The AARP Health Equity and Nursing Summit: Turning Commitments into Action is a conference for invited guests in Washington, DC Oct. 31-Nov. 1, featuring panel discussions and seven interactive workshops, with the goal of developing action plans for nurses to lead in building health equity.

Sponsored by AARP and the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the day-and-a-half-long summit will bring together nurses, health systems, insurers, consumer organizations, unions, large employers and others.

Workshop participants will develop action plans to:

• Diversify the nursing workforce and its leadership;
• Mitigate the workforce shortage crisis by implementing strategies to strengthen and retain the nursing workforce;
• Understand the social determinants of health in care delivery and nurses’ role;
• Elevate and spread the concept of equity-minded nurses.

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Agenda

October 31

November 1

Workshops

Workshop #1: Becoming an Equity-Minded Nurse

The facilitator will begin by offering a definition of what it means to be an equity-minded nurse, drawn from research and personal experience. She will provide examples of how equity-minded nurses operate in education, practice, research, and leadership. The facilitator will lead participants through exercises to help them craft action plans to become equity-minded nurses and/or deepen their existing understanding of equity-mindedness by setting concrete goals, metrics for achieving them, and timetables in which to achieve them. The facilitator will also help participants identify allies, champions, and stakeholders who can help them achieve their goals, and brainstorm ways to overcome educational, institutional, and personal barriers/obstacles on the road to becoming equity-minded nurses.

Facilitator: Piri Ackerman-Barger, PhD, RN, FAAN

Workshop #2: Seamless Progression in the Nursing Profession and Nursing as a Career to Achieve Financial Security

Facilitators will define academic seamless progression, using both academic and experiential definitions, and review opportunities and challenges that affect whether nurses and those wishing to enter the profession are able to progress in the profession. The facilitators will help participants craft action plans to enable them to progress more easily and seamlessly through the profession, beginning where they are today. These plans will enable participants to set concrete goals, metrics for achieving these goals, and timetables in which to achieve them. They will help participants identify stakeholders, allies and champions to help them achieve their goals and help them target and create a plan to overcome educational, institutional and personal barriers they may encounter on the road to achieving their goals.

In Part 2 of the workshop, facilitators will explain how a nursing career can provide a stable and reliable income that can help those entering nursing and their families achieve financial stability.

Facilitators: Deborah Stamps, EdD, MBA, GNP, Sandra Davis, PhD, DPM, ACNP-BC, and Kenya Beard, EdD, AGACNP, FAAN

Workshop #3: Incorporating Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and Addressing Structural Racism in Practice

This systems-focused workshop will look at how nurses, nurse leaders and health and social services leaders can design and implement successful DEI plans that also address structural racism. All of these leaders will give examples of how they have achieved results in their own organizations and will help participants craft concrete action plans to achieve their DEI goals, with measurable metrics and timetables. Attention will be paid to recruiting allies and champions, identifying stakeholders, and overcoming barriers and obstacles.

Facilitators: Rosemary Carol Polomano, PhD, RN, FAAN, Charlotte Thomas-Hawkins, PhD, RN, FAAN, Angelique Richard, PhD, RN, CENP, Kellie Bryant DNP, WHNP, CHSE, FAAN

Workshop #4: A-CHEN Volunteer Ambassadors

This workshop, exclusively for AARP Center for Health Equity through Nursing^SM  A-CHEN Volunteer Ambassadors, will focus on working together to build a plan for the activities and actions of the Ambassador program for 2024 and beyond. Ambassadors will plan for and formalize their collaboration, sharing knowledge and best practice activities to increase health equity in their organizations, communities, states and nationwide.

Facilitators: Karen Drenkard, PhD, RN, FAAN and Sarah Burrell, MEd

Workshop #5: Effectively Addressing the Social Determinants of Health and the Role Nurses Can Play in Informing the Public of Important Benefits and Services

Facilitators will provide a brief overview of the social determinants of health. Then, facilitators will address how systems can design and implement successful DEI plans that also address structural racism. The facilitators will share their knowledge of organizations and institutions that have successfully addressed these issues. They will lead participants in developing specific action plans to incorporate the social determinants of health in their own workplaces, organizations, and communities. These plans will identify and address barriers and obstacles participants have or may encounter, helping them set specific goals, with metrics and timetables to achieve them. Attention will also focus on recruiting helpful allies and champions and identifying stakeholders.

Part 2 of the workshop will address how nurses, who occupy a position of trust in the community, can inform the public about benefits and services that can address the social determinants of health. For example, nurses can tell the public about the availability of Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program benefits, or SNAP, which help people purchase nutritious food more affordably. They can also inform them of their potential eligibility for Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs), which help enrollees access greater health care benefits.

Facilitators: Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, PhD, RN, FAAN and Nicole Heckman, MBA

Workshop #6: Addressing Health Equity in Increasingly Diverse Rural Communities

Facilitators will begin by identifying the unique barriers to health equity that residents of rural communities face and how those barriers have changed as rural communities have continued to diversify over time. Facilitators will discuss strategies that have been successful in addressing health equity challenges, and help participants identify and create a plan to address the challenges they have encountered and positively improve rural health equity. These plans will include identifying stakeholders, allies and champions, and setting goals, metrics, and timetables for success. 

Facilitators: Regina Eddie, PhD, RN, Alan Morgan, MPA, and Laura Wagner, PhD, RN, FAAN

Workshop #7: Strengthening the Nursing Workforce Through Retention

Facilitators will provide an overview of the current research on the nursing workforce crisis and discuss strategies and solutions that have been advanced for nursing retention. Participants will be guided to create their own action plans that address the workforce crisis in their own workplaces and communities. They will set measurable goals, metrics for success, and timetables for measuring that success. They will identify stakeholders, allies, and champions who can help them achieve their goals.

Facilitators: Karren Kowalski, PhD, RN, FAAN and Dorothy Siemon, JD

Bios

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Resources