Find a nurse who is a member of a state, regional, or national body, either inside or outside health care. Explain the board’s membership and mission/vision. Provide background information about the nurse’s preparation and credentials for serving on the board. How does having a nurse on the board assist the board?
ANSWER
Nurses work in several settings, including home health, acute care, nursing leadership, research, advanced nursing practice, and more. The doctoral-prepared nurse may lead change from any position, but working as a board member allows them to use their talents as a collaborator, which is critical to making healthcare safer for patients (DeNisco, 2021). As a result, another important function is that of a board member of a highly wanted and prominent institution, where they can make substantial system changes worldwide. Catherine H. Ivory, Ph.D., RN-BC, RNC-OB, FAAN, is a nurse of this quality. She is the Senior Director of Nursing Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and a member of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s National Advisory Council (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) (AHRQ, 2022). The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is a federal body that offers information, guidance, and recommendations to the Department of Health and Human Services on health-related research (AHRQ, 2022). A 14-member advisory team of private-sector specialists in their respective professions works to promote quality and advancements in healthcare (AHRQ, 2022). Its goal statement is to “create evidence to make health care safer, better quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable, and to work within the United States Department of Health and Human Services and with other partners to ensure that the evidence is understood and applied” (AHRQ, 2022, AHRQ profile section). These experts are appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to serve three-year terms (AHRQ, 2022).
Dr. Ivory is a data standards specialist specializing in perinatal data and a nurse informaticist who collaborates with stakeholders to enhance quality, evidence-based practice, and translational research (AHRQ, 2022). She was eager to use her quality assessment knowledge in her new role; she had worked as an obstetric nurse for twenty years before earning her Ph.D. in 2011. (Batcheldor, 2021). She is one of two nurses on the fourteen-member panel, the majority of whom are medical professionals; she uses her nursing knowledge to assist in bridging the gap between research and practice (AHRQ, 2022). She is delighted to serve on the panel as a nurse since nurses are “the closest to patient care” and can “provide the patient’s viewpoint from various settings” (Batcheldor, 2021, para. 6). Nurses have a unique opportunity to affect health care. The doctoral-prepared nurse has the knowledge and clinical skills to highlight care gaps and how to implement change to make healthcare more inclusive and equitable for everyone.
References
Healthcare Research and Quality Administration (AHRQ). (2022). Overview of the National Advisory Council on Healthcare Research and Quality. AHRQ. https://www.ahrq.gov/cpi/about/nac.html (accessed March 9, 2023).
AHRQ stands for Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2022). AHRQ NAC member biography: Catherine H. Ivory. https://www.ahrq.gov/cpi/about/organization/nac/ivory.html (accessed March 9, 2023).
M. Batcheldor (2021, November 30). Ivory has been named to the National Advisory Council of the AHRQ. Reporter at VUMC. https://news.vumc.org/2021/11/30/ivory-appointed-to-ahrqs-national-advisory-council/ (accessed March 9, 2023).
S. M. DeNisco et al (2021). Advanced Practice Nursing: Important Professional Knowledge (4th ed.). Jones and Bartlett Inc.
QUESTION:-
Find a nurse who is a member of a state, regional, or national body, either inside or outside health care. Explain the board’s membership and mission/vision. Provide background information about the nurse’s preparation and credentials for serving on the board. How does having a nurse on the board assist the board?