Eight UMSON students have been selected to participate in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's (AACN) monthlong 2021 Virtual Student Policy Summit.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is hosting its 2021 Student Policy Summit virtually this year — all month long. The virtual conference is open to baccalaureate and graduate nursing students at AACN member institutions.
The five-week summit immerses students in didactic program sessions focused on the federal policy process and nursing’s role in professional advocacy. Programs include sessions such as “The Future of Health Begins with You: National Institutes of Health All of Us Research Program,” “How to Engage Congress and the Executive Branch,” and “Academic Nursing Adapting to an Ever-Changing Policy Landscape,” and includes presentations from national health care organization leaders, academic leaders, a member of President Joe R. Biden’s transition team, and Susan Hassmiller, senior adviser for nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, presenting on “Looking Ahead: The Future of Nursing in 2021 and Beyond.”
The students selected to attend this year’s summit include two students who had been selected to attend last year’s in-person summit, which was canceled due to the pandemic.
The eight UMSON student participants include:
- Karenina “Karen” Anselmo, Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) student
- Erin Balkam, BSN student (selected in 2020)
- Colleen Calpin, Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Pediatric Nurse Practitioner - Primary Care student
- Dana Frank, DNP Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner – Family student (selected in 2020)
- Josh Krantz, Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) master’s student
- Jennifer Nonn, BSN student
- Kristin Ploog, CNL student
- Wesleyan Smith, DNP Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP/Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist student
“Our health care system as we know it has been molded by people who have recognized problems and have been determined to solve them. Nurses have a frontline perspective of the health care system, and their voices are a crucial part in initiating effective changes. Nurses not only speak for themselves and their workplace, but also, they emphasize the voices of their patients.”
— Jennifer Nonn
(In photo: Top row, left to right: Anselmo, Balkam, Calpin, Frank. Bottom row, left to right: Krantz, Nonn, Ploog, Smith.)