NYC Health + Hospitals and the City University of New York (CUNY) create an expanded partnership that will further strengthen career pathways for newly graduated nurses. The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) elects its first male president. The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) partners with Huggies to help nurses reduce disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality outcomes. A podcast aims to inspire, educate, and empower future and current nurses. Read on for more nursing news and insights.
Nursing career pathways to be expanded through New York partnership
An enhanced partnership between the largest public healthcare system in the United States and the nation’s largest urban public university is expected to help place new nursing graduates into diverse specialties throughout the public health system and offer existing nurses more professional development opportunities.
According to officials with NYC Health + Hospitals and the City University of New York (CUNY), the institutions have created an expanded partnership that will further strengthen career pathways for newly graduated nurses who enter the city’s public health system. The partnership will place new, diverse, highly trained nurses throughout NYC Health + Hospitals, drawing from 1,800 CUNY nursing students who graduate each year. Additionally, CUNY and NYC Health + Hospitals are creating a nursing academic-practice partnership through research opportunities, innovation in nursing leadership curriculums, and health equity forums by utilizing nursing staff and leaders within the health system and CUNY nurse faculty to facilitate trainings.
Existing NYC Health + Hospitals nursing staff will also have access to more than 50 nursing advanced credit-bearing certificate and degree programs across CUNY institutions, including nursing programs at both senior and community colleges.
“Nursing requires ongoing training, skills development, and research that helps to empower a nurse and improve the overall care delivered to patients, and our partnership with CUNY will ensure we’re bringing the most innovative and expert care to all of our patients,” said Natalia Cineas, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, senior vice president and system chief nurse executive at NYC Health + Hospitals. “This expansion with CUNY strengthens our nursing relationship by employing their graduates, while also working with their expert faculty to offer ongoing professional development opportunities to our existing workforce.”
NYC Health + Hospitals and CUNY are developing steering committees composed of the system’s nursing staff and CUNY nursing faculty to help develop and lead development curriculum. The new professional development opportunities include:
- Clinical skills-building opportunities for current nurses working within NYC Health + Hospitals to sharpen competencies, learn new clinical approaches to patient care, and explore issues within medical ethics.
- Professional nursing workforce development that will be offered to current nursing staff to continue their education at CUNY institutions. This includes being able to return to the classroom for affordable advanced nursing degrees and other certifications.
- Expanded clinical placements for CUNY students across NYC Health + Hospitals, with internship and recruitment pathways to facilitate the hiring of CUNY undergraduate and graduate students.
- Nursing research, evidence-based practice, and performance/quality improvement incorporated into nursing educational models and practice innovations at CUNY and NYC Health + Hospitals, with ongoing evaluations of these models in practice.
- Health equity policy forums that will engage nursing staff and leadership, academics, and key stakeholders to address explicit priorities for achieving health equity across nursing practice, education, leadership, and health policy management.
The framework for the expanded partnership between NYC Health + Hospitals and CUNY draws on the National Academy of Medicine’s “The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity” study and program that encourages the American nursing sector to use its “unique combination of skills, knowledge, and dedication … to address health inequities and improve health and well-being for all.”
CUNY graduates approximately 1,800 nursing students each year and NYC Health + Hospitals employs more than 9,600 full- and part-time nurses.
“CUNY is thrilled to formally collaborate with NYC Health + Hospitals on our academic-practice partnership, linking nursing leadership, faculty, students, and staff across both organizations to address our shared vision of eliminating health disparities and achieving health equity for NYC’s most vulnerable populations,” said Patricia Simino Boyce, PhD, RN, CUNY University dean for health and human services. “Ultimately, our collaboration will leverage the expertise and involvement of CUNY’s broad array of health and human service programs to expand our programs and produce jointly sponsored programs, initiatives, policy, and research to educate, train and employ generations of professionals, impacting the millions served by New York City’s most enduring public institutions.”
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AAN names first male president
Kenneth R. White, PhD, AGACNP, ACHPN, FACHE, FAAN, has been named President of the American Academy of Nursing, becoming the first male to be elected president of the organization.
White is the dean of the School of Nursing at MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston, MA, New England’s largest health provider.
As President, White will guide the Academy’s work towards a healthier, more equitable future, said AAN officials in a prepared statement. White will emphasize the organization’s efforts to promote inclusivity and eliminate racism within the profession and across all fields of healthcare.
He was inducted into the Academy in 2012 in recognition of his significant contributions and expertise in the fields of palliative care and healthcare leadership and has held domestic and global leadership positions at large health systems and universities in various locations
His published works include articles and chapters on hospice and palliative care, nursing innovation and entrepreneurship, health systems optimization, hospital management, and advancing access to care for vulnerable populations. He is also author of the award-winning textbook “The Well-Managed Healthcare Organization”
“I look forward to ensuring strong governance and adherence to our values of equity, diversity, inclusivity, inquiry, integrity, and courage,” White said. “I am eager to work with Academy fellows, stakeholders, and the public as we continue the Academy’s vision of pursuing healthy lives for all people.”
White’s term as president will continue through October 2023.
AWHONN partners with Huggies on maternal nurse resources
The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) is developing resources to help nurses reduce disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality outcomes with support from Huggies® Brand.
According to AWHONN officials, two new resources currently in development are focused on supporting all birthing women and the community around them as they safely prepare for birth, postpartum recovery, and begin breastfeeding and parenting.
In January 2022, AWHONN will release “Respectful Maternity Care Framework and Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guideline,” reportedly the first-of-its-kind resource on respectful nursing care from AWHONN. The guideline is now in development by a team of expert nursing scientists and clinicians dedicated to AWHONN’s mission of improving the health of women and their newborns through excellence in professional nursing care. This guideline includes recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other global maternal-child health organizations.
“Addressing the issues around maternal mortality and morbidity is critical to the health and well-being of pregnant people and their families,” said Jonathan Webb, MPH, MBA, chief executive officer at AWHONN, in a prepared statement. “The stakes couldn’t be higher for us to help get this right. Even one lost life, one suffering individual, or one negatively impacted family or community is too many. We appreciate the ongoing partnership and support of Huggies and look forward to making a difference together.”
In early 2022, AWHONN will also launch an organizational toolkit to support the evidence-based guideline in serving diverse populations in maternity settings, which will feature the guideline expert nursing team sharing highlights from the various sections of the guideline and tips for implementing the organizational toolkit.
Podcast spotlight: Life In Scrubs
The Life In Scrubs podcast is mainly geared toward nursing students and newly graduated nurses. However, all healthcare professionals could find episodes helpful. The goal is to inspire, educate, and empower future and current nurses as they navigate the world of nursing. Weekly episodes are released on Tuesdays and cover general insights and experiences from hosts, answer common nursing questions, and dive into all things related to a life in scrubs!
Recent include “Motivation And Taking Charge of Your Nursing Journey,” “Advocating And Finding Your ‘Why’” and “Beyond the Bedside with Clinical Trials Research” Available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
