Three student leaders attend annual AACN Student Policy Summit
Three University of Rhode Island College of Nursing students represented the College in helping advocate for the nursing profession and health care in general as they joined students from around the country in the Student Policy Summit hosted by the American Academy of Colleges of Nursing.
Students Tina Parker, Aaron Soares and Heather Bedlion attended the month-long virtual conference focused on the federal policy process and nursing’s role in professional advocacy. Ordinarily held in person — and including a visit to Capitol Hill, where students get the chance meet with their state’s senators and representatives — this year’s session was virtual due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Students attended weekly sessions throughout March, which included pre-recorded lectures from nurses and nursing professors from around the country, as well as live networking events.
“Overall, it is how to get involved in health policy, how to be an advocate in nursing, how to join coalitions and nursing organizations,” said Parker, who is scheduled to graduate from the Family Nurse Practitioner program in December 2021. “You learn how to get in touch with congress members, and how to approach them with important issues to help progress the field of nursing and health policy. I had no clue where to even start, but after hearing what these leaders had to say, it’s really as easy as just getting involved. You can be an advocate for bills to help affect health policy.”
Among the lineup of experts teaching in the AACN program was URI Professor Betty Rambur, who answered questions during a live networking event, and presented a session on health care finances, payment reform and the importance of nurses to advocate for issues that affect public health policy. It was Rambur, in fact, who inspired Parker to pursue a role in health care advocacy.
“My first semester was with Dr. Rambur and she made a comment about how in order to really help the community, you need to take it from an individual level and try to change policy, because that doesn’t help just one person; it can help a whole population,” said Parker, who plans to work in community health centers in the future. “That really stuck with me and I’ve been interested in learning more about health policy. I wanted to to learn how to get involved so I can work on helping make health care more affordable, try to get more funding for health care and more access to healthcare for people who don’t have easy access to services.”
Sessions the students attended at the AACN Student Policy Summit include:
- The Future of Health Begins with You: National Institutes of Health
All of Us Research Program - Translating Research into Sound Policy
- How to Engage Congress and the Executive Branch
- Off the Record Roundtable: How to Engage Congress and the ExecutiveBranch
- Know Your Voice: The Power of Advocacy
- Fireside Chat with the Honorable Alan Wheat: Serving the nation both on and off Capitol Hill
- Academic Nursing Adapting to an Ever-Changing Policy Landscape
- Looking Ahead: The Future of Nursing in 2021 and Beyond
“The AACN was a fascinating look into issues on the forefront of policy nursing as well as nursing research,” said Aaron Soares.