A Message from AACN's Board Chair and President/CEO: The Policy Work Ahead in 2017

Today, January 3, 2017 is the start of the 115th Congress with one-third of the United States Senate and the entire House of Representatives taking their oath of office or swearing in. For the association, this launches an incredibly active time as we work to educate new members of Congress, those returning, and the incoming Trump Administration on the important lens academic nursing provides to transform national policy. 

Earlier, a letter was sent to all 535 members of the House and Senate detailing how the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is a trusted resource on issues surrounding workforce, higher education, research, and care delivery models - the focus of AACN’s policy portfolio. In this letter, we share our interest in working with their offices to advance policies that improve health and health care. We also discuss a number of the major coalitions AACN actively participates in and leads.

Almost a decade ago, our federal legislators addressed higher education and healthcare reform. During that time, AACN was a key voice for the profession helping to usher in vital provisions that have benefited the nation’s students, patients, and the community. It is our goal to advance these provisions and work to move policy where nurses are full partners. We are eager to sit at the table again and know that our previous success was achieved by working with our allies. Strength will come from a strategy of collaboration and negotiation.

To begin the work ahead, AACN Board Chair, Dr. Juliann Sebastian and Chair-Elect, Dr. Ann Cary, joined members of Congress on Capitol Hill today as they celebrated the start of the new Congress and to be a visible presence for academic nursing. To ensure the reforms we want to see as a profession and an association are enacted, we must be present.

Throughout the coming weeks, we will be sending letters to the committees of jurisdiction reminding their chairs and ranking members that AACN can provide expertise and testify on topics of significance. Later this month, the Board will finalize AACN’s 2017-2019 Federal Policy Agenda in time for the start of the incoming Trump Administration. We will continue to update you on our progress and appreciate your support of our efforts to have a larger footprint in national policy. Happy New Year to you all!

Juliann G. Sebastian, PhD, RN, FAAN AACN Board Chair			Deborah E. Trautman, PhD, RN, FAAN President and CEO