Nurses have an unprecedented opportunity to improve the nation’s health, writes Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, in a book that’s a call to action for the profession to speak with a unified voice to create healthy societies at community, state, national, and global levels. Hassmiller is the senior adviser for nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and director of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action.

In The Power of Ten: A Conversational Approach to Tackling the Top Ten Priorities in Nursing, Hassmiller and her co-editor, Jennifer S. Mensik, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, asked more than 50 nurse leaders what they believe are the profession’s most pressing issues. From their responses, Hassmiller and Mensik assembled a list of top 10 priorities for nursing the coming years.

The 10 priorities—including educational reform, academic progression, diversity, and interprofessional collaboration—are illuminated through essays written by veteran and younger leaders, as well as action items, discussion points, and data. Spread throughout are quotations on nursing from national and global leaders.

Over the next few days, this blog will highlight sections from the book on leadership, diversity, education, practice and interprofessional collaboration.