By Cheryl Green, PhD, DNP, RN, LCSW, CNL, CNE, ACUE, MAC, FAPA

Disparities in healthcare arise when there is an imbalance between opportunities to achieve optimal healthcare with access, education, and financial means. However, the difficult subject of health disparities in healthcare and its historical origins demonstrate that culture and race may contribute to health crises of minority groups within the United States. Educating vulnerable populations on making lifestyle modifications and reducing stress without educating healthcare professionals about increasing their awareness of hidden biases, prejudgment, and discrimination, will allow health disparities to remain.

Examining and Solving Health Disparities in the United States: Emerging Research and Opportunities is a critical reference book that provides discussion on the topic of inequities in healthcare that impact health disparities and serves to increase awareness on these issues. The author particularly explores health disparities from a unifying perspective that supports the understanding of why health disparities occur and how an increase in the awareness, education, and confrontation of discriminatory acts can help make changes at the organizational and societal levels. Covering topics that include cultural clashes, equity, healthcare delivery, and healthcare accessibility, this book is essential for government officials, policymakers, medical administrators, medical professionals, medical boards and directors, researchers, academicians, and students involved in gender studies, cultural studies, social justice, socioeconomics, ethics and law, government, medicine, public health, psychology, sociology, and more.

Topics Covered
The many academic areas covered in this publication include, but are not limited to:

• Accessibility
• Cultural Clash
• Culture and Race
• Equity
• Grassroots Community Collaboratives
• Health Disparities
• Health Literacy
• Healthcare Delivery
• Healthcare Systems
• History of Health Disparity
• Psychological Implications

It is time for LIGHTS, CAMERA & ACTION and shine a spotlight on CT Nurses!
​
As you know, the Connecticut League for Nursing (CLN) and the Connecticut Center for Nursing Workforce (CCNW) were the catalysts to engage the country music duo, Brown & Gray, to write and perform a song dedicated to celebrate Connecticut nurses and those nurses around the globe. 

The acoustic version of the song entitled, You Didn’t have To, was premiered by Brown & Gray at CLN’s 40th Annual RN Student Day that took place virtually in November 2020.  To amplify the song on a national scale, CLN and CCNW collaborated with a national organization called NursesEverywhere; and in December 2020, a music video was created to spread the word!

Now, NursesEverywhere and country music stars, Brown & Gray, invite you to participate in the official #ThankANurseContest, to recognize all the countless contributions nurses have made to their patients, colleagues, families and to the profession of nursing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

NursesEverywhere is kicking off a 6-week campaign to engage supporters of nursing on both the national and global scale to create a video that showcases your thanks and appreciation to recognize the contributions of today’s nurse. Prizes will be awarded for the top video entries.

It’s EASY as 1-2-3!

1. Download Brown & Gray’s single, “You Didn’t Have To” at www.brownandgraymusic.com.  It was written specifically to celebrate nurses.
2. Gather your Crew, listen to the lyrics to the song, and arrange for some fun and fancy dance moves.
3. Grab a phone and record those fun and fancy moves!

 
When finished, upload your recorded videos -whether it’s a TikTok-like challenge, a dance, a heartwarming message of gratitude or the images of the nurses that have made an impact in your life, we will leave it up to you - no later than May 15, 2021 directly to the Challenge Site:
 
https://www.nurseseverywhere.com/videos/create-video?video_sharing=true&article_id=6&profile_id=1
 
The official submission period will begin on April 1, 2021 and winners will be announced at the end of National Nurses Month at the end of May 2021. Brown & Gray have graciously authorized the use of the single for the contest, so no worries about copywrite infringement for this contest!

This pilot study investigated increasing nurse resiliency utilizing a toolkit of stress-reducing interventions on medical-surgical units at 4 hospitals.

​Mintz-Binder, Ronda DNP, RN, CNE; Andersen, Susan PhD, APRN, FNP-BC; Sweatt, Laura MSN, RN, NPD-BC; Song, Huaxin PhD Exploring Strategies to Build Resiliency in Nurses During Work Hours, JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration: April 2021 - Volume 51 - Issue 4 - p 185-191
doi: 10.1097/NNA.0000000000000996 

April 14, 2021 - It’s time for healthcare to take the next step in health equity work.

Nurse practitioners could play a big role in expanding community-based care access, creating more health equity in healthcare services.  By Sara Heath

​Over the course of the past year, which brought with it the coronavirus pandemic and a national reckoning on race and racism, the industry has produced countless studies confirming the existence of racial health disparities. The data has piled up indicating that communities of color carried a disproportionate COVID-19 burden compared to their White peers, while racial health disparities in transplant care, maternity care, and breast cancer care have also come to the forefront.

​When managers support interventions for stress relief and encourage nurses to take time during their shift to practice stress management, it may make the work environment feel less stressful & more supportive.

Death, Through a Nurse’s Eyes - A short film offering a firsthand perspective of the brutality of the pandemic inside a Covid-19 I.C.U.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has eclipsed the one year mark, the New York Times wanted to feature the day to day work of the ICU nurse; and their holistic and critical role related to patient care, nursing excellence and commitment to the profession.
 
This is an unprecedented view into the ICU, showcasing how the nursing team leads care for our patients each and every day. and offers interviews with staff so we truly can understand the impact of this pandemic on the nurse.

Click on the image below to watch video by New York Times.

Hospital for Special Care (HFSC) welcomes students pursuing initial degrees in nursing to apply for a 2021 Nursing Scholarship. Scholarships available are made possible through established charitable funds. Six scholarships will be awarded to students enrolling or enrolled in an accredited college/university as full-time or part-time undergraduate students and meeting the eligibility criteria below.

Application deadline is May 10, 2021
 
SCHOLARSHIP AMOUNTS:

• The Rona Botwinick Nursing Scholarship - $3,000
• The Florence Timura Nursing Scholarship - $3,000
• The Dr. Michael Timura, III Nursing Scholarship - $2,750
• The Paul Sutula Nursing Scholarship - $2,500
• The Elizabeth Timura Gold Star Mother Nursing Scholarship - $2,500
• The John Timura Nursing Scholarship - $2,500

 
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
This scholarship is open to:
 

• Students residing in the Greater New Britain Area in one of the following towns: New Britain, Berlin, Farmington, Newington, Plainville or Southington
• Students enrolling or enrolled in an associate or baccalaureate degree program, pursuing a Registered Nurse degree (Note: Students pursuing an RN to BSN program or who already are a Registered Nurse do not qualify)

 
ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
§ Must maintain a minimum of a 2.75 grade point average on a 4.0 scale

For your convenience, here is a direct link to the application online: HFSC 2021 Nursing Scholarship Application.

Questions?
Laura Gervais
Donor Database Manager
Hospital for Special Care Foundation
lgervais@hfsc.org
Direct: 860-832-6257

The Connecticut League for Nursing’s Council of Deans & Directors Supports that National Policy Brief and Highlights below how our Colleges and Universities can Partner with Practice Settings to Support a Robust and Safe Nursing Workforce during the COVID-9 Crisis and Aftermath.
Purpose
This policy brief is a collaborative effort of nursing leaders who propose & support academic/practice partnerships between health care facilities and pre-licensure registered nursing (RN) and practical/vocational nursing (PN/VN) programs across the country during the COVID-19 crisis. This is one potential model to consider. It is not mandated, rather an innovative approach to meeting academic and workforce needs.

• The proposed model requires cautious evaluation at the local level with a clear understanding that:
  The participation of student nurses and faculty is voluntary and must comply with any additional requirements mandated in state emergency response provisions or through existing Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements;
• The safety for all front-line providers of services across multiple points of care must be safeguarded through appropriate and prevailing infection control practices

Context
COVID-19 is a virus affecting the entire world. To date, thousands of people in the U.S. have tested positive for the disease, and it is anticipated that many more will be affected in the near future. After observing the pattern of the virus, the U.S. anticipates an overabundance of patients inundating hospitals and possibly overwhelming the entire U.S. healthcare system.

• A significant demand is being placed on the entire nursing workforce, and this is anticipated to increase at an alarming rate.
• Simultaneously, the pandemic has affected pre-licensure RN and PN/VN nursing students across the country. Clinical experiences with patients are an essential part of every nursing program curriculum and are mandated by the State Boards of Nursing for licensure. Many hospitals and health care facilities have determined that pre-licensure RN and PN/VN nursing students should not be in contact with patients and have discontinued student clinical experiences in their facility. Without this valuable experience, all nursing students will have a deficit in their education, are unable to meet their program requirements and will not be eligible for graduation at a time when RNs and PN/VNs are needed in the healthcare.

Proposal
Health care facilities and nursing education programs are encouraged to partner during the COVID-19 crisis.
CLN’s Response:
For the past 12 months the leadership of the Schools & Program of Nursing and of Acute Care practice Settings in Connecticut have been actively engaged in work to address:

• Promoting and Empowering Bedside Nursing
• Models to Embed Resources for Clinical Instruction
• Graduate Education & Counseling for Professional Development and
• Better understand the Nursing Workforce Demographics through EDUCATION, SUPPLY and DEMAND survey results- In January 2020, a Full Proposal was sent by the CT Center for Nursing Workforce, Inc. to the Dept. of Labor and in March 2020 to the Governor’s Office to fund these comprehensive Data Collection, Analysis, and Dissemination initiatives so that proactive nursing and healthcare workforce planning can be a top priority for the state to build a robust and sustainable nursing and healthcare workforce in Connecticut.

Workgroups have produced and disseminated white papers, partnership models and publications to all of the Chief Nursing Officers, Professional Development Nurse Educators, Deans & Directors and Faculty showcasing models to support a robust and sustainable nursing workforce in Connecticut. Among these options proposing solutions to enhance the Connecticut nursing workforce, the Council of Deans & Directors have proposed models as how nursing students directly supervised by nursing faculty can be utilized to support the COVID-19 response efforts.

Pre-licensure RN students from diploma, associate degree and baccalaureate degree nursing programs and PN/VN students from certificate nursing programs could augment and support nursing services in health care facilities.
CLN’s Response:
Propose that our pre-licensure nursing students and associated faculty from our Schools/Programs of Nursing augment the nursing workforce within healthcare facilities in the following areas:

• Increasing the number of Nurse Technicians or Nursing Assistants within the workforce with Sophomore, Junior and Senior level students using educationally sound approaches (see attached for an example of a model of engagement- Fairfield Univ.)
• Increasing the number of Graduate Nurses (GNs) (academically prepared, yet not licensed) within the workforce with newly graduating students in light of balancing the remainder of their nursing education and need to study for the National Licensing Exam (NCLEX), and
• Increasing the number of licensed Registered Nurses in the workforce by working with nurses re-entering practice via CLN’s 100% Online RN Refresher Course to support new hires into the practice settings.

Nursing students would be employed by the facility on a full- or part-time basis and work in the role of a student nurse for compensation and, in conjunction with the student’s nursing education program, would receive academic credit toward meeting clinical requirements.

• Programs would be developed in collaboration with academic and practice partners
• Nursing faculty must be engaged to supervise the work of the students’ in these programs if credit is awarded for this work

Nursing students would be required to be enrolled in a State Board of Nursing approved (or its equivalent) RN or PN/VN pre-licensure program.
CLN’s Response:
Connecticut practice settings would dictate the employment relationship directly with the pre-licensure student, and the awarding of academic credit for such experiences (Capstone’s) would be decided upon by each academic institution in alignment with current University/College policies and practices.
Moreover, NOT all students may choose to engage in these academic/employment opportunities as their participation is NOT mandatory.

Benefits:
This opportunity will not only provide much needed clinical education to assist in meeting program requirements, it is an unparalleled opportunity for nursing students to assist the nation in a time of crisis and learn the principles of population health and emergency management. This academic-practice model demonstrates that in the midst of a periling disruption in the environment, such as COVID-19, continuous innovation can occur.


Policy Recommendations:
1. Health care facilities and nursing programs are encouraged to promulgate plans to take advantage of this opportunity and make every effort to reach out to eligible nursing students and inform them of the opportunity.
CLN’s Response:
Practice Setting will share opportunities with the CT Nurses’ Association, CT Center for Nursing Workforce & CT League for Nursing- RN Student Day Attendees if registered directly with CLN, CT Center for Nursing Workforce to promote; and via their organization’s website, social media, and other communication platforms.
2. Health care facilities and nursing programs are encouraged to collaborate to identify ways to accomplish appropriate faculty supervision of the nursing student-employee to achieve the final learning outcomes of the nursing program. For example,
CLN’s Response:
Options for Engagement & Collaboration:

• The healthcare facility hires the Nursing Program Faculty to oversee the nursing student/employee
• The Nurse Program Faculty holds a joint appointment between the School and the health care facility
• The health care facility provides Preceptors to oversee the nursing student/employee with Nursing Program Faculty oversight in accordance with established CT regulation.

The above examples illustrate a few ways in which the Connecticut School & Programs of Nursing can support growth and development of the incumbent:

• Nursing faculty can oversee the employee who is a current nursing student to ensure competence, confidence and safety in performing Nurse Tech tasks,
• Nursing faculty can engage in a joint appointment to oversee and support employed Graduate Nurses to ensure competence, confidence and safety in the role of a new nurse,
• Nurse faculty can act as a supervisor to practice nurse preceptors to ensure educational best-practices are applied to the newly licensed RN Residency and Onboarding experiences, and
• Nurse faculty can act as an extension of the practice-based nursing education departments servicing the entry level, experienced nurse and advanced practice nurse with safe and quality care.

3. Nursing program leaders/faculty are encouraged to work with health care facility representatives to align clinical skills and competencies with the nursing student-employee work role/responsibilities.
CLN’s Response:
CT’s Schools and Programs of Nursing utilize the Massachusetts Nurse of the Future Core Competencies (MA DOE, 2016) in their curriculum design as well as other best-practice competency models including QSEN.


4. Nursing student-employees must have planned clinical practice experiences that enable the students to attain new knowledge and demonstrate achievement of the final learning outcomes of the nursing program.
CLN’s Response:
The Schools and Programs of Nursing have compiled best-practices, virtual experiences, and simulation that have been distributed to all faculty to ensure that program objectives and outcomes will be met at the end of the final year of study and program completion. As Simulation is an everchanging modality for nursing education, it is imperative that Connecticut Colleges/Universities have the needed resources to ensure program excellence. Through the Healthcare Simulation Network of CT (HSNCT) supported by the Connecticut League for Nursing, leaders of the Simulation Centers can best identify and recommend the critical resources for a robust Simulated Learning experiences that will meet program outcomes at all level.


5. Nursing programs should consult with their State Board of Nursing to ensure clinical requirement regulations would be met with this opportunity and experience.
CLN’s Response:
Through the Council of Deans & Directors, the CT SBEN approved a motion during the March 18, 2020 Nursing Board meeting to approve the use of alternative clinical experiences for nursing students of advanced standing.
6. Nursing programs are responsible for informing nursing students of the risks and responsibilities associated with working in a healthcare facility at this time. Additionally, nursing programs are responsible for communicating with students about their rights to be protected from infection and their options for completing the clinical practice requirements of the nursing program.
CLN’s Response:
Schools and Program of Nursing will not be soliciting students directly to participate in these voluntary work experiences.
Endorsement by National Nursing Organizations and Associations:

• National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN)
• National League for Nursing (NLN)
• American Organization of Nursing Leadership (AONL)
• Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc (ACEN)
• Organization for Associate Degree Nursing (OADN)
• NLN Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation (CNEA)
• American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN)
• Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE)
• National Student Nurses' Association (NSNA)
• American Nurses Association (ANA)

Dear Colleagues in Nursing,

The CLN Council of Deans and Directors had a strong and productive academic year. The Council, which is comprised of deans, directors and chairs from schools of nursing in the State of Connecticut representing all entries into nursing practice: LPN, Associate, Baccalaureate, LPN - RN, RN - BSN, Master’s and Doctoral levels, began the year engaging with our new meeting structure. We continued to meet regularly as a council of Deans and Directors, collecting and disseminating information on current issues and concerns that affect nursing education, nursing practice and health care in our state. Built on prior year relationship-building, this year we expanded our meeting schedule to include statewide nurse educators four times a year and the Chief Nursing Officers (CNOs).  This allowed the opportunity to expand our influence to ensure a robust nursing workforce for the state. 

• We conducted three joint meetings with the CHA educator group to facilitate dialog on common issues that affect both groups. From theses collaborative efforts, additional joint work groups were identified. These work groups focused on the following three issues: 1) why nurses are leaving the bedside, 2) what graduate education is available in the state and 3) create options for an innovative joint role utilizing both academia and practice settings. Each work group completed a comprehensive set of meetings and submitted recommendations to the larger group of nurse educators which were finalized on March 2, 2020. 

• The council, in fulfillment of our goal to establish stronger relationships with the CNO’s in the healthcare facilities, met with this group on June 18, 2019 and February 11, 2020. The product of the workgroups was shared to the great acceptance and enthusiasm of the CNOs.  A June 16, 2020 follow-up meeting is scheduled.

• The collaboration with CLN Leadership and the Connecticut Department of Public Health to implement, analyze and report out information gathered via the national minimum dataset for Education was conducted again this year. This dataset continues to capture both demographics for nursing faculty and students within the pre-licensure nursing pipelines, as well as, measures program capacities, enrollments, attrition and graduation rates.

• Continued to support CLN’s Healthcare Simulation Network of Connecticut (HSNCT) to develop and expand expertise and capabilities of our simulated teaching and learning directors, faculty and staff that will enhance our curriculum and student outcomes.

• The Council continues to support and promote CLN’s collaborative on- the-ground and online educational opportunities.  A special thank you to the faculty who developed and are teaching these courses to provide valuable educational opportunities for nurses across our state and nation:

• The Online Clinical Faculty Course since its inception has educated over 300 nurses from Connecticut and around the country. This Course is offered four times throughout the year.  Participants have provided very positive feedback about the Course and its content.

• The RN Refresher Course has been approved by several State Boards of Nursing, and the content has been approved by the ANCC for a total of 90 CEs for completion of the four modules.  This Course is offered four times throughout the year. 

• Standing items on the Council’s agenda such as educational initiatives from CLN, policy issues from CNA and updates from the Department of Public Health continue to be monitored and acted upon.

• Importantly, Deans and Directors mobilized collaborative efforts through the use of twice-weekly conference calls and email communication at the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic. We organized six (6) work groups, to address the myriad of issues brought about by COVID-19 to continue educating nursing students and ensure a robust nursing workforce for the state. 
  • Communication with the Board of Nurse Examiners (BOEN)
  • Academic Progression Policies
  • Workforce Evaluation
  • Transition to Practice issues
  • APRN Clinical Experiences
  • Summer Clinical Experiences for RN and LPN students

​As a collaborative group of nurse educators, the CLN Council of Deans & Directors commenced quickly and effectively to ensure quality throughout the academic year and continuity throughout this pandemic.  These efforts were built on a strong foundation of trust, collegiality and a shared mission to ensure quality nursing care for the State of Connecticut.  We wish to thank Marcia Proto for her many years of service to this organization, and the entire staff of CLN for their dedication and unwavering support to nursing education across the state of Connecticut and beyond!

Respectfully submitted,
CLN Council Co-Chairs
Meredith Wallace Kazer, PhD, APRN, FAAN, Fairfield University Egan School      
Janice Watts, MSN, RN, Goodwin University