This discussion reflected on the current challenges facing nurses in the United States, including staffing shortages and burnout. How will nursing evolve over the next decade and what actions can we take to better support the nursing community?
Resources
Event Transcript Nursing and the Health of the Public The Next Decade
Speakers
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Linda Flynn
Dean and Professor, Rutgers University School of Nursing
Linda Flynn
Dean and Professor, Rutgers University School of Nursing
Widely recognized for her extensive program of funded research on the effects of healthcare systems’ organizational culture and staffing levels on nurse and patient outcomes, Linda Flynn, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the dean and a tenured professor at Rutgers University School of Nursing—one of the largest and most highly ranked schools of nursing in the nation.Completing her postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, her program of research has quantified those factors contributing to registered nurses’ burnout and intentions to leave their jobs and profession — issues of relevance to today’s nursing shortage. She was one of the first researchers to extend this line of inquiry into post-acute settings such as nursing homes, home health, and dialysis centers. She was recently included on Stanford University’s list of the world’s top 2% nurse scientists.
As the dean of Rutgers School of Nursing, Dr. Flynn recently established the school’s Center for Health Equity and Systems Research, serves as national chair of the Big Ten Academic Alliance Coalition of Nursing Deans, and chairs the Organization of Colleges of Nursing, New Jersey. Recognizing the severity of the nursing shortage, she launched the Rutgers School of Nursing’s well-received webinar series featuring distinguished nurse leaders from across the U.S. addressing critical issues affecting the nation’s nursing workforce.
Understanding the need to enhance the workforce pipeline by increasing schools’ educational capacity, Dean Flynn spearheaded efforts that led to the expansion of nursing student admissions to Rutgers School of Nursing. She likewise led initiatives that facilitated a 50% increase in the number of students admitted to the school’s Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program.
Dean Flynn is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and the New York Academy of Medicine and an honorary senior fellow at the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania. Her numerous awards include being one of only five recipients nationwide to receive the prestigious Nurse Educator of the Year Award from the National League for Nursing. She is also the 2023 recipient of the Nurse Recognition Award from the New Jersey League for Nursing, and the 2024 Diva and Don Award from the New Jersey State Nurses Association Institute for Nursing. She received the Rutgers School of Nursing Outstanding Alumni Award in 2015.
Dr. Flynn earned her PhD from Rutgers as well as a master’s degree in community health nursing from Rutgers. She is an undergraduate alumnus of the University of Maryland.
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Ernest Grant
Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB), Duke University School of Nursing
Ernest Grant
Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB), Duke University School of Nursing
Ernest Grant PhD, RN, FAAN, serves as Vice Dean of the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Duke University’s School of Nursing. He is the immediate past-president of the American Nursing Association and is the first man to be elected to the role.
A distinguished leader, Dr. Grant has more than 30 years of nursing experience and is an internationally recognized burn-care and fire-safety expert. He previously served as the burn outreach coordinator for the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at University of North Carolina (UNC) Hospitals in Chapel Hill. In this role, Grant oversaw burn education for physicians, nurses, and other allied health care personnel and ran the center’s nationally acclaimed burn prevention program, which promotes safety and works to reduce burn-related injuries through public education and the legislative process. Grant also serves as adjunct faculty for the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Nursing, where he works with undergraduate and graduate nursing students in the classroom and clinical settings.
Grant is frequently sought out for his expertise as a clinician and educator. In addition to being a prolific speaker, he has conducted numerous burn-education courses with various branches of the U.S. military in preparation for troops’ deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2002, President George W. Bush presented Grant with a Nurse of the Year Award for his work treating burn victims from the World Trade Center site. In 2013, Grant received the B.T. Fowler Lifetime Achievement Award from the North Carolina Fire and Life Safety Education Council for making a difference in preventing the devastating effects of fire and burn injuries and deaths within the state.
An active participant in professional organizations, Grant is a past chair of the National Fire Protection Association board of directors and served as second vice president of the American Burn Association board of trustees. He also holds membership in Sigma Theta Tau and Chi Eta Phi. Grant served as president of the North Carolina Nurses Association from 2009-11. In 2002, ANA honored Grant with the Honorary Nursing Practice Award for his contributions to the advancement of nursing practice through strength of character, commitment, and competence.
Grant holds a BSN degree from North Carolina Central University and MSN and PhD degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nursing in 2014.
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Sarah L. Szanton
Dean; Patricia M. Davidson Health Equity and Social Justice Endowed Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
Sarah L. Szanton
Dean; Patricia M. Davidson Health Equity and Social Justice Endowed Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing
Sarah Szanton is the fifth dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing.
Dr. Szanton holds a joint appointment in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Under Dr. Szanton’s leadership, the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing is ranked No. 1 nationally by U.S. News & World Report for its master’s and doctor of nursing practice programs and No. 3 globally by QS World University.
In 2022, Dr. Szanton launched the impactful Policy Honors Program to help students develop advocacy skills in influencing policies that improve health. She is also chartering the creation of an innovative policy institute to advance health policy leadership and research for global nurse leaders and scientists.
As an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Dr. Szanton helped shape the pioneering Pathway to PhD Nursing Scholars Program to accelerate diversity within PhD-prepared nurses, and she established the Term Professorship for Rising Faculty to fund distinguished faculty in their research and leadership. During her first year as Dean, Dr. Szanton was elected as a member of the National Academy of Medicine and named a Woman of Achievement by Business and Professional Women of Maryland. She is a Heinz Award winner for the Human Condition and a PBS Organization’s “Next Avenue Influencers in Aging.”
In her early career, Dr. Szanton provided house calls to homebound elderly patients with low incomes in West Baltimore. To address the environmental challenges that were often as pressing as their health challenges, she co-developed a program called CAPABLE—now active in 23 states—involving a nurse, an occupational therapist, and a handyworker to help older adults age in community. Dr. Szanton maintains research on CAPABLE as well as on the impact of financial strain on health and the measurement of structural racism and resilience across the life course. As a researcher, Dr. Szanton has published more than 200 papers and been Principal Investigator on more than $20 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Innovation Center, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and others.
Dr. Szanton is core faculty at the Center on Aging and Health and Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions and adjunct faculty with the Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy. A former health policy advocate, Dr. Szanton aims her research and publications toward improving health equity, aging in community, and policies related to health. She has also testified on Capitol Hill regarding the nursing workforce and faculty shortages.
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Shannon N. Zenk
Director, National Institute of Nursing Research
Shannon N. Zenk
Director, National Institute of Nursing Research
Shannon N. Zenk, PhD, MPH, RN is Director of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). With a background in nursing and public health, Dr. Zenk’s research is centered on environmental injustice and health. Her work takes a contextual and spatial approach to understanding the role of the environment in health behaviors and outcomes, with the ultimate goal of producing evidence to eliminate racial/ethnic and socioeconomic health disparities. Since becoming Director of NINR, Dr. Zenk has led the development of the Institute’s new strategic plan with a bold focus on social determinants of health and health equity and serves as the co-chair of several NIH-wide efforts, including the Social Determinants of Health Research Coordinating Committee, the Community Partnerships to Advance Science for Society (ComPASS) Program, the Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) Initiative, and the Climate Change and Health Initiative. Dr. Zenk joined NINR in 2020 following a 14-year career as a faculty member at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) College of Nursing and Institute for Health Research and Policy. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, and was inducted into the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame in 2019. -
Jessica Bartlett
Medical Reporter, The Boston Globe (MODERATOR)
Jessica Bartlett
Medical Reporter, The Boston Globe (MODERATOR)
Jessica Bartlett is a medical reporter at the Boston Globe, covering hospitals, health insurance and health policy. She has covered health care for nearly a decade, and for most recently with the Globe since 2021.
Her work has focused on the business side of healthcare, with stories on a variety of topics including the evolution of the healthcare market, the pandemic’s effects on health care, health care affordability, legislative reform, workforce challenges and the ongoing hospital capacity crisis. Her story “Voices from the Front Lines,” which included voice testimony from nurses working in hospitals amid the pandemic, won a media excellence award for multimedia journalism from the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine.
In addition to her frequent articles, she is a regular contributor on Boston Globe Today, and has made frequent appearances on Bloomberg radio and New England Cable News. Prior to her work at the Globe, Jessica reported on health care, cannabis and craft beer industries for the Boston Business Journal, and spent four years covering local news for the Globe. Her work has also appeared in South Shore Living Magazine.
A Massachusetts native, Jessica is a graduate of the University of Vermont, where she studied English and studio art.
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