Program Agenda

This event offers an opportunity for current State Grassroots Liaisons (SGLs) to gain additional insight into federal government affairs and policy priorities as we near the end of the 119^th Congress and prepare for the incoming 120^th Congress. SGLs are dedicated Deans, Directors, or Chairs who have been selected to serve in this role and who understand the importance of strengthening the connection between their members of Congress and AACN. If you are a Dean, Director, or Chair, interested in becoming an SGL, email Rachel Minahan at rminahan@aacnnursing.org to learn more. 

Coffee & Connect

• Access, Connection, and Engagement Opportunities at AACN
  Engage with colleagues to expand access, strengthen connections, and deepen engagement through AACN’s ACE programs, networking opportunities, and resources.
• Leadership Development Opportunities at AACN
  Connect with peers and discover leadership development opportunities through AACN’s LEADS programs, networking, and member resources.

Emerging Solutions

• Advancing Excellence in A VUCA World
  In a healthcare environment defined by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA), nurse leaders have a powerful opportunity to shape the future with resilience, vision, and purpose. Even amid complexity and workforce challenges, nursing continues to demonstrate extraordinary strength, adaptability, and commitment to patients and communities. Dr. Stephanie Brodtrick will highlight how change agility enables leaders to respond with focus, flexibility, and confidence in dynamic settings. Join your colleagues to explore strategies to advance excellence while reinforcing the mission, vision, and values that define high-quality healthcare.
   
• Effective Approaches to Strengthening Financial Decision-Making: Financial Strategies for Today's Academic Nursing Leaders 
  Explore winning approaches to enhance your leadership skills and thrive in today’s dynamic financial environment! Tailored to the needs of academic nursing leaders, this dynamic session will enrich your financial and economic expertise to drive effective decision-making. Discover practical strategies for establishing accountability, managing budget limitations, and diversifying resources to ensure long-term financial stability. This interactive discussion will also cover the essentials of crafting persuasive business proposals, helping you communicate your vision with impact. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights and connect with peers facing similar challenges!
   
• Leading Academic Nursing in the AI Era: A Framework for Discernment and Action
  In this immersive leadership experience, Dr. Delaney La Rosa will bring the rapidly changing AI landscape to life while helping academic nursing leaders interpret what it means for their institutions. Participants will examine how emerging capabilities are reshaping learning, work, professional preparation, and the evidence used to judge competence. They will consider the interconnected implications for curriculum, workforce readiness, organizational capacity, equity, and governance, using an executive-level AI discernment lens to identify priorities and decision areas that support a responsible, context-appropriate institutional response.
  What we teach. Who is ready. How we govern.
   
• Who Defines Nursing? Reimagining Our Image, Influence, and Value
  Nursing’s image is more than a matter of public perception; it shapes who enters the profession, who remains, whose expertise is heard, and how nursing influences the future of healthcare. As healthcare is increasingly shaped by business imperatives, the Quintuple Aim, technology and artificial intelligence, and entrepreneurial innovation, nursing must more intentionally shape and communicate a contemporary professional archetype and image that reflects its scientific expertise, clinical impact, economic contribution, commitment to person-centered care, and broader societal value. Dr. Richard Ricciardi will examine how nursing is perceived both internally and externally, how those perceptions shape professional identity, and why academic nursing leaders must take a more intentional role in defining and communicating the importance of image on a profession’s perceived and defined value. Participants will consider the relationship between nursing’s image and critical workforce outcomes, including recruitment into and exit from the profession, turnover, workplace well-being, professional fulfillment, and nurses’ sense of meaning, purpose, and joy in their work.

• Associate and Assistant Dean Dialogue        
  Associate and Assistant Deans are invited to this informal dialogue to discuss current and relevant issues unique to the role. Come ask your questions, connect with peers, and embrace the unique opportunity to engage in thought-provoking in-person conversation.
• Experienced Dean Dialogue
  Experienced deans are invited to this informal dialogue to collect and discuss current and relevant issues informed by the experienced leader. Come connect with peers and embrace the unique opportunity to engage in thought-provoking in-person conversation.
• New Dean Dialogue    
  New deans are invited to this informal dialogue to hear about the AACN resources helping you boost your leadership journey. Come ask your questions, connect with peers, and embrace the unique opportunity to engage in thought-provoking in-person conversation.

Join Shankar Vedantam, internationally renowned journalist, podcaster, and science correspondent, to examine the hidden assumptions and cognitive shortcuts that influence leadership judgment, team dynamics, learner assessment, and organizational culture. Drawing on psychology, neuroscience, and the social sciences, Vedantam offers leaders practical frameworks for building curiosity, reducing bias, and designing environments where people can think more clearly and work more effectively—especially when stakes are high and resources are constrained.