The weeks before and after Thanksgiving are usually filled with grace and gratefulness. And so it is even this year, a year of highs and lows. Through it all, you, our great network of allies and friends, have shown remarkable strength. Today, we write simply to say thanks. Thank you for putting your lives on the line, and thank you, too, for taking steps to create a powerful future.

You—all of you reading this—are helping the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action reach our ultimate goal of a more equitable America, one in which more people have more choices for better health. For your dedication, we are grateful.

We thank for the ways you are making the Future of Nursing 2020-2030 report your own. You were inspired and inspiring at our two Campaign summits, in June and September: In all, nearly 100 organizations have taken a stand to achieve health equity, committing to implement at least one recommendation from the National Academy of Medicine’s long-awaited report. You are taking purposeful steps to diversify the nursing workforce, address systemic racism, support nurse well-being, and more.

We thank all of you who participated in our Health Equity Action Forum series, and our mentoring programs supporting nursing schools that serve populations underrepresented in our profession.

And we’re glad, too, for ongoing progress that represents a significant victory for the public: With Delaware just months ago lifting restrictions on nurses, some 83 million people in 24 states and the District of Columbia now have direct access to nurse practitioners who can provide full care.

We are thrilled that, despite the pandemic’s pressures, many of you chose to focus on the critical work needed to create structures to make health care more equitable in every way, by applying for our Nursing Innovations Fund awards. We look forward to watching the progress of the six coalitions that earned funds, along with our many past-year awardees.

You are part of a huge group of good-hearted, hard-working people fighting to bring better health to this country. There is greatness in numbers, and your strength and determination are sources of joy and great hope. Thank you for many hundreds of reasons to give thanks!

Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN
Senior Adviser for Nursing, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation;
Director, Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action

Susan C. Reinhard, PhD, RN, FAAN
Senior Vice President and Director, AARP Public Policy Institute;
Chief Strategist, Center to Champion Nursing in America and Family Caregiving Initiatives

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First, a heartfelt thank you. Thank you for the contributions that we know you have made to your family, your community, the profession, and more, during a year of enormous challenges that include sickness in our ranks, burnout, grief, and worse. The pandemic has tested the world, and nursing as a whole. Even as we help others—as we always do—we also hurt.

Bearing witness to the pain and loss and the frailty of our systems continues to be hard. As the new year brings the hope of widespread availability and use of vaccines, we know that we still need to fight to heal ourselves, our fellow nurses and their families—all who continue to sacrifice.

In these earliest days of 2021, we would like to pause to look back—and forward—at nursing and the role the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), plays in the nation’s well-being.

It was the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, chosen to honor—200 years after her birth—the founder of modern nursing. But COVID-19 ravaged the world, which means that Florence Nightingale’s name is also now part of another sort of homage: The Nightingale Tribute names the nurses who have given their lives helping others during the worst pandemic in a century.

While the health disaster has highlighted the courage of nurses, it has also highlighted the disparities in health and health care. Then with the killing of George Floyd came a public reckoning of the effects of structural inequities, and the nation’s recognition of the need to right historical wrongs. As we affirmed at the time: Racism and injustice have no place in our country today. Our pathway to equity is to help build better health through nursing.

In ways large and small, we made strides in 2020 to do just that. Progress includes:

Access to Care

States: Through the Center to Champion Nursing in America, the Campaign’s operating arm, also an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP and RWJF, we hosted monthly sessions to guide others on how to work with state policymakers to lift—at least during the pandemic—legal restrictions on nurses. Participants included Action Coalitions, AARP state offices, and community groups. Successes in Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and Wisconsin expanded access to care for nearly 59 million people.

Florida, California, and Massachusetts also saw changes in laws that improve consumer’s access to care.

Federal: Nursing organizations including the Campaign, through AARP, helped pass the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, providing consumers easier access to care at home.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Among contributions toward building a more diverse nursing workforce, the Campaign’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Steering Committee has created a mentoring program and a health equity toolkit for use by nursing schools. The mentorship program, designed in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health and historically black colleges and universities, includes mentor-training workshops and a learning collaborative. Postponed last year, but back on track, are similar programs for students at schools that serve largely Hispanic populations, and those that serve American Indians.

Population Health in Nursing

The Campaign, with a grant from RWJF, completed a series of reports exploring promising models of nursing education related to improving population health. The Population Health in Nursing (PHIN) project, found here, also examines how nurses should be prepared for new roles in population health practice.

National Academy of Medicine report

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) delayed to late spring 2021 its much-anticipated report on the future of nursing 2020-2030, expanded to include nursing’s role in responding to the public health crisis. Many reading this letter have contributed to the committee’s broad outreach and research, including during an August 2020 webinar.

Coming Up: Virtual Gatherings to Plan Action

The focus of each is important, so we’ll list in chronological order brief notes on the meetings we have in store for early 2021.

• On January 12, we held the first of our Health Equity Action Forums, focusing on the value of diversifying the nursing workforce to achieve health equity. It was the first of several such virtual meetings. The second, slated for February 3, will cover the topic of nursing as a career ladder for establishing financial well-being for underrepresented communities.
• February 24, we will honor the work that so many have carried out based on the 2010 Future of Nursing report. We’ll also look ahead to the next NAM report.
• In May, we expect the release of the Future of Nursing 2020-2030 report.
• June 3–4, we’ll gather Action Coalitions and other Campaign members, allies, and stakeholders to plan how to implement the new report recommendations.

Nursing Innovations Fund

Wrapping up our yearly note is a spotlight on an inspiring set of projects past and future: the Nursing Innovations Fund Awards. In October, we announced 10 ambitious projects designed to address health disparities that each earned $25,000 awards. And look for news in May about a similar funding opportunity, for projects that address structural inequities.

Again, we want to thank you for all that you have done. Nursing, long the most trusted profession, has never been more important. You have pushed through and persevered. For all you’ve endured and the grace you have shown, thank you.

Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN Senior Adviser for Nursing, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Director, Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action

Susan C. Reinhard, PhD, RN, FAAN Senior Vice President and Director, AARP Public Policy Institute; Chief Strategist, Center to Champion Nursing in America

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The pandemic has wrought change in every aspect of life, and laid bare the disparities in health care in the U.S. “The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the daily stresses of frontline nurses,” writes Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, in a guest editorial in the July/August issue of the Journal for Nurses in Professional Development. It is also the reason, Hassmiller writes, that the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has delayed the publication date of its report on the future of nursing. Now due out in spring of 2021, the report will include facts about the country’s response to COVID-19, and nursing’s role in that response.

In her assessment of the needs that professional development practitioners must address, Hassmiller notes, “Two things are abundantly clear… (a) Nurses and other frontline health workers will need significant emotional support to continue to serve patients and to prepare for the future of health care, and (b) the rampant inequities, fully exposed by this pandemic, must be addressed at their root.”

Hassmiller is senior adviser for nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and director of The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP and RWJF. She is also senior scholar-in-residence and senior adviser to the president on nursing at the NAM.

Though the global health situation requires that the forthcoming NAM report cover more ground, the goal of that report is unchanged, writes Hassmiller: “The overarching task remains the same: to chart a path for our profession to help our nation build a culture of health, reduce health disparities, and improve the health and well-being of the U.S. population in the 21st century.”

Read the editorial. (May be behind a paywall)

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Nurses across America are feeling challenged by the events of this year — most especially by the COVID-19 pandemic. But nurses also offer resources and solutions in these crises that no one else can. Working across the spectrum of care, our profession has perspective on the needs of patients, populations, and the system as a whole — a much-needed unifying view in these divisive times.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be using this space to share that perspective as it has been developed by our Population Health in Nursing (PHIN) team. This group’s work is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and grew out of previous foundation-sponsored research on the profession’s ability to address unmet social needs. Over the next few weeks, they’ll be sharing insights on population health, nursing, and the response to COVID-19.

The PHIN team’s expertise is based on a two-phase study that began in 2018. The full text of the study’s reports can be found here, but we thought we would provide a brief summary to give context to the upcoming posts.

PHIN Phase 1

In the first stage of the PHIN study, the team explored how population health is taught in nursing schools. The team initially collected data using a 26-question survey answered by an array of nurses and health professionals from many different backgrounds. Additional in-depth interviews were conducted with 26 leaders in nursing and public health. Finally, the team conducted six site visits to nursing schools to learn more about their models for teaching population health. In the resulting report, “Nursing Education and the Path to Population Health Improvement,” the group shared a list of necessary elements to better integrate population health into nursing education. In particular, they emphasized the need for mutually beneficial academic-practice partnerships.

PHIN Phase 2

In the second stage of the PHIN study, the team turned their attention to the many settings where population health is practiced by nurses. Determined to look beyond traditional clinical and public health settings, the team worked with RWJF to assemble a summit of thought leaders in population health and nursing. These leaders encouraged the team to investigate platforms for interdisciplinary collaboration and improved engagement with marginalized communities. The team once again used in-depth interviews and site visits to learn more — not just about what nurses are doing now, but about their potential roles in community settings. In the resulting report, “Population Health Models and the Profession of Nursing,” the team shared several different ways in which these relationships could work. Their conclusions emphasized the need for nurses to understand other social systems and collaborate with professionals who can help them improve health within those systems.

PHIN Conclusions

Finally, after completing the two research phases of the project, the PHIN team released “Population Health and the Future of Nursing Conclusions,” in which they reflected on the meaning of their findings. The team argued that by taking responsibility for the problem of social needs assessment across the care continuum, the profession of nursing can assume a central role in new population health efforts and enhance the well-being of all. The report also made the case for innovation in nursing while acknowledging that nurses have been advancing the field of population health since the days of Florence Nightingale.

The COVID-19 epidemic in the United States began shortly after the PHIN team finished their work. Since then, they have continued to meet and advise the Campaign for Action on what their findings mean for nurses during the pandemic. Those discussions form the basis of the posts they will share here. These short articles will address the role nurses can play in social needs assessment in the pandemic, changing needs for data and technology skills, the need for adaptable academic-practice partnerships, and ongoing challenges for nurse leadership during the crisis. We look forward to the PHIN team’s thoughts and the discussions they will inspire.

Hassmiller  is the senior adviser for nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the director of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action.

Reinhard is senior vice president and director, AARP Public Policy Institute, and chief strategist, Center to Champion Nursing in America, which runs the Campaign.

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Since the videotaped killing of George Floyd, the issue of systemic racism has come to the fore: among neighbors, in America’s workplaces and homes, and most visibly in the streets of cities large and small. His brutal killing was yet another reminder of the racism and injustice that many Americans have lived with for all too long.

Racism and injustice have no place in our country today.

We want to reiterate that the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action—an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation—is committed more strongly than ever to equity and fairness. Our pathway to equity is to help build better health through nursing. Our goal is that “all people, regardless of race, religion, creed, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, or any aspect of their identity, will experience equity in well-being, health, and healthcare through a more diverse nursing workforce.”

The Center to Champion Nursing in America, which coordinates the Campaign for Action and is an initiative of those same organizations, shares these values and goals.

African Americans and Blacks are among the populations disproportionately affected by COVID-19. On top of that, America’s long history of racial violence has flared again, bringing to painful light the injustices that African Americans and Blacks live with daily.

The Campaign for Action was founded more than a decade ago on the conviction that nurses are central to America’s good health. That conviction and our efforts rest on an even bigger belief: the recognition that all people deserve to live their healthiest life possible; and that all should be able to forge their paths in life unhindered by unjust practices and beliefs. Our work is grounded in our expanding efforts to address the social determinants of health.

Events have driven equity to the forefront of conversations about social determinants of health and their impact on health. We hope—as a Campaign and as a nation—to create constructive change and growth.

What we all see happening in our communities and country right now ultimately demands of us new resolve. Together and as individuals, we need to raise our voices when we see wrongs that need righting, and take action in causes that can lead to great changes needed. But our ability to contribute to greater health equity also demands that we who are in positions of leadership and of power need to do more listening and learning to help build a better nation.

Let us hear from you.

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As the COVID-19 pandemic envelops the United States, far too many nurses are falling critically ill, and too many are losing their lives to this deadly disease. Our front-line nurses speak up to demand an adequate supply of personal protective equipment to protect themselves, their families, and their patients, but too many workplaces continue to face unacceptable shortages ─ in the wealthiest nation on earth.

In the midst of this pandemic, our nation’s 4 million nurses possess undaunted courage.  They leave their children in the care of relatives and depart to places like New York City to care for COVID-19 patients in hard-hit hospitals.  They forsake the comforts of retirement to care for COVID-19 patients, in spite of the risks to their own health.  They self-isolate after their shifts, unable to hug their own loved ones.

During their shifts, nurses tape photos of themselves to their protective gear to help put their COVID-19 patients at ease. They communicate with family members about their loved ones and carry iPads into patients’ rooms so they can communicate directly with them.

Each day, the stories of the risks that our nation’s nurses take—and the sacrifices they make–to provide care and save others bring tears to my eyes.  They are doing so much, often with so little.  I have never been prouder to be a nurse.

At the same time, I have never been angrier that our country, the richest in the world, has not done everything that it could to help nurses to feel as safe as possible at work and prevent them from infecting their loved ones. A healthy, adequately trained, and adequately equipped workforce is a critical element of responding to the virus. Nurses should not be expected to be martyrs.

I am also outraged by the toll that this virus is exacting on marginalized communities that already face far too much hardship. This pandemic has brought our collective failures to create health equity into stark relief. The poor, unhoused, and immigrant populations are at higher risk.

Preliminary data show that black people are being infected with COVID-19 and killed at significantly higher rates than whites. People who live in majority-black counties are three times as likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 and almost six times as likely to die as people who live in majority-white counties. In Milwaukee County (Wisconsin), for example, blacks made up almost half of all cases and 81 percent of deaths, even though the black population is only 26 percent of the total population, according to a ProPublica report.

Never again.  Never again should our health care workforce complete shifts without the personal protective equipment to keep themselves, their loved ones, and their patients safe. We must make sure to support nurses’ mental health needs, economic needs, training and education needs.  We must end understaffing and reduce nurse burnout.

We also cannot permit the stark inequities in our country to persist. We must commit as a society to address at the roots the social and economic factors that affect health, such as access to high-quality jobs, education, housing, and clean air and water. We must enact policies that dismantle structural and systemic racism.

We need to make real and lasting improvements through community action and public policy, including paid sick leave, affordable health insurance, access to care, and strengthening critical safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP. These forms of aid should be prioritized and bolstered, not stigmatized and cut.

As we celebrate the 200 birthday of Florence Nightingale and the Year of the Nurse , I am reminded of Nightingale’s defiance of Victorian conventions and how the British military viewed her as an unwanted interloper as she cared for soldiers during the Crimean War. Yet she returned to Great Britain from the Crimean War outraged and determined to prevent the squalid conditions that killed far more soldiers than battle wounds. As a result of her perseverance, the military eventually improved the conditions of their hospitals, and the British Parliament financed the first extensive sewage system for London.

Nightingale dedicated the remainder of her life to improving sanitation, especially for under-resourced populations. She encouraged Parliament to improve workhouses and to pass the Public Health Act in 1875 that raised the average life expectancy from 40 to 60 years before the advent of antibiotics.

In the same way, nurses must follow Nightingale’s example of speaking truth to power.  Let’s allow Florence Nightingale to inspire us to stand upon our convictions and fight every day to have our voices heard. We cannot be silenced by allowing those in power to designate us as heroes when we are not given the tools to protect ourselves, our families, and our patients.  We cannot be silenced when systemic inequities cause under-resourced populations to bear the brunt of this deadly pandemic.

I know that the nursing field will rise to help address the rampant social and economic factors that affect health, as we have done since the days of Florence Nightingale.  The National Academy of Medicine will release a second future of nursing report in the spring of 2021 that will chart a path for our profession to help our nation to give everyone a fair and just opportunity for health, reduce health inequities, and improve the health and well-being of the U.S. population in the 21^st century.

In the meantime, let’s show nurses our unyielding appreciation and support them so that they can continue to do their best work.  To our nation’s nurses, I am incredibly awed by your grace in facing the gravest challenge you have ever faced, often without the tools you need. I am grateful to you, and proud of you, and stand with you every step of the way.  Thank you.

Hassmiller is the senior adviser for nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the director of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action.

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In these unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic, we wanted to take a moment to thank you and acknowledge the valuable contribution that you and nursing are making to keep us healthy, and to care for those who aren’t.

We are so, so proud to be nurses today. To see our profession in action has been nothing short of miraculous. Nurses have always been on the front lines, have always sacrificed to heal and to make others feel better. But the last few weeks have brought out the best in every nurse, even when we thought we had seen that already.

We read stories, we see it ourselves: Nurses are everywhere, taking risks when needed, fighting this new disease on our shores, comforting people who are scared, helping people who are hurting, doing without sleep so that others can rest more easily.

Thank you for your wisdom, your strength, your service, your kindness. Thank you for being the best in the health field. You are helping the population with your leadership and caring.

No one thought that the Year of the Nurse would look like this… but it does, and you’re living up to the cause, in every way, of trying to keep healthy your communities and our nation.

Please let us know if there is anything we can do to support you. You remain in our thoughts as we monitor this evolving situation and anticipate tomorrow.

Thank you, again.

Hassmiller  is the senior adviser for nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the director of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action.

Reinhard is senior vice president and director, AARP Public Policy Institute, and chief strategist, Center to Champion Nursing in America, which runs the Campaign.

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At the start of 2019, we were anticipating great progress and big news on many fronts. Thanks to you, the last 12 months have lived up to those hopes.

Even as we continue advancing on our mission to strengthen our profession, we are growing to embrace a more all-encompassing view of health and health care. That perspective is one that understands that people’s health is affected by multiple factors outside of the health care setting. As nurses, we need to meet those needs where they are, and increasingly, we are creating, leading, and joining with other community leaders to do just that.

For examples, let’s take a look at back, then ahead. In addition, we have highlighted some 2020 funding opportunities for you below, including another round of Innovations funding from the Campaign. 

Future of nursing 2020-2030

That, of course, is the focus of the report due out in 2020 from the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), and a description of what you are helping create: the role that nursing will play in building a Culture of Health for the coming decade and beyond.

When the NAM announced its new study, it asked for your expertise and ideas. You spoke up. Thank you! Action Coalition members coast to coast gathered to watch, ask questions, or attend one or all of the three public meetings held to lay the foundation for the next report.

Nurses Leading Through Policy

Your efforts over the past decade have primed us as a profession to lead the way in shaping policy. In October, representatives from more than 20 Action Coalitions came together in New Jersey for “Pathway to Policy: Nurses Driving Change for a Healthier America.” We covered ground on how nurses are leading change in and outside of acute care settings, and forging partnerships to improve all the causes that affect well-being– those social determinants of health such as education, housing, and employment.

Nurses and Diversity

Alexis Bakos, PhD, MPH, RN (far right) and nursing school leaders Maija Anderson, DNP, RN and Tracey Murray, DNP, CRNP, FNP-BC (from left to right) listen as Dorothy Glisson, MSN, RN discusses student success efforts at Bowie State University. Photo credit: Scott Tanaka

The Campaign is proud of a new project built on partnerships that promises to increase the number of nurses from underrepresented populations. By working with the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities; nursing organizations; and a number of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), the Campaign has over two years piloted a mentor training project. Our goal is to help schools retain nursing students, and help those students graduate, and then pass the NCLEX. As our work with HBCUs grows, we’re expanding the project, too. In 2020, we will work with the National Association of Hispanic Nurses and the National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association to train mentors at Hispanic-serving institutions’ schools of nursing and those that serve Native Americans. These trainings will also involve Action Coalitions in the mentoring work.

School Nurses and Wellness

Nurses can and do lead wherever they are, and schools—which are bridges to the community as a whole—are important places to start. In October, the Campaign hosted “Better Schools, Better Communities,” a two-day meeting to examine and expand ways in which school nurses are improving the health of individuals, families, and communities. Action Coalitions explored models and partnerships that make the most of school-based health.

Population Health in Nursing

Nursing Education and the Path to Population Health Improvement, the Campaign’s stage-setting look at education models that are succeeding in preparing nurses for population health practice, was released in 2018. The same researchers have spent 2019 digging more deeply into those successful models, and plan to release phase 2 of their study in 2020.

Access to Care

Four states: Arizona, Montana, Texas and Utah passed incremental laws that improve consumer access to care by advanced practice registered nurses, and the Campaign looks forward to working with more states in 2020 on this issue.

Those are just some of the highlights of 2019. Here are just a few highlights we have to look forward to:

Innovations Funds

They’re back! Last year saw 12 Action Coalitions earn Innovations Fund awards for initiatives that had nurses collaborating with a diversity of stakeholders. Next year, Action Coalitions will have another opportunity. We will publicize the specifics in the new year.

Here is also a list of organizations/funding opportunities to watch in 2020.

• American Nurses Association Innovation Award;
• AARP Foundation Grants;
• RWJF Grants;
• Hillman Foundation;
• The United Way;
• Grants.gov;
• Kresge Foundation; and
• Johnson & Johnson Nurses Innovate QuickFire Challenge Series.

Check-Ins With Action Coalitions

Starting in 2020, the Campaign will shift its quarterly liaison calls with Action Coalitions to one date for all. That means that representatives from all Action Coalitions will dial in to be on the same call, hearing and sharing information and ideas together.

The biggest news is you.

Your work is more important than ever. Because you’re the future of nursing, and you are helping us define how we as a profession can create health equity. Next year’s Campaign summit, December 3-4 in Washington, D.C., will see the unveiling of the NAM 2020-2030 report. You’ve laid the groundwork for it over the years; you have helped the research committee already. Look for more information early next year about the summit.

Even as seeds planted over the last decade continue to bear fruit, this year our Campaign has planted anew many efforts we know will blossom in the coming months. Thank you for the bountiful year, and for creating a bright horizon!

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Sometimes it’s hard to realize how big something is when you’re in the thick of it. That’s why, as we enter our ninth year of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, we want to step back to fully appreciate where we are.

You are leaders at a time of tremendous change in health care. You—we—are part of a historic movement that took off with the Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health report. Together, you are bringing to life the Institute of Medicine findings of 2010 that have shaped our mission: That everyone in America can live a healthier life, supported by nurses as essential partners in providing care and promoting health equity and well-being.

As with all campaigns, ours is a series of successes and setbacks, monumental gains and temporary losses—and taking stock, we are thrilled to see the successes and gains growing.

Pillars: Points of Pride

You, our nationwide network of Action Coalitions, have helped push through the changes that are creating a Culture of Health. Together, we are:

Improving America’s access to high-quality care

• Since the Campaign began in 2010, nine states have fully modernized laws so that millions of people are now able to access the full range of care provided by advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). Six additional states made substantial improvements to their laws and ten states made incremental improvements that have all increased consumers’ access to high-quality health care.
• At the federal level, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in 2016 improved veterans’ access to care by allowing most APRNs to practice without restrictions at VA facilities.
• The Center to Champion Nursing in America (CCNA), an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP and RWJF that coordinates the Campaign, co-hosted with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners a series of regional workshops to discuss strategies for obtaining full practice authority for APRNs in states with conservative-leaning legislatures.
• A recent federal report recommending ways to increase Americans’ access to health care calls on states to expand scope of practice laws for ARPNs. The report was prepared by the Department of Health and Human Services in collaboration with the Departments of the Treasury and Labor, the Federal Trade Commission, and several offices within the White House.

Transforming nursing education for a better-prepared profession

• The last decade has seen a revolution in nursing education as the Campaign brought together hundreds of experts in education, business and government to address longstanding lack of agreement around what nursing education should be. The results are five education models that provide flexible, streamlined options for nursing students—which in turn means more nurses than ever graduating with bachelor’s degrees. A new national effort to encourage academic progression and accelerate educational advancement for nurses across the country — the National Education Progression in Nursing Collaborative, or NEPIN — is building on this and the previous work of the Academic Progression in Nursing Initiative (APIN), a grant-funded effort of RWJF that concluded in 2017.
• More nurses are obtaining their bachelor’s of science degree (BSN). In 2010 about 49 percent of registered nurses had a BSN; by 2017 that number grew to nearly 56 percent.
• The Campaign is also involved in efforts to identify and disseminate promising models that incorporate and strengthen population health ideals into nursing education curricula.

Promoting nursing leadership

• To see that nurses’ vast experience in care is positioned to improve public health, the Campaign helped found the Nurses on Boards Coalition. NOBC, which represents national nursing and other organizations, including AARP and RWJF, works to place 10,000 nurses on boards and other influential bodies by 2020 to improve the health of communities and the nation. We can achieve this goal, but only if all of you and your colleagues continue to go to the NOBC website to register your seat on a board. As of December 2018, nearly 5,500 nurses report serving on boards and that number continues to rise. The Campaign’s Champion Nursing Coalition also leads by example: Of the nearly 60 businesses that are members of this advisory group, 45 have nurses on their boards.

Increasing the diversity of nursing’s ranks

• The number of minority students enrolled in and graduating from RN programs is increasing, and so is the number of men, as the Campaign promotes ways to broaden the composition of the profession so that it matches the country’s diverse population. From 2010 to 2017, the number of minority RN graduates increased by 43 percent and the number of male RN graduates increased by 29 percent. The proportion of minority RN graduates and male RN graduates is also on the rise.

View the Campaign dashboard to remind yourself how far we’ve come. And with our momentum, we know there’s much more ahead we will do.

Funding Success, Innovations Support

You’ve shown your mettle in your fundraising this year. We are proud to celebrate the $36 million* we have raised nationally—an amount that represents the powerful partnerships you have forged throughout the community and country.

We’re continuing what we started in 2018, when nine Action Coalitions were picked to receive up to $25,000 each in matching funds for their innovative ideas. This year, as you likely know, we are offering a similar but streamlined opportunity for Action Coalition’s new or ongoing projects. The goal is to support replicable initiatives that position nurses as leaders in building a Culture of Health and health equity. We look forward to receiving your applications by February 28.

National Academy of Medicine: A New Future of Nursing Report

As many of you know, because you have hosted listening sessions to inform it, the National Academy of Medicine soon will embark on a new report. Intended as a follow-up to the Future of Nursing report, this will examine how the nursing profession expands and fulfills its role in continuing to improve health and increase health equity throughout the nation. As with the 2010 report that jump started a movement, this will be funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Campaign for Action Director Susan Hassmiller will help lead this effort in her new role as the National Academy of Medicine senior scholar in residence and special advisor to the president in nursing.

2020 Celebration

Toward the end of 2020, the new National Academy of Medicine report will be released and its findings discussed at a gathering of Action Coalitions and other leaders in health. That meeting will be a chance, too, to celebrate the work of Campaign and how much closer we are to realizing the recommendations from the IOM on which we have built our goals and achievements.

As we look forward to the New Year, it’s a good time to remember: Over time, the changes you’ve helped create are huge. You—we—are making history. Thank you, and happy New Year.

Yours in health and well-being,

*as of January 2017

The post Nine Years Strong: A Look at What the Campaign Has Accomplished appeared first on Campaign for Action.

A new federal report recommends ways to increase Americans’ access to care, suggesting improvements to public policy in four areas where federal and state rules “inhibit choice and competition”—including the need for states to expand scope of practice laws for advanced practice registered nurses.

“Reforming America’s Healthcare System Through Choice and Competition,” prepared by the Department of Health and Human Services in collaboration with the Departments of the Treasury and Labor, the Federal Trade Commission, and several offices within the White House, quotes the Institute of Medicine Future of Nursing report in urging that states drop restrictions that “have undermined the nursing profession’s ability to provide and improve both general and advanced care.”

The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action agrees. We work across the nation to modernize state laws and federal policies that keep nurses from contributing all they can to America’s health needs and wellness. Since the Campaign began in 2010, nine states have increased consumers’ access to care by removing legal barriers that prevented nurse practitioners from providing care to the full extent of their education and training, and many other states have made incremental improvements. In 22 states and the District of Columbia, nurse practitioners are allowed to provide full care.

Other organizations also applauding the report are the American Association of Nurse Practitioners  and the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists.

Read the report.

Check out Campaign resources and information on improving access to nurse-led care.

Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, is senior adviser for Nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and director of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action.

Susan C. Reinhard, PhD, RN, FAAN, is senior vice president and director of the AARP Public Policy Institute and chief strategist of the Center to Champion Nursing in America.

The post Federal Report Urges Restrictions Be Lifted to Improve Health Care appeared first on Campaign for Action.