Dr. Grant scheduled to deliver the Spring Distinguished Lecture April 20

The University of Rhode Island College of Nursing will welcome Ernest Grant (Ph.D., RN, FAAN), president of the American Nurses Association to deliver this semester’s Spring Distinguished Lecture on Wednesday, April 20.

Dr. Grant plans to speak about the critical role nurses continue to play in the country’s health care during his presentation, “The Future of Nursing: Leadership, Advocacy and Activism in Action.” The lecture is scheduled for 5 p.m. on April 20. A decision of whether the lecture will be virtual or in-person at the Nursing Education Center, 350 Eddy St., Providence, will depend on COVID-19 protocols closer to the time of the event.

Dr. Grant, who serves as adjunct faculty for the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Nursing, where he works with undergraduate and graduate nursing students in the classroom and clinical settings, has more than 30 years of nursing experience. He is an internationally recognized burn-care and fire-safety expert, having previously served as the burn outreach coordinator for the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at the UNC School of Medicine.

Grant has conducted numerous burn-education courses with various branches of the U.S. military in preparation for troops’ deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2002, President George W. Bush presented him with a Nurse of the Year Award for his work treating burn victims from the World Trade Center site, and ANA honored him with the Honorary Nursing Practice Award for his contributions “to the advancement of nursing practice through strength of character, commitment and competence.”

Grant holds a BSN degree from North Carolina Central University and MSN and PhD degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nursing in 2014. He is a past chair of the National Fire Protection Association board of directors and served as second vice president of the American Burn Association board of trustees. He is the first man to be elected to the office of president of the American Nurses Association.

The URI College of Nursing hosts its Distinguished Lecture Series each semester. Past lectures have been delivered by Director of the National Institute of Nursing Research Dr. Shannon Zenk; former director of the Yale University School of Nursing Center for Biobehavioral Health Research Dr. Nancy Redeker; and famed founder of the global health initiative, Partners in Health, Dr. Paul Farmer, among others.