Published September 26, 2018 
Rounds with Leadership: Strength in the Collective Voice: The Nursing Community Coalition Celebrates 10 Years
On September 12, 2018, the Nursing Community Coalition (NCC), of which AACN is the convening organization, hosted a three-part celebration to honor its 10 years of collective advocacy. An informal operation prior to 2008, the coalition began to formalize due to the efforts of then-Senator Barbara Mikulski's (D-MD) office and the nurses who were Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellows to expand nursing's voice in the national dialogue on healthcare reform. For the past decade, the NCC has been a beacon for unity within nursing advocacy and now includes 60 national nursing organizations. The NCC has developed a strong bipartisan, bicameral collaboration with the Congressional Nursing Caucuses to achieve the goal of working on important healthcare issues.
The NCC made its mark on Capitol Hill with the 2009 publication of its Commitment to Quality Health Reform: A Consensus Statement from the Nursing Community during the height of healthcare reform discussions. After months of negotiations, deliberations, and drafts, the Consensus Statement was signed by 41 national nursing organizations. The Consensus Statement, along with numerous comments, letters, and meetings on the Hill, played a vital role in the inclusion of key provisions in the Affordable Care Act of 2010, such as the ability of Certified Nurse Midwives to receive full Medicare reimbursement. The NCC proved to lawmakers that professional nursing organizations have a powerful stake in the future of our nation's health and, through the coalition, our collective voice would be heard.