Published February 05, 2020 
Weekly Digest
In a blog recently published on the Minority Nurse website, Dr. Janice Phillips, Associate Professor, Rush University College of Nursing, writes on Gaining Policy Expertise and Influence Through Voluntary and Service Opportunities. Dr. Phillips discusses how the gaining of expertise through volunteerism and service can be a strong catalyst for future opportunities in the policymaking arena, touching on her own experience in that regard.
In the January 2020 issue of American Nurse, Executive Editor for Professional Outreach Dr. Leah Curtin shares her thoughts on Mentorship and Collegiality. Dr. Curtin outlines the ethical principles that govern professional relationships and discusses the function of the professional relationship: modeling, role modeling, and role internalization. She reminds us that nurses should not only care for patients, but for each other as well.
"Any person from any background, with the right resources and the right support, can achieve a dream." This sentiment comes from a nursing professor who defied the odds and achieved her dream of making an impact on health care. Read this inspiring story about nursing professor Dahianna Lopez, who overcame a difficult beginning on her path to success in public health and higher education.
Washington Weekly
Inside this edition of Washington Weekly: Top Five Reasons to Attend AACN's Student Policy Summit; Nursing Voices, Nursing Votes: Counting Down to the 2020 Election; and AACN attends panel on healthcare automation.
Member News & Announcements
- Twelve AACN member schools received the American Association for Men in Nursing 2019 Best Schools for Men in Nursing Award. The purpose of the award is to recognize a nursing school or college that has provided significant efforts in recruiting and retaining men in nursing, in providing men a supportive educational environment and in educating faculty, students and the community about the contributions men have made and do make to the nursing profession. The schools are: Duke University, John Hopkins University, Lewis University, Nebraska Methodist College of Nursing, Northern Illinois University, New York University, Rutgers University, University of Alabama-Birmingham, University of Cincinnati, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Vanderbilt University, West Coast University.
- A simulation hospital will be built for the School of Nursing at Pittsburg State University in Kansas, thanks to $6 million from private donors, who initiated the project after learning of the need. The project is envisioned as an approximately 5,000 square-foot addition, plus targeted renovations to an existing building, which would accommodate cohorts of 120 students. Read more >>
- Dr. Allison Vorderstrasse has been named Dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She will begin her appointment on July 1. Dr. Vorderstrasse currently serves as a faculty member and director of the Florence S. Downs PhD Program in Nursing Research and Theory Development at New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing. Read more >>
- Oklahoma Baptist University has appointed Dr. Robbie Henson as Dean of the university’s College of Nursing. Dr. Henson has served as Interim Dean since August 2019 and is the Lawrence C. and Marion V. Harris Chair of Nursing. Her duties as dean will begin immediately. Read more >>
- Dr. Laurie Badzek, Dean of the College of Nursing at Penn State, has been selected to receive the American Nurses Association’s Leadership in Ethics Award. The award was created to recognize a registered nurse who has authentically demonstrated the highest standards of ethics and leadership in their daily practice, served as an ethical role model and promoted ethical dialogue and scholarship. Read more >>