Welcome to the Golden Age of Nursing

We were so proud to have Dr. Donna Shalala, a revered public servant and current president of the University of Miami, speak to our graduates at Commencement last week. As chair of the Committee on the Future of Nursing for the Institute of Medicine, Dr. Shalala emphasized that healthcare systems around the world are poised to benefit from the expertise of nurses at a higher and more expansive level than ever.

With the passage of the 2010 Affordable Health Care Act, the discipline of nursing is front and center. We must seize the moment by investing in nurse scientists and advancing the scholarly field of nursing science. Scholarship in nursing is vital for developing and translating best practices for quality care. The objective of a research career is to provide the evidence for equitable, quality healthcare for all populations. Of course the ultimate goal is to develop policies and practice standards that positively influence the care of all people.

To achieve that, academic and practice institutions must uphold and fortify their research mission.

On a recent visit to Universidad de Costa Rica, I spoke about creating a culture of scholarship. In sum, the keys are:

• Practice – Having an engaged and well-supported practice program
• PhD Education – Preparing nurses for the highest level of competency and integrity
• Passion for the Discipline – Inculcating a strong identity and integrating research and practice
• Post-Doctoral Education – Supporting novice scholars
• Protecting Researchers – Providing time, mentorship and support
• Productive Communities – Creating environments that value scholarship, mentoring, and intellectual engagement
• Partnerships – Creating local, national and global relationships, and clinical-academic partnerships
• Policies -- Knowing and influencing healthcare priorities and research agendas and using media to market findings.

We are on the threshold of the Golden Age of Nursing. Today’s graduates are beginning their nursing careers at the best possible time. Let us ensure that every door is open to them and to every nurse scientist.

“Give the Profession a Little Swagger”

Nurses will be the leaders in our reformed healthcare system. That was the clear and motivating message from Dr. Donna Shalala, our wonderful Commencement speaker yesterday.

With three million nurses in the United States, Dr. Shalala said, nursing professionals “hold the power and influence to make those numbers speak” in the new era of healthcare. She is in a position to know: Dr. Shalala, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and current president of the University of Miami, has spent her career working tirelessly for health, knowledge and empowerment for all people. And last year, she chaired the Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing at the Institute of Medicine. The committee reported on the crucial role of nurses in healthcare reform.

Yesterday, Dr. Shalala told our Penn Nursing graduates that their expanded role under the 2010 Affordable Health Care Act should “elevate nursing to its proper leadership place in the health care pantheon.”

She called on our graduates to claim a leadership role in health care reform: to ensure that their voices are heard “on rounds and on the record,” to demand “full partnership with physicians,” and to “give the profession a little swagger.” I couldn’t agree more.

“I strongly believe a Golden Age of Nursing is right in front of us,” Dr. Shalala said, “if we seize the moment. It will not come to us. All of you must go and get the future of nursing – it will take guts, heart, and a lot of skill.”

Our graduates are ready not only to meet this charge, but to lead the way.

Global Health in a Connected World

Here in the U.S., domestic health care reform is at the forefront of public and political discourse.  But ours is not the only health care system that faces such challenges as access, equity, and quality. On Friday, Penn Nursing will host a discussion of “Global Health in a Connected World.”

Colleagues from Penn’s School of Medicine who share my passion about global health will join me to talk about the role of public and private institutions - governmental, educational, and philanthropic - in shaping global health systems.

Even as we delve into this topic here on campus, our Penn Nursing faculty are playing important roles in health care around the world.

As I write, Dr. Wendy Grube is with a cohort of Penn Nursing students in Thailand, where nurses and midwifery comprise 70 percent of all health personnel. Our students are in a course comparing healthcare systems in the U.S. and Thailand within the context of culture, politics, economy, and environment.

The group travelled from Bangkok where they explored urban health-related issues and services, then North to Chiang Mai to better understand regional diversity. Wendy writes:

“This morning we went to visit an orphanage for abandoned children. Many of these have lost parents through death, but many are there because their parents are currently unable to care for them. HIV is a significant problem in this region, as is drug dependence. As an aside, the area at the far north of Thailand (the Golden Triangle, including neighboring Laos and Burma) was at one time the largest opium poppy-producer in the global market. This orphanage is government-subsidized, and the budget is quite limited. But the children appear healthy and happy, although starved for affection. They actually ran to the students, taking their hands to walk with them . . . they snuggled into laps and climbed all over us.”

Such enriching experiences prepare our students for the global reach of the nursing profession they are about to enter. The benefits continue after the conclusion of the course: Students have the opportunity to cultivate international nursing collaborations with fellow students at Thailand’s Mahidol University, and together construct new paths toward reducing healthcare inequities on a global scale.

Photo: Making herbal compresses, a Thai traditional medicine.

Meet the Nurse Scientist

The nursing profession has changed by leaps and bounds in recent decades. Advanced practice nurses have prescriptive rights and run their own practices. Nurses are as involved in research as their physician counterparts. We bring our philosophy of well-being and quality of life to research from cardiology to oncology to population studies to bioethics, and every facet of health you can think of.

As the nursing profession has changed, so has the perception of nurses and our chosen profession. The widely anticipated “top docs” issue of Philadelphia Magazine includes nurses for the first time this year, with stories on nursing perspectives on health care reform and what the nurse-patient relationship should look like. The May 4 issue declares nursing “a science-based profession, not a frilly one.” That is music to my ears. I invite you to read for yourself at:

http://www.phillymag.com/health/articles/what_nurses_wish_you_knew/

http://www.phillymag.com/health/articles/obamacare_yes/