When nurses are empowered to create health equity in their communities, they bring together a network like nobody else can.

The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has demonstrated this principle through its Nursing Innovations Fund that supports the Campaign’s state-based Action Coalitions in creating replicable and promising solutions for improving health equity through nursing.

The Nursing Innovations Fund was also designed to spark collaboration with partners outside of nursing. One condition of the award is that applicants must seek matching funds from other organizations. In combination with other tools to engage local stakeholders, the awards have led to an impressive array of new multi-sector relationships, helping nurses discover new allies for creating better access to care and services.

Launched in 2018, the Nursing Innovations Fund has led to new projects in 23 states. The Campaign has awarded more than $850,000 to a wide variety of initiatives, with every dollar being matched by other funders. This blog highlights the collaborations and projects from the 2019 and 2020 cohorts representing 17 states, whom created over a dozen publicly accessible tools to be used for building health equity. All of the resources are available on the Campaign website.

State coalitions secured investment from multiple organizations that understand why it is so important to invest in better access to care and services. They include organizations one might expect, such as hospitals, nursing schools, and regional philanthropies. Action Coalitions also secured funding from unexpected sources:

• In Georgia, funding from the Clayton County Fire and Emergency Services helped create more effective paths for Black men to enter nursing.  
• In Kentucky, the Kentucky Beef Council supported an initiative to prevent suicide in the farming community, and
• In Nebraska, Scoular, an agriculture supply chain company, contributed matching funds to a project aimed at improving health equity.

In addition to funders, Action Coalitions garnered critical support from community partners representing dozens of different organizations. Here are a few of their stories:

• In Pennsylvania, a podcast highlighting nurses in health equity roles featured many local partners, including Sanctuary Farm, a program that converts abandoned areas in Philadelphia to farm plots.
• In Washington, a program to bring culturally appropriate food and essentials to older Filipino community members worked with local and national groups such as the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns.
• In Indiana, nurses from the Indiana Center for Nursing collaborated with the AARP state office to enable nursing schools across the state to implement holistic admissions programs

Crucial to the impact of these projects is the idea that all of them can provide insights that help many other organizations disrupt disparities and improve access to care and services.

Actions Coalitions drew on well-established tools to address health disparities, including the Campaign’s Heath Equity Toolkit and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Healthy People 2030. In turn, many of them developed new resources to help others:

• In Wisconsin, the Action Coalition developed a curriculum to improve nurses’ disaster response capabilities, and it is being shared throughout the state.
• In Massachusetts, nurses developed an anti-vaping resource kit for use in public schools.
• The Pennsylvania initiative centers on a podcast that helps nurses envision new careers in health equity.

Together, these partnerships, resources, and insights add up to a powerful network working to achieve health equity in the U.S. built on strengthened nursing capacity and expertise, as the National Academy of Medicine’s Future of Nursing 2020—2030 report has envisioned.

In the coming weeks, this Campaign blog will feature more detailed explorations of how this work brought together local and state coalitions to address health equity. Projects to be featured include:

• Indiana – This project brought together partners including AARP Indiana State office and Orbis Education to help nursing programs implement holistic admissions and peer-to-peer mentoring for the Nursing Education, Engagement, and Diversity Statewide Initiative, or NEEDS.
• Kentucky – The Kentucky Nurses Action Coalition enlisted school nurses to address the state’s disproportionate suicide rate, culminating in a dramatic presentation designed with the Actors Theater of Louisville. Title: School Nurses to BARN Camp for the Mental Health and Wellness of Kentucky Youth.
• Massachusetts – This project addressed vaping in youth in partnership with education and law enforcement groups from across the state, yielding new curricula to aid teachers in elementary and secondary schools. Title: Promoting Health Literacy to Influence Health and Wellness of Students in the Community: Widening the Connections.
• North Carolina – Working with the North Carolina Action Coalition, the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University developed a new model of coalition-building to help African American and rural communities. Title: Project RARE (Reciprocal, Authentic, Relationships for Equity).
• Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Nurses Center explored gaps in the state’s emergency preparedness plans, then developed a training to help nurses address the problems. Partners included nursing schools as well as the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative and the Wisconsin Primary Health Care Association. Title: Preparing Wisconsin Nurses to Address the Needs of Vulnerable Populations in a Public Health Emergency.

Previous blog entries have also explored Nursing Innovations Fund programs in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Are you interested in addressing health equity in ways like the Campaign’s Action Coalitions? Visit the Nursing Innovations Fund page for a complete list of programs as well as the Campaign resources nurses used to create them.

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The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), is pleased to announce that 10 projects proposed by its state-based Action Coalitions, or in a few cases, organizations designated by an Action Coalition, have been selected to receive awards up to $25,000 each for new or ongoing work that strengthens nursing’s role in building a Culture of Health and promoting health equity. All 2020  Nursing Innovations Fund secured dollar to dollar matching funds from a variety of partners, including local county fire and emergency services, a state beef council, United Way, local foundations, health and hospital systems, universities and individual donors, to name a few.

The winning projects from nearly every region of the country range from developing nurse leaders to serve on local boards to a mentoring program for Black men that promotes educational attainment and employment opportunities in nursing. All are designed to address policies that impact the many different social, economic and environmental factors that shape our health, and that will lead to greater health equity for all.

RWJF defines health equity as, “everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. This requires removing obstacles to health such as poverty, discrimination, and their consequences, including powerlessness and lack of access to good jobs with fair pay, quality education and housing, safe environments and health care.”

“As a co-chair of the Campaign’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee (EDISC),

I am proud that these 2020 Nursing Innovation Fund projects are committed to advancing health equity, particularly at a moment when our nation is finally paying increased attention to addressing systemic racism,” said Carmen Alvarez, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, assistant professor, Department of Community-Public Health, Johns Hopkins University.

“A pathway to equity is to help build better health through nursing,” said Eric J. Williams, DNP,  RN, FAAN, assistant director and faculty chair and professor of nursing at Santa Monica College, and fellow co-chair of the EDISC. “These efforts are a step in that direction and I applaud the Action Coalitions for their work.”

The Campaign’s Nursing Innovations Fund was created in 2018 to support work of its Action Coalitions and allies that inform and influence policy, produce replicable strategies that place nurses in positions as essential partners in providing care, and strategically involve a diversity of stakeholders. This competition was limited to the Action Coalitions or organizations designated by Action Coalitions and required applicants to raise funds to match the award dollars. To date, 23 Action Coalitions and allies have received Nursing Innovation Fund awards to build healthier communities through nursing.

“As our nation continues to face the devastation wrought by COVID-19, nurses remain on the frontlines as trusted providers of care. Now, more than ever, our country is relying on nurses to apply their unique knowledge and understanding of community needs for better health. These states demonstrate how nurses use that critical perspective to implement innovative programs to improve health and well-being,” said Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior adviser for nursing at RWJF and director of the Campaign for Action and Susan C. Reinhard, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior vice president and director of the AARP Public Policy Institute, and chief strategist at the Center to Champion Nursing in America, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and RWJF, which coordinates the Campaign for Action.

The winners and an overview of their proposals are listed below:

Arkansas and Tennessee

The Arkansas Center for Nursing and the Tennessee Action Coalition aims to develop nurse leadership and places nurses on local housing and planning boards throughout the Arkansas Tennessee Delta region, to help create healthier communities through the project, “Nurses Building a Culture of Health in the Arkansas-Tennessee Delta”. This geographic area has a history of inequities, poverty and poor health outcomes. Matching funds were provided by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing, the Tennessee Department of Health and the Tennessee Housing Development Agency.

Georgia

The Georgia Nursing Leadership Coalition plans to implement a mentoring program for Black men that promotes educational attainment and employment opportunities in nursing through the “High School to Higher Education: Increasing Black Male Representation in Nursing” project. The efforts will engage community partners as stakeholders and employ a holistic approach to providing professional and personal development opportunities to assist mentors and mentees build the skills needed for educational attainment and employment success.

Kentucky

The Kentucky Nurses Action Coalition’s project, “Kentucky Partners to the BARN (Bringing Awareness Right Now) Program for a Farmer Dinner Theater Addressing Mental Health & Wellness” is a three-part intervention program designed to help address farmer mental health issues and prevent suicide. Fifty high school students with an agricultural career interest will receive tailored training sessions to raise self-awareness about mental health and wellness, learn suicide prevention skills and theater skills to produce a dinner theater addressing mental health and wellness for approximately 100 Kentucky farmers and their families.

Nebraska

The Nebraska Action Coalition’s project, “Striving for Health Equity in Nebraska,” works to address social determinants through a multipronged approach.

1. Build professional students’ knowledge of population health by having them design and disseminate health information at school health fairs.
2. Develop community-based partnerships via an advanced practice registered nurse led clinic which provides integrated behavioral health care for rural and underserved populations.
3. Promote awareness and build partnerships through an annual Leadership/Culture of Health conference. The conference will address topics such as advocacy, policy, mental health/self-care, implicit bias, and it will also include a “COVID-19 Lessons Learned” panel.

North Carolina

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s project, “On the Ground: Access to Care through Building Faith, Health, and Community Partnerships,” supported by the North Carolina Action Coalition, seeks to develop a faith, health, and community engagement model utilizing the Campaign’s Health Equity Toolkit. The program aims to enhance the health equity advocacy and partnership/coalition building skills of nurses, nursing students, pastors and church members to promote the health and well-being of communities through congregations. It will also create a regional steering committee to engage stakeholders to prioritize and address social determinants of health that adversely affect the health and well-being of African American and rural communities, and promote health-related congregational activities focused on the needs of the community.

Pennsylvania

Through its “At the Core of Care” podcast, the Pennsylvania Action Coalition will showcase stories of nurses and their partners driving change by addressing social determinants of health. The series will be incorporated into nursing school classrooms to inspire public health leadership and advocacy.

Washington

The National Alliance for Filipino Concerns launched the “Bayanihan Response to COVID-19″ to respond to the immediate and long-term health and wellness needs of Filipino communities in the United States and the Philippines. Via a telephone weekly check in and screening with elders identified as high need, callers assess for COVID-19 symptoms, food, prescription, utilities, housing needs and pre-paid phone minutes. They also offer a grocery and meal delivery program to ensure clients have access to nutritious and culturally appropriate food.  Lastly, they will conduct a community wellness survey. Focus group results will be disseminated to community members, stakeholders, and the public. In collaboration with Seattle University College of Nursing, and support of the Washington Action Coalition, they will use survey data to create interventions and initiatives to address community needs.

West Virginia

The West Virginia Action Coalition project, “RN Entrepreneur Project Continuation,” will create five sustainable nurse businesses and teach the entrepreneur course to 20 additional nurses. The training curriculum and program will expand across the state.

Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Action Coalition’s project, “Preparing Wisconsin Nurses to Address the Needs of Vulnerable Populations in a Public Health Emergency”, will design and develop trainings for Wisconsin nurses in response to the specific educational needs created by COVID-19. Trainings will address disparities impacting Wisconsin’s most vulnerable populations. Components include: launching educational programs for Milwaukee nurses who care for diverse and vulnerable populations, evaluating and improving learning content and methodologies and expanding the program statewide.

Wyoming

The aim of the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities, University of Wyoming, in support with the Wyoming Action Coalition project, “Facilitating Seniors’ Use of Technology to Decrease Social Isolation,” is for nursing students to help older adults use technology in their homes to access health care, purchase groceries and household goods, and communicate with their friends and family.

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This is the 14th in a series of profiles of Campaign leaders talking about their connections to the nursing or health care profession and their interests in healthier communities.

As the chief nursing officer at Public Health Seattle-King County, Washington, Dorene Hersh, MSN, RN, is responsible for clinical practice oversight for over 350 public health nurses employed in management, supervisory, advanced practice, field nursing, ambulatory care, and correctional health roles. She is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Public Health Nurse Leader and Culture of Health Breakthrough Leader in Nursing.

Why did you decide to become a nurse?

I became a nurse by accident, literally. In the summer of my junior year of high school, I was working at a restaurant. There was a large roast beef-carving stand and I was slicing meat for customers. The knife slipped, and a customer said, “You should get that taken care of.” I looked down and saw that I had cut myself quite deeply. While in the emergency department, I admired the way the nurses cared for the patients, triaging and balancing the needs of everyone present, including the providers. This experience inspired me to pursue nursing.

I also grew up in a very small town in Michigan and wanted to travel. The flexibility of nursing would allow me to attain employment no matter where I decided to live.

Can you describe your philosophical evolution from making that decision to where you are today?

Nursing is probably the only field where you can have a “do over” any time you desire. Though my graduate degree was as a pediatric nurse practitioner, I never worked a day as a PNP after discovering great gratification working in public health care.

I began as a bedside nurse in a neonatal intensive care unit. Since my original degree was a diploma RN, I pursued my bachelor’s degree while working full time—12-hour nights. After I graduated with my BSN, I began working per diem in home care, caring for the graduated preemies from the hospital. I eventually moved into home care full time, moving into leadership positions until I became a chief of nursing for a pediatric center for medically fragile children.

I had moved from Michigan, to New York, to California, then to Washington State, where I currently reside. My graduate degree was as a pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP). I had cared for medically fragile children for the first 20 years of my career, working with populations that were impacted by social determinants of health (although it wasn’t called that at the time). I had realized that caring for well children didn’t hold the same degree of satisfaction as I had previously enjoyed.

I graduated, passed my boards, and entered the field of public health leadership, where I could put my passion into upstream strategies to change the trajectory of health.

Of all that you have accomplished, what are you most proud of? 

I am proud of all that I have accomplished. Each milestone seems the most important at the time.

I cherish my time as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Public Health Nurse Leader. The training, coaching, and support has exponentially moved me forward onto state and national stages, which I never thought would have been possible before that experience.

As of July 1, my team was awarded a multimillion dollar [Health Resources and Services Administration] HRSA grant that will train future generations of ambulatory care nurses to care for medically underserved populations. The funds will support training nurses in our unique clinical experiences, including primary care, mobile medical vans, Refugee Screening—a nurse-run clinic that serves all newly arrived refugees providing culturally sensitive care for those who might have been through trauma—and Buprenorphine Pathway clinics to prepare nurses in the delivery of trauma-informed care. All of this is part of preparing nurses to build resilience in our community—that is my new passion.

If you could change the profession in any one way, what would you change and why?

Excellent question! If I had a magic wand, I would establish parity in nursing practice across our nation. We as a country are missing a great opportunity utilizing nurse practitioners to the fullest extent of their licensure. This is an important strategy in providing care in underserved areas. The nursing and provider shortages are growing as the Baby Boomers age. I think this strategy is attainable.

What is the most important action that nurses can take to lead the way to improve health and health care in America?

If each nurse found one thing in their community, where they work, where they worship or where they play, to model for others, it would be a great start.

I work with inspiring, talented, and dedicated nurses who make a difference every single day. Not only at work, but after hours, dedicating their time to running for office, raising money for charities, participating in marches, volunteering for community clinics, the list goes on. If we could engage every nurse across our nation to do one thing, think the impact would be great. A ripple in the pool of health in America.

Nurses are the largest sector of the health care workforce and the most trusted profession. We are essential to improving health and achieving health equity. Solving the health care crisis will be a multifaceted approach, with no one answer.

What role do you see for yourself in building a healthier America?

In Washington State, our Action Coalition is working on this very thing. We have three goals:

1. We are striving to create meaningful leadership opportunities for nurses, with a key focus on statewide efforts to advance health equity and population health.
2. We are educating nurses in various practice settings on the impact of the social determinants of health through a variety of strategies.
3. We are striving to transform nursing practice by incorporating social determinants of health into plans of nursing care in all care settings.

We are fortunate to have three statewide initiatives to leverage in achieving our goals, Healthier Washington, which is our state health improvement plan; Action Now!, which is a group of nursing leadership across the state joining together to address the nursing shortage; and the American Hospital Association’s 123forEquity Campaign to eliminate health care disparities.

Volunteering my time and effort to co-lead our Action Coalition has been very rewarding by mentoring the next generation of nurse leaders, and by engaging nurses to help move the needle to improve the health of our communities.

The post Her Passion Now: “Preparing Nurses To Build Resilience In Our Community” appeared first on Campaign for Action.

Problem Statement: The Washington Nursing Action Coalition (WNAC) is committed to engaging nurses, the largest segment of the healthcare workforce in the state, as leaders in health care reform.

Approach: WNAC surveyed all Washington nurses. As evident by survey results, nurses are interested in learning more about health care reform strategies in our state and the Robert Wood Johnson Culture of Health framework, which emphasizes the role of social determinants and environmental influences on the health of Washingtonians.  This presentation will highlight the methods employed by WNAC to engage nurses to apply a Culture of Health framework in their work and participate in Healthier Washington (the state plan to address health care reform), through a variety of nurse engagement strategies.

Products/Outcome: These include a resources Webpage and toolkit, conference presentations, and a short film highlighting the work of nurses and inter-professional teams addressing the social and environmental determinants.

Implications: Nurses possess a unique skill set and opportunities to lead reforms in public health and health care so that social determinants and environmental influences on health receive attention and action. The survey developed by Washington to gauge nurse interest and the engagement methods created can be adapted and replicated by nurse leaders in other states and communities. All nurses should incorporate social justice concepts in working with vulnerable populations by addressing the social and environmental determinants of health.

The post Engaging Washington State Nurses to Achieve Healthier Populations appeared first on Campaign for Action.

Several complex issues facing nursing are getting in the way of Washington State’s ability to produce a nursing workforce needed by our growing communities: a nursing faculty shortage, nursing education funding that fails to keep pace, and a lack of quality practice experiences for all students. Coupled with that is a national call to advance nursing education so that nurses have access to baccalaureate and graduate education.

A group of Washington State nursing leaders has banded together to form a statewide initiative called Action Now! to tackle these challenges and transform the state’s nursing education system.

The Action Now! movement is spearheaded by the Washington Center for Nursing, the statewide central nursing resource center; the Washington State Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission (NCQAC), the state’s nursing regulatory board; and the Council on Nursing Education in Washington State, the statewide organization of deans and directors of Washington nursing programs.

Action Now! will work with key stakeholders to develop priorities, strategies and initiatives to:

• Provide opportunities for nurses to advance their education
• Establish sustainable financing for nursing programs
• Ensure quality practice experience for all nursing students
• Create a stronger and more diverse faculty and nursing leadership pool

Provide opportunities for nurses to advance their education

Health needs are changing. Nurses must be prepared to deliver increasingly complex care and have the skills to lead healthcare into the future. The 2010 Institute of Medicine’s Future of Nursing Report recommended an increase to the percentage of nurses with a BSN or higher degree to 80 percent by 2020, as well increasing the number of graduate-prepared nurses. Research shows this has access to high-quality, patient-centered care helps to ensure our nation has access to high-quality, patient-centered care and better prepares nurses for leadership positions in a rapidly changing health care system. The Washington Center for Nursing is in close partnership with the Organization for Associate Degree Nursing help ensure our nation’s population has access to high-quality, patient-centered care. has access to high-quality, patient-centered care at the national level to accelerate these efforts.

Establish sustainable financing for nursing programs

Funding levels across the state must keep up with the need to attract the best-qualified faculty. We need to grow nursing schools to meet the demand so that more students can graduate and practice nursing in different settings and roles. Those graduates become nurse educators, nurse practitioners, researchers, and leaders in organizations.

Ensure quality practice experiences for all nursing students

Nurses provide care in a variety of settings. Currently, there is an alarming shortage of clinical placement experiences and clinical faculty to teach nursing. More residency and preceptorship programs are needed for nursing students.

Create a stronger and more diverse faculty and nursing leadership pool A long-standing strategy to address health disparities is a nursing workforce that reflects the cultural diversity of our state. We need more diversity in the ranks of nursing leadership, including nursing faculty, to better support all students.

In the coming year, the leaders of Action Now! will work with key stakeholders from nursing, health care, workforce development, policy, and the business community to develop lasting solutions that will improve the health of all Washingtonians.

For more information and to get involved, contact Action Now! co-leads Sofia Aragon, Annette Flanders, and Mindy Schaffner by emailing ActionNow@wcnursing.org

The Action Now! vision: Nursing Education: Securing the Future of a Healthier Washington.

The post WA Nurse Leaders Launch Initiative to Solve State Nursing Education Challenges appeared first on Campaign for Action.

• Distribution of population by race/ethnicity
• Percentage of population living in rural versus urban areas
• Distribution of population by federal poverty level
• Areas in which there is a shortage of primary health professionals

These statistics can guide your Action Coalition’s work in shaping a nursing workforce to better meet local needs and overcoming health disparities in your state. As you integrate other Culture of Health aspects into your work, consider how demographics play a role in health equity and fostering cross-sector collaboration.

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The economic case for BSN education

The national goal of having 80 percent of nurses with a BSN or higher by 2020 is a response to increasing evidence that points to bachelor’s-prepared nurses as the key to achieving high-quality care, improved health outcomes and lower costs–the Triple Aim of health care reform.

Research has shown that lower mortality rates, fewer medication errors, and positive outcomes are all linked to nurses prepared at the baccalaureate and graduate degree levels. For instance, in a study, “Economic Evaluation of the 80% Baccalaureate Nurse Workforce Recommendation: A Patient-Level Analysis,” researchers found that a 10 percent increase in the proportion of BSNs on hospital units was associated with lowering the odds of mortality by 10.9 percent. Many similar national and international studies have echoed these findings.

While education in associate degree in nursing programs equips students with everyday nursing skills, baccalaureate education enhances both clinical competency and care delivery. BSN students are immersed in research, informatics, leadership, and public health education, all of which prepares them to be strategic, critical thinkers who practice preventive care in interprofessional environments.

Collaboration with employers

The Washington Center for Nursing is collaborating with nursing employers across Washington state to develop strategies and policies that promote academic progression among experienced nurses. These partnerships are helping us gather information about the policies or practices that are working in their hospitals, as well as the challenges or barriers they’ve encountered in this work. Together, we’re developing effective tools to help institutional leaders statewide promote and support academic progression for their nurses.

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The economic case for BSN education

The national goal of having 80 percent of nurses with a BSN or higher by 2020 is a response to increasing evidence that points to BSN-prepared nurses as the key to achieving high-quality care, improved health outcomes and lower costs – the Triple Aim of health care reform.

Research has shown that lower mortality rates, fewer medication errors, and positive outcomes are all linked to nurses prepared at the baccalaureate and graduate degree levels. For instance, in a study, “Economic Evaluation of the 80% Baccalaureate Nurse Workforce Recommendation: A Patient-Level Analysis,” researchers found that a 10% increase in the proportion of BSNs on hospital units was associated with lowering the odds of mortality by 10.9%. Many similar national and international studies have echoed these findings.

While education in associate degree in nursing (ADN) programs equips students with everyday nursing skills, baccalaureate education enhances both clinical competency and care delivery. BSN students are immersed in research, informatics, leadership and public health education, all of which prepares them to be strategic, critical thinkers who practice preventative care in Interprofessional environments.

Collaboration with employers

WCN is collaborating with nursing employers across Washington State to develop strategies and policies that promote academic progression among experienced nurses. These partnerships are helping us gather information about the policies or practices that are working in their hospitals, as well as the challenges or barriers they’ve encountered in this work. Together, we’re developing effective tools to help institutional leaders statewide promote and support academic progression for their nurses.

The post Advancing Nursing Education, Advancing Health: New video encourages registered nurses to earn a BSN to better respond to a changing health care system appeared first on Campaign for Action.

“The WCN Board of Directors is excited and pleased to bring Sofia on board as our new executive director,” said Victoria Fletcher MSN, ARNP, FACNM, WCN Board President. “Sofia’s background and experience will be a great asset in moving forward the work of WCN benefiting nurses in the state and WCN’s many partners.”

As the executive director, Aragon will lead WCN’s work that focuses on promoting nursing as a desirable career; developing and managing data about the nursing workforce, identifying and disseminating information on best practices in nursing recruitment and retention; and increasing access to all levels of nursing education. WCN collaborates with stakeholders in workforce development, education and practice in Washington and across the United States to address nursing workforce issues.

Aragon brings a background in health care policy and nursing education and practice.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Washington in 1994; a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Seattle University in 1997; and her Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University-Chicago School of Law in 2002.

She holds a Washington State Registered Nurse license and is a member of the Washington State Bar Association.

Prior to joining WCN, Aragon was a senior governmental affairs advisor at the Washington State Nurses Association. She also serves as an adjunct faculty member at the Seattle University College of Nursing and as a legislative externship site supervisor at the Seattle University School of Law.

Other experience includes working at the WA Department of Health Community and Family Health Division as the legislative and policy manager; as the contracts manager with DOH’s HIV Client Services; and direct-care nursing positions with Providence Medical Center and the Rainier Park Medical Clinic in Seattle.

Aragon also serves as the chair of the Governor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs; as president of the Washington chapter of the American Association of Nurse Attorneys; and is a member of Filipino Lawyers of Washington.

“I’m thankful to the Board for this opportunity,” Aragon said. “With the tremendous changes in healthcare over the past few years, I’m excited to take on this role to further advance the nursing profession.”

Aragon will replace Linda Tieman RN, MN, FACHE, who has left WCN after 11 years in the position.

To reach Aragon, please send emails to sofiaa@wcnursing.org or call (206) 787-1200 ext. 107.

For more information on the Washington Center for Nursing, visit www.wcnursing.org.

The post Aragon Named New WCN Executive Director, WNAC Co-Lead appeared first on Campaign for Action.