In Virginia, Business, Health Care, Philanthropy and Community Leaders Join with Nurse Leaders for Collaboration in the Board Room

Nurse leaders offer excellent leadership, analytical skill and knowledge that can add value to the mission and vision of highly visible organizations. Nurse leaders benefit from the opportunity to serve in board governance roles. By offering nurse leaders additional opportunities to lead on boards of directors of corporations, universities and colleges, non-profit and foundations, and health care industry boards of governance, high performing nurses are more likely to stay in the workforce, exactly at a time when we need them the most. The U.S. faces a shortage of 260,000 nurses over the next 15 years. Moreover, the health care needs of Americans are increasingly complex and the skills of nurse leaders are needed more than ever.

Understanding the value nurse leaders can bring to Virginia health care, business and policy communities, a team from Virginia convened a Board Governance and Nurse Leader Forum on September 9, 2009 in Richmond, Va. Diverse stakeholders in Virginia collaborate as one of 30 state teams working with the Center to Champion Nursing in America (CCNA), an initiative of AARP, the AARP Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Center works to ensure that all Americans have access to a highly-skilled nurse, when and where they need one.

Led by Virginia Nurses Association Executive Director Susan Motley, the Virginia team invited 45 influential board governance and nurse leaders to participate in this first time initiative sponsored by AARP Virginia, the Virginia Nurses Association, and CCNA. Virginia is the first state in the nation to launch a Board Governance and Nurse Leader Forum. CCNA will spread the concept to states across the country.

The forum’s overarching goal was to facilitate an open dialogue about inviting nurse leaders to join boards of governance where key health policy decisions are made. Key lessons include:

• Nurses interested in leadership and board service must make them a personal priority.
• Younger nurses (30s-40s) interested in pursuing leadership and/or board positions would benefit greatly from this kind of learning and mentoring opportunity.  
• Nurses can and should get involved early in leadership training—there’s room to focus on ‘beginners.’
• Strong and consistent preparation for nurses interested in board service could help identify their specific leadership skills and how they might benefit a specific board, and positively impact leadership skill development and board service.

Participants heard from a panel of governance leaders about the relationship between the CEO and the organization, the role of a CEO in navigating an organization through a crisis, the elements of a strong and fully engaged board, , and the work of preparing for board meetings so that a board is fully prepared to make good decisions at meetings. “One key point,” said Katie Campbell, a panelist and Senior Advisor for the Partnership for Non-Profit Excellence, about being on a board of governance is to “show up and be prepared.” Campbell was joined by panel moderator Bill Lukhard, AARP Virginia Executive Council Member, along with Bob Carden, President, Virginia Blood Services; Tom Silvestri, Publisher and President, Richmond Times Dispatch; and Sandra Ryals, Director, Virginia Department of Health Professions.

Participants then heard from nurse leaders who discussed their pathways to board governance now and the knowledge and skills they have developed along the way. They explained how public policy became an interest or how a business was founded using the knowledge and skills developed in the nursing profession. Judy Collins, Chair of the Richmond Memorial Health Foundation, moderated the Nurse Leader Panel. This included: Shirley Gibson, Interim Vice President of Nursing, VCU Health System; President of the Virginia Nurses Association, Bennie Marshall; Department Chair, Norfolk State University Department of Nursing; and Gail Johnson, Founder and President Rainbow Station and PRISM, Inc.

This Virginia meeting represents the first of many the Center to Champion Nursing in America will implement across the country. As one of 30 state teams, Virginia illustrates the value of building strategic partnerships and fostering nurse leadership. Teams are comprised of representatives from nursing education and practice, state workforce offices, state departments of labor, consumers (often AARP state offices), local business, philanthropies, and others. The Center to Champion Nursing in America provides ongoing technical assistance to help teams accomplish these critical tasks and fosters collaborative learning experiences that link the teams and allow them to share best practices and lessons learned with their peers in the other states.