011 and worked at Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colorado. There she was blessed with amazing colleagues and coworkers who helped her build her clinical nursing knowledge and confidence all while exploring how to live out her heart’s passion. Over the years, Amy spent time working in Denver area hospitals as a nurse informaticist, educator and other IT clinical support roles.

In 2018, Amy and her family moved across the country to Decorah, IA for her to take a new position at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin. There she was formally exposed to Caring Science. She found kindred spirits in many of her colleagues who are fellow Caritas Coaches®. She embraced Caritas with all of her heart and knew she was finally home in the intentional presence of being. She was blessed with the opportunity to attend a Caritas Coach program and later graduated in the fall of 2021. Throughout her time at Gundersen she helped bring an innovative spirit and inquisitive nature to nursing communication and technology. She continues to stay connected to Gundersen Health System through her work in the Gundersen Medical Foundation on the Philanthropy Committee.

After completing her master’s degree, she spent four years in a traditional academic setting at Luther College, a liberal arts institution committed to global learning. From the very first day of class, her passion and purpose were to bring humanity back to the bedside, integrating caring science into every aspect of teaching and learning, whether modeling centering during lectures, guiding simulation debriefs and reflections, or creating safe spaces where students could transform into a new way of being. She embraced technology and simulation not as ends in themselves, but as meaningful tools to deepen connection and support human‑centered practice. This passion and purpose for reflection and connection also extended globally, as she co‑led a nursing course in Nottingham, England, with the NHS. The hybrid design blended online preparation with immersive onsite experiences, inviting students to pause, connect, and practice loving-kindness in diverse contexts while strengthening both their clinical skills and their understanding of nursing as a human art.

Building on these foundations, she now serves as a consultant, thoughtfully integrating technology into workflows that serve both students and educators. Her passion for caring science continues through her role as faculty with the Watson Caring Science Institute, where she shares her work in workshops and speaking engagements. As a Caritas Coach® and Caritas Leader®, she embraces innovation with curiosity, using digital tools to nurture connection, reflection, and meaningful practice rather than replace it.—always keeping humanity at the heart of nursing.