SIXTEEN Professional Associations: General Overview, Inquiry, Action, and Innovation with contributions from Margaret Andrews, Eleanor T. Campbell, John Collins, Stephen R. Marrone, and Michelle Romano Committees, networking, and mentoring within and between professional associations have a great potential to enhance cultural competence and optimize outcomes. SNAPSHOT SCENARIO Several nurses belonging to the same Nursing Alumni Association engage in an e-mail discussion about upcoming professional conferences. Some excerpts are included here: April: Next week, on April 15, there is an all-day conference on “Meeting Health Care Needs of Diverse Communities” at Community Hospital in Urban City, sponsored by the Local Nurses Association. The keynote speaker is Dr. Popular. Are you interested in attending? The conference fee is $60 including lunch and five hours continuing education (CE) credits. Mae: If I knew ahead of time, I would have requested the day off. Unfortunately, we only get two conference days a year. I am on a committee at my Ethnic Nurses’ Association. We are planning a cultural conference for May 7. It will be held at the Lodge two streets from Community Hospital. Dr. Popular is the keynote speaker there as well. June: That’s interesting. Why didn’t I know this before? The rest of the faculty in conjunction with our school’s Sigma Theta Tau Chapter is sponsoring “Cultural Awareness Day” on June 15. It will be an all-day symposium in which area nurses involved in projects related to cultural issues will be invited to conduct an oral or poster presentation. We have not decided on a keynote speaker yet; however, Dr. Popular is on the list of potential contacts. I’m on the planning committee and also have responsibilities as chapter vice president. There are so few volunteers that the planning tasks are overwhelming. I’m new to the organization and feel thrown into the position of vice president. I was hoping for some transitional mentoring into the position and organization, but that didn’t happen. I’ll try my best to carry out my responsibilities and finish my term but I’m never going to run for a position again. Next time someone asks me to run for an office in any professional association I’m just going to run in the other direction. Julie: All of those conferences and events sound interesting and I’d like to go. Did you know that the National Association conference theme is focused on culture and health? It is going to be held in Urban City in July, so I can’t afford to fly out twice to the same place in such a short time. The budgetary constraints at Public University make it impossible to request funds unless a faculty member is presenting orally at a larger conference. Fortunately, my abstract was accepted. I would have liked to share my study results at any of your association conferences. Augustino: Well, I’m hesitant to mention that the regional research alliance has also selected the theme of culture and health. We sent out a call for abstracts in March but only received four by the deadline. The conference is scheduled for August 1–2 in Suburban Town, only 20 minutes outside of Urban City. I’m chairperson of the conference planning committee and can’t persuade members to join the other three people on the committee. The evident apathy and lack of diversity in our association is also discouraging. We’ve already paid a nonrefundable deposit on the State University’s auditorium. April: As secretary of State University’s Nursing Alumni Association, I’m aware that the annual September alumni and student event at State University has invited Dr. Popular to speak about culture and health. It hasn’t been officially announced yet. I don’t even know if I can attend the event because my clinical specialty nurses association is having their annual program on the same day in the west section of Urban City. There should be more discussion about culture and cultural competence within that association as well as a prioritized campaign to recruit, mentor, and retain diverse nurses as members and future association leaders. Conference results: Each of the associations’ conference events is minimally attended. Interested nurses are forced to choose which conference to attend. Active association members on the planning committee are exhausted from conference tasks. The thought of planning a future event is overwhelming. Although the majority of the association conferences “break even” between expenses and income generated, two of the associations lose money and only one makes a small profit. The poor attendance discourages potential new members from joining associations. In addition, the nominations committee faced difficulty in getting new or experienced members to run for board positions. Diversity and cultural competence remain minimally visible within the associations. After reading the scenarios, what visual images popped into your head? What ethnicity, race, country of origin, religion, gender, age, weight, educational background, and other physical, mental, and professional attributes did you visualize/imagine for each of the nurses mentioned? Why? What thoughts and feelings do you have about the scenarios? Professional associations (see Figure 16.1) provide unique opportunities for professional socialization, networking, skill enhancement, knowledge expansion, and professional attitude development (1–10). Because professional associations possess a potentially powerful and extensive ability to network together diverse and talented groups of professionals beyond a single health care institution (HCI) or academic setting, they can exert tremendous influence on promoting, disseminating, and advancing cultural competence development. Collectively and individually, professional associations, leaders, and members are challenged to take definitive actions that prioritize and enhance cultural competence development (11). Although each member is empowered to make a positive difference, the greatest impact will be achieved through a coordinated, holistic group effort that purposely interconnects all dimensions of the association—which will no doubt reflect well on the association far beyond its membership. Such actions necessitate empirically and conceptually supported inquiries, actions, and innovations motivated by true commitment for optimal cultural competence that is expressed substantially in the philosophy and mission, structure, events, activities, and networks of the association. FIGURE 16.1 Professional Associations Despite the type of professional association (broad purpose association, specialty practice association, or special interest association), all professional associations can potentially make a real difference in developing culturally competent nurses and other health professionals to enhance quality of care among culturally diverse patients. Certain factors within the professional association may support cultural competence development; yet other factors may restrict its development. This chapter highlights strategies for (a) identifying educational and other opportunities (within professional associations) for promoting cultural competency; (b) recognizing and overcoming barriers and challenges; and (c) developing action-focused strategies and innovations for making a positive (optimal) difference. Strategies, exhibits, and case exemplars for networking, mentoring, collaborating, and forging partnerships between professional associations conclude the chapter. The following section addresses key features for inquiry, action, and educational innovation within the professional association. SELF-ASSESSMENT What are your views about professional associations and their impact on cultural competence? To which professional associations do you belong? To what extent do you actively participate as a member, board member, mentor, or other role? To what extent is diversity evident in membership, leadership, and mentorship? What collaborations, networking, and/or partnerships are present? What impact could these factors potentially have on your professional association(s), nursing, and cultural competence development in practice, workplace, academic, research, and other settings? Similar to the process of cultural competency development in academia (see Chapter 7) and the HCI (see Chapter 13), promoting cultural competency in the professional association (PA) requires considerable sincere effort that must begin with self-assessment. Systematic self-assessment evaluates the various dimensions that can impact upon the educational process and the achievement of educational outcomes, including optimal cultural competence development (6, 12). Figure 16.2 depicts a systematic assessment within the professional association. Here, self-assessment refers to assessment of the individual member, elected officers, administrators, and the organization/association. (Readers are encouraged to refer to Chapter 7 and Chapter 8 for an in-depth discussion about self-assessment and Table 1.2 about dimensions of cultural values and beliefs. A user-friendly Self-Assessment Tool–Professional Associations (SAT–PA) is available in the Cultural Competence Education Resource Toolkit [Jeffreys, 2016]. The SAT–PA may be used individually and/or in groups; the SAT–PA also may be used alone or in conjunction with other toolkit items) (see the Preface). Finally, self-assessment should conclude with a listing of strengths, weaknesses, gaps in knowledge, goals, commitment, desire, motivation, and priorities. FIGURE 16.2 Self-Assessment in the Professional Association As mentioned in Chapter 7, a comprehensive understanding, skill, and desire are essential but not enough to effectively make a positive (or optimal) difference in cultural competence development. The author believes that resilient transcultural self-efficacy (confidence) is a critical and integral component in the process of cultural competence development (of self and in others). Transcultural self-efficacy (TSE) is the mediating factor that enhances persistence in cultural competence development despite obstacles, hardships, or stressors. Resilient TSE perceptions embrace lifelong learning in the quest to become “more” culturally competent and in the quest to assist others (learners and colleagues) to become more culturally competent. Within the PA there are many challenges and obstacles, and therefore it becomes increasingly important that individual members, elected officers, administrators, and the organization develop and maintain resilience, motivation, commitment, and persistence for endeavors that foster optimal cultural competence. It is proposed that individuals (and the organization) with resilient TSE perceptions persist in their endeavors to be active transcultural advocates or promoters of cultural competence in all dimensions of the PA and professional practice. Exhibit 16.1 provides a guide for appraising values, beliefs, and actions and for determining whether or not one is an active role model in cultural competence development within the PA or if there are factors restricting cultural competence development. A user-friendly Active Promoter Assessment Tool–Health Care Institutions/Professional Associations (APAT–HCIPA) is available in the Cultural Competence Education Resource Toolkit [Jeffreys, 2016]. The APAT–HCIPA may be used individually and/or in groups; the APAT–HCIPA also may be used alone or in conjunction with other toolkit items. (See the Preface for use within health care institutions and professional association settings.) It is proposed that the “actions taken to promote cultural competence development” is what makes one an active role model. Active role models influence cultural competence development in others by presenting opportunities for actual and vicarious learning and via forms of persuasion (honest and judicious encouragement and feedback). By providing ongoing opportunities for high-quality mentoring, professional associations can enhance the power of modeling on self-efficacy appraisal and professional development at all levels within the PA. The power of mentoring on nurses’ professional development and satisfaction has been well documented (4–7, 13–26). In addition, one needs to evaluate if the PA is truly committed to the goal of cultural competence development, cultural diversity within the profession, and culturally congruent patient care. One approach is to examine whether the PA actively embraced cultural diversity, cultural competence education, and recruitment of diverse members as priority goals partnered with strategic implementation plans prior to the relatively recent, popular attention to cultural diversity. Actively embracing cultural diversity includes multiple, intensive strategies designed to recruit, retain, and encourage educational and career advancement among culturally diverse nurses, especially from groups underrepresented in nursing practice and nursing leadership. Tragically, cultural diversity within the nursing profession does not mirror the U.S. population; nurse leaders from underrepresented groups are even less visible (2, 18, 20, 26–38). EXHIBIT 16.1 Self-Assessment: Active Promoter of Cultural Competence Development in the Professional Association Promoter Values, Beliefs, and Actions Promoter Yes Views cultural competence as important in own1 life and shares beliefs with others.* No Yes Views cultural competence as important in members’ education, professional development, and future practice and shares view with others. No Yes Views own role to include active involvement in promoting cultural competence development among members and shares view with others. No Yes Routinely updates own knowledge and skills to enhance cultural competence and shares relevant information with others. No Yes Attends professional events concerning cultural competence development and shares positive and relevant experiences with others. No Yes Views professional event participation concerning cultural competence development as important in members’ ongoing continuing education, professional development, and future practice and shares view with others. No Yes Offers incentives to encourage members’ participation in professional events. No Yes Maintains professional partnerships focused on cultural competence development and shares positive and relevant experiences with others. No Yes Maintains membership(s) in professional organizations whose primary mission is cultural competence development and shares positive and relevant experiences with others. No Yes Views memberships in professional organizations/associations (whose primary mission is cultural competence development) as important in members’ continuing education, professional development, and future practice and shares view with others. No Yes Offers incentives to encourage other’s participation in memberships in professional organizations/associations committed to cultural competence development. No Yes Recognizes actual and potential barriers hindering the development of cultural competence and initiates strategies to remove barriers. No Yes Implements strategies to encourage members’ development of cultural competence. No Yes Evaluates strategies implemented to encourage members’ development of cultural competence. No 1Own refers to individual members, elected officers, or association. *Active promoter/facilitator actions are indicated by italics. For some professional associations, actively advocating for diversity in the workforce is not new. For example, in 1965, the National Student Nurses’ Association (NSNA) passed a resolution to advocate for diversity and recruitment into the profession and introduced the Breakthrough to Nursing® (BTN) project (39, 40) (see Exhibit 16.2). The BTN project has been instrumental in developing new leaders who intrinsically value the potential power of professional associations in advocating for social justice and needed changes in nursing, health care, and society. NSNA emphasizes ethics and cultural competence for diverse cultures and subcultures through such visible areas as bylaws and resolutions, publications, websites, activities, membership, topics, and speakers (39–44) (see Exhibit 16.2). Another example is the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action. Marrone (see Exhibit 16.3) presents a brief overview of the initiative and highlights major components aimed at building a diverse, culturally competent workforce through coordinated interprofessional collaboration, stakeholder involvement, and networking. (The critical topic of enhancing cultural diversity within nursing is enormous; readers are referred to the current literature on nurse recruitment, retention, and professional advancement). EXHIBIT 16.2 National Student Nurses’ Association (NSNA) Breakthrough to Nursing ® (BTN) Project Michelle Romano, EdD (c), MS, RNC-OB Former Director of Membership and Constitute Affairs National Student Nurses’ Association History of NSNA’s BTN Project The purpose of the BTN project was expressed in the resolution that was voted on and passed by the House of Delegates during the National Student Nurses’ Association (NSNA) Annual Convention in 1965. Therefore be it resolved that the NSNA, Incorporated, in convention assembled … adopt as its national project: 1. Involving nursing students in improving the position of disadvantaged groups in society; 2. Further involving present members of NSNA and other nursing students from disadvantaged groups in the work of the association; 3. Recruiting members of these groups into nursing (1, p. 32). With its mission and philosophy rooted, it was during the civil rights movement that NSNA was advocating for diversity and supporting recruitment into the profession. The NSNA Nursing Recruitment Committee took action to change the course of nursing recruitment (2). This nationwide project would later become BTN. Evolution of the BTN Project The overarching issues were based on recruitment, retention, and mentoring, which are concerns regarding national health care workforce issues. These concerns, which remain relevant today, include: increasing underrepresented populations in the profession; supporting nontraditional students as well as young students; and supporting all students enrolled or aspiring to be enrolled in professional nursing programs. In 1969, the NSNA House of Delegates identified men as a minority group to be included in the BTN project to create a gender-neutral image of nursing (3). Keeping pace with national trends, BTN has been right at the forefront of change, expanding and evolving to address diversity issues. Over the years, the NSNA House of Delegates has adopted many resolutions that mark the concerns of students across the nation. Cultural competency, although not a new concept, remains an evolving topic among nursing students engaged in health care diversity. Providing students with the principles of cultural competency will enhance their caregiving and advocacy potential. Some of the resolutions that have been passed in recent years address concerns such as advancing effective communication and cultural competency of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, as well as increasing culture education for nursing students. The following link will provide a glimpse into the array of resolutions that BTN has worked toward implementing: http://www.nsna.org/Resolutions/ResolutionsIndexByTopic.aspx What Is BTN Doing Today? NSNA maintains a position on the board of directors dedicated to the BTN project. The BTN director is responsible for implementing resolutions addressing issues related to the project. In addition, these issues are presented as important topics warranting further exploration, implementation, and action for nursing students and educators. The 2014-2015 BTN theme is “What Starts Here Changes Nursing.” The project remains fresh with new leadership and ideas each year. BTN is committed to developing the leadership qualities and skills necessary for student nurses to be advocates for diversity in the profession. A recent example of how fresh, new ideas are infused into the Project includes the following resolution adopted by the 2013 NSNA House of Delegates. In Support of Revising the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Policy That Bans the Donation of Blood Products From Any Man Who Has Had Sex With Another Man (MSM). This resolution was a collaboration of three authors, including Blake Lynch, RN, cofounder of Banned4Life.org, and the 2013–2014 president of the Florida Nursing Students Association. Due to the FDA ban on blood products from gay men, Mr. Lynch was denied the right to donate blood for a friend who suffers from sickle cell anemia. Devastated and confused, he used the leadership principles learned in NSNA to advocate and bring awareness of this Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policy. With this knowledge and experience, he wrote a resolution to address concerns he felt so passionately about and the resolution was adopted. Banned4Life.org, a project he established with his partner, is dedicated to educating and changing the current FDA policy that denies gay men from donating blood and encourages all potential eligible blood donors to give blood (4). On December 23, 2014, the FDA lifted its lifetime ban on blood donations from gay men. This ban lift, however, comes with restrictions. Gay men will be deferred for one year after their last sexual contact before they can donate their blood (5). According to the New York Times, this new rule will irrationally exclude many, if not most, adult gay men, including those in monogamous sexual relationships. The articles also mentioned the FDA was keeping with the 12-month ban due to lack of scientific evidence to change the deferral period (6, 7). Today, the NSNA BTN project helps to implement change by broadening student awareness and encouraging a different approach to meeting the diversity needs of the profession. Nursing students begin their education in public policy and advocacy through NSNA, some of which have specific emphasis on BTN issues. Through their initial education, leadership development, and experience at NSNA, student nurses can continue to use these learned leadership principles in their professional careers. The goal of NSNA is to guide and mentor future leaders so that they will be the facilitators of change and patient advocates as professional nurses. REFERENCES 1. Mancino, D. (2002). 50 years of the National Student Nurses’ Association. Brooklyn, NY: National Student Nurses’ Association, Inc. 2. Mancino, D. (2005). Breakthrough to nursing: Celebrating 40 years of recruitment into nursing. Imprint 52(3), 45. 3. Brown, T. (2004). Nursing: A profession moving forward through the door of diversity. Imprint, 51(1-5), 65. 4. Lynch, B. (2014). Our blood can save lives, our hearts can change the world. Imprint, 61(4), 43-44. 5. FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg’s statement on FDA’s blood donor deferral policy for men who have sex with men. (2014, December 23). Retrieved from http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm427843.htm 6. Lapidos, J. (2014, December 29). Most gay men still excluded from giving blood. New York Times. Retrieved from http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/29/most-gay-men-still-excluded-from-giving-blood/?_r=0 7. Cohen, I. G., & Adashi, E. I. (2015, May 21). New blood donor policy, same gay stigma. New York Times [NY]. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/opinion/new-blood-donor-policy-same-gay-stigma.html?ref=topics EXHIBIT 16.3 Building a Diverse, Culturally Competent Workforce Through Professional Associations, Collaboration, Networking, and Prioritized Action Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action Building a Diverse Workforce Stephen R. Marrone, EdD, RN-BC, NEA-BC, CTN-A Associate Professor of Nursing Long Island University Harriet Rothkopf Heilbrunn School of Nursing Brooklyn, NY Adjunct Assistant Professor of Nursing Education Teachers College, Columbia University Executive Program for Nurses New York, NY The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action is a national initiative aimed at transforming health care by mobilizing key stakeholders and coalitions representing nurses, other health care providers, consumers, educators, and businesses in order to ensure that patients, families, and communities have access to high-quality and cost-effective care with nurses contributing to the full extent of their capabilities (1). The mission of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action is to promote the implementation of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) evidence-based recommendations for nurses leading change and advancing health. The Campaign is coordinated through the Center to Champion Nursing in America (CCNA), AARP, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The IOM Future of Nursing report (2) acknowledged that nursing, as the largest health care profession with more than 3 million registered nurses (3, 4), is crucial to the success of transforming health care. The report identifies the contributions of the nursing profession as vital to health care redesign and emphasizes the following key messages: 1. Nurses should practice to the full extent of their education. 2. Nurses should achieve higher levels of education through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression. 3. Nurses should be full partners with physicians and other health care professionals in redesigning health care. 4. Effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and an improved information infrastructure (1). The Campaign includes 51 State Action Coalitions composed of nurses, other health care providers, consumer advocates, policy makers, and business, academic, and philanthropic leaders. Together, the State Action Coalitions are an interconnected grassroots network of diverse stakeholders working to transform health care through nursing at local, state, and national levels (1). The IOM recommendations focus on the relationship between meeting the health care needs of diverse patients across the life span and throughout the continuum of care, and the readiness of the nursing workforce to respond to those needs. Therefore, the aims of the Campaign are to: (a) advance nursing education transformation, (b) promote diversity within the nursing workforce, (c) leverage nursing leadership, and, (d) foster interprofessional collaboration. Providing care to diverse populations and diversifying the nursing workforce are integrated throughout the aims of the Campaign (1). Advance Nursing Education Transformation In 2008, the most often reported initial nursing education of RNs in the United States was the associate degree in nursing, representing 45.4% of new graduate nurses. Approximately 50% of RNs hold a bachelor’s degree in nursing or higher. Baccalaureate and graduate programs at U.S. nursing schools turned away more than 75,000 qualified applicants in 2011 due to insufficient numbers of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space, clinical preceptors, and budget constraints (4, 5). Snapshots of progress (1) toward advancing nursing education transformation through seamless academic progression include the following: 1. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the Association of Community Colleges Trustees, the National League for Nursing, and the National Organization for Associate Degree Nursing, endorsed a joint statement that supports a shared goal of academic progression for nursing students and graduates to achieve a common goal of fostering a well-educated, diverse nursing workforce. 2. Medicare has contributed US$200 million over a 4-year period to increase the number of advanced practice nurses (APNs) to provide primary and preventive care with the intention of improving consumer value and containing health care costs. 3. North Carolina has created a common course catalogue for RN-BSN programs across all state-funded schools and created the Regionally Increasing Baccalaureate Nurses (RIBN) in order to increase the number of baccalaureate prepared nurses. 4. In Massachusetts, the creation of dedicated education units has increased educational capacity and improved clinical education for new graduate nurses. Promote Diversity Within the Nursing Workforce Racial and ethnic minorities make up approximately 30% of the U.S. population. In contrast, nearly 15% of the RN workforce includes nurses from racial and ethnic minorities and just under 10% of RNs are men (4, 5). Therefore, it is essential for the Future of Nursing that the nursing population evolves to reflect America’s changing population. The IOM (6) defined disparities in health care as “racial or ethnic differences in the quality of health care that are not due to access-related factors or clinical needs, preferences, and appropriateness of intervention.” Researchers have long recognized the connection between a culturally diverse workforce and quality patient care (7). The Campaign initiatives related to diversity support the importance of a diverse nursing workforce to care for a substantially increasing diverse population and to ultimately minimize health disparities. The Campaign established a Diversity Steering Committee to generate, test, and disseminate best practice models that will recreate a nursing profession prepared to care for a diverse population and to transform the health care system (1). The Diversity Committee supports strategies to build a diverse workforce and a diverse faculty to prepare future nurses to care for an increasingly diverse population. The mission of the Diversity Committee is as follows: “To narrow the health care disparities gap, to support the importance of a diverse workforce and to help prepare the discipline of nursing to care for an increasingly diverse population, the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action’s Diversity Steering Committee is organized to ensure that all Americans, regardless of race, religion, creed, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or any aspect of identity will have access to high-quality, patient-centered care in a health care system where nurses contribute as essential partners in achieving success” (1). Snapshots of progress (1) toward promoting diversity within the nursing workforce include the following: 1. The Diversity Committee includes representation from the American Assembly of Men in Nursing, Asian American/Pacific Islander Nurses Association, National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association, National Association of Hispanic Nurses, National Black Nurses Association, National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurses Association, Philippine Nurses Association of America, and the Transcultural Nursing Society, with the aim of identifying strategies to increase the numbers of men in nursing and the numbers of nurses from diverse backgrounds, including generational diversity. 2. The percentage of male registered nurses increased from 2.7% in 1970 to 9.6% in 2011. 3. The RWJF funded a program that provides financial support to accelerated-degree nursing students from underrepresented backgrounds so as to promote second-career nurses, expand the nursing workforce, increase diversity in the profession, and prepare nursing school faculty. 4. The New York State Diversity Subcommittee convened an interprofessional collaborative panel discussion on diversity in the health care delivery system and in academia and has proposed a new graduate residency program for acute care, long-term care, and rehabilitation facilities throughout New York State to ensure the safe transition of minority and underrepresented new graduate registered nurses into the practice setting. The proposal promotes that all minority and underrepresented new graduate registered nurses be provided with a registered nurse mentor who has successfully completed a preceptor program, completed a mentor program, and has demonstrated cultural sensitivity in clinical practice and in the preceptor and mentor roles. And, to the degree possible, all minority and underrepresented new graduate registered nurses will be provided with a registered nurse mentor from the same or similar cultural, ethnic, gender, and/or generational group(s). Leverage Nursing Leadership Nurses comprise less than 3% of community health system boards compared with approximately 20% who are physicians (8). Consequently, the Campaign is developing a leadership learning collaborative that facilitates sharing between all states working on leadership, engaging stakeholders to promote nurse leaders, identifying and showcasing nurse-led interprofessional collaboration models in practice that provide nurses with the opportunity to lead change, and engaging diverse nurses and student nurse leaders in the campaign leadership work (1). Snapshots of progress (1) toward promoting diversity within the nursing workforce include the following: 1. North Carolina has developed a leadership curriculum to prepare nurses to assume leadership positions on nursing and health-related boards. 2. Georgia formed the Georgia Nursing Leadership Coalition to advance and lead nursing and health care within the state, to remove scope of practice barriers for APNs, to secure funding to support the collection of nursing workforce data, to help schools create a common core of prerequisite courses so that associate degree nurses can progress more easily into baccalaureate programs, and to prepare nurses to assume leadership roles on nursing and health care boards. Foster Interprofessional Collaboration The Campaign considers interprofessional collaboration to be an essential component toward achieving success in education, leadership, and practice and to supporting quality and innovative health care practices and delivery across diverse populations. The Campaign is concentrating on initiatives that promote accessible, integrated models of interprofessional collaboration in education and practice, foster interprofessional education among all health professionals as students and as health care teams throughout their careers, and promote nurses as full partners with physicians and other health professionals in redesigning health care. Moreover, the Campaign is developing and implementing strategies to reward interprofessional collaboration in nursing education, to identify and disseminate nurse-led interprofessional collaboration models in practice, and to identify and promote nurse-led practice models that promote interprofessional collaboration (1). Snapshots of progress (1) toward fostering interprofessional collaboration include the following: 1. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and Veterans Affairs (VA) have joined forces to create strategies that promote interprofessional education and practice in health care. 2. HRSA integrated interprofessional collaboration into its nursing and physician workforce education programs and curricula health education centers in the United States. 3. The VA incorporated interprofessional collaboration into its primary care practice model. REFERENCES 1. Future of Nursing. (2013). Campaign for Action. Retrieved from http://campaignforaction.org 2. Institute of Medicine. (2010). The future of nursing: Leading change, advancing health. Retrieved from http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/the-future-of-nursing-leading-change-advancing-health.aspx 3. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2010). Factsheets. Retrieved from http://www.healthcare.gov/news/factsheets/2010/07/health-care-providers 4. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Health Resources and Services Administration. (2010). The registered nurse population: Findings from the 2008 national sample survey of registered nurses. Retrieved from http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/rnsurveys/rnsurveyfinal.pdf 5. American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2012). Nursing enrollment data. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/news/articles/2012/enrollment-data 6. Institute of Medicine. (2002). Unequal treatment: Confronting racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. 7. Davidio, J. F., Penner, L. A., Albrecht, T. L., Norton, W. E., Gaertner, S. L., & Shelton, J. N. (2008). Disparities and distrust: The implications of psychological processes for understanding racial disparities in health and health care. Social Sciences Medicine, 67, 478–486. 8. Prybil, L. (2009). Engaging nurses in governing hospitals and health systems. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 24, 5–9.
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