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Baltimore, Md. – Yvette Conyers, DNP, RN, FNP-C, CTN-B, CFCN, CFCS, CNE, FADLN, assistant professor and associate dean for equity, diversity, and inclusion, has been selected as a 2024 inaugural Fellow in the Academy of Diversity Leaders in Nursing (FADLN), a new academy sponsored by the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) to recognize nurse leaders for their significant and sustained contributions to advancing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) in nursing and health care. Conyers was selected as a “Distinguished ADLN Fellow” because of her noted JEDI expertise, according to NBNA President and CEO Sheldon D. Fields, PhD, RN, FNP-BC, CRNP, AACRN, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN. This group of inaugural fellows consists of individuals who have created innovative JEDI initiatives in nursing and have transformed nursing education, research, practice, policy, or administration. Conyers will be inducted at the inaugural FADLN induction ceremony on July 25 in San Francisco. "I am honored to be chosen as one of the inaugural ADLN fellows,” Conyers said. “At a time when EDI efforts are facing challenges, it's crucial to have dedicated individuals leading this vital work.” With 176 inaugural fellows, ADLN aims to recognize, support, and promote the significant work that has been done to diversify the nursing profession, focusing on advancing health equity, creating anti-racism policies, and strengthening antiracism health care practices. Cultivating this distinguished group of respected thought leaders with expertise in JEDI is a way of ensuring access to high quality, evidence-based knowledge and interventions that will support the health of all people.  Conyers, who joined UMSON in 2023, serves as the primary advisor to UMSON’s dean, senior academic leadership team, senior administrative team, and Diversity and Inclusion Council on operational and strategic goals related to equity, diversity, and inclusion. Additionally, she oversees UMSON’s diversity and inclusion initiatives and partners with colleagues across the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and Universities at Shady Grove locations to promote and execute efforts related to diversity and inclusion. Conyers also holds a faculty appointment as an assistant professor, teaching excellence tenure track. Through Conyers’ leadership, in 2023, UMSON was awarded a three-year grant, “Eliminating Structural Racism in Nursing Academia: A Systems Change Approach to Anti-Racist Nursing Education,” from the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation aimed at tackling systemic racial inequities in nursing education. UMSON is one of only 12 nursing schools in the country to receive the grant.  Also in 2023, UMSON was selected to participate in “Building a Culture of Belonging in Academic Nursing,” a national initiative to foster inclusive learning environments in schools of nursing. Founded in 1971, the NBNA represents 350,000 Black registered nurses, licensed vocational/practical nurses, nursing students, and retired nurses from the United States, the Eastern Caribbean, and Africa. Its mission is “to serve as the voice for Black nurses and diverse populations ensuring equal access to professional development, promoting educational opportunities, and improving health.”  ### The University of Maryland School of Nursing, founded in 1889, is one of the oldest and largest nursing schools in the nation and is ranked among the top nursing schools nationwide. Enrolling nearly 2,000 students in its baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral programs, the School develops leaders who shape the profession of nursing and impact the health care environment.

Stella was her mother’s name, said former Maryland Sen. Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, DPS (Hon.) ’23, DHL (Hon.), MAS, BSN ’80, RN, FAAN, an inaugural UMSON Visionary Pioneer, but it’s also what she called a pivotal character in her autobiographical book released this year, "Saving Stella: Notes from a Nurse Turned Legislator." The woman, a former patient during Nathan-Pulliam’s career as a bedside nurse, was “a change in direction for her career,” she said, when she began focusing on activism for health equity. Nathan-Pulliam addressed an audience of UMSON faculty, staff, students, alumni, and others close to the former senator, whose name graces the façade of the UMSON building in Baltimore, during a book-signing event May 21 for "Saving Stella" in that same building, hosted by the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for its national award-winning Booked for Lunch book club. Yvette Conyers, DNP, RN, FNP-C, CTN-B, CFCN, CFCS, CNE, FALDN, assistant professor and associate dean for equity, diversity, and inclusion, moderated the discussion. The book is presented in three distinct parts — Nathan-Pulliam’s early career, her community activism, and her legislative activity — and Stella appears in the first segment. “When I met Stella, I was a team leader on a unit at Bon Secours Hospital,” Nathan-Pulliam recounted during the event. “As I was washing her arm, I felt her breast was hard as a stone.” Nathan-Pulliam went on to explain that Stella had no job and no money; she was waiting to secure a job to have the funds necessary to see a doctor.  This was distressing to Nathan-Pulliam, who came to the United States from England, a country with socialized health care, in 1960. “There, everyone was taken care of,” she said. “That kind of stuff stays with you. What upset me most is she had been in the ER and no one had felt that breast. She hadn’t been examined properly — that’s where the health disparity comes in.” Nathan-Pulliam also discussed her childhood in Jamaica, when she struggled with dyslexia. She couldn’t distinguish certain letters from others, and her father “called her a dummy” and embarrassed her at the dinner table because she wrote letters backwards, she said. When she eventually earned her Master of Applied Science degree from Johns Hopkins University, her father said, “Shirley, you can stop trying to prove me wrong,” she relayed.   Not wanting to stop and driven by the inequities she saw as a nurse, she ran for office as a state delegate in 1986 and lost. “Yes, I grew up in a third-world country, but where I saw real poverty and hunger was right here in Baltimore,” she said. “I had a burning sensation that there was something else that God wanted me to do.” In the year she ultimately won the election, 1994, five nurses ran for office, and four won, she recalled. During her nearly 25-year career as a legislator, ultimately as a state senator, she faced “political battles, strategic alliances, and landmark bills,” according to the description by Johns Hopkins Press, the book’s publisher, that “provide insight into the art of governance and politics and the power of courage, perseverance, and remarkable compassion in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges.” “Educating legislators who come from all over is critically important,” Nathan-Pulliam said during the event, recounting an occasion during which a legislator physician disregarded the importance of cultural competency. “I got so mad at him that we wound up in the chairman’s office,” she said (a response akin to winding up in the principal’s office). And yet, she said, doctors now have to complete courses in implicit bias before they take the boards. On another occasion, when Nathan-Pulliam was co-sponsoring a bill to allow nurse practitioners prescriptive authority, she was seeking support and backing from a fellow legislator. “I followed that poor man all the way up the steps,” she said with a laugh. “I went over all the things nurses stood for.” Now, Nathan-Pulliam said, we no longer have nurses in the Maryland Legislature. “We urgently need to get nurses elected,” she said, providing some tips for nurses to get involved: start local, at the city council; knock on doors; lick stamps; start learning about all the things nurses do; and have a message: five or six bullet points, short and to the point. But the most important thing anyone can do, she said, is vote; it’s the most direct way to promote health equity, which has always been her No. 1 issue. “I can say we’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go,” she said.    Following the discussion, she patiently signed book copies for a line of audience members that snaked through the auditorium, taking time to speak with each person and ask: “Are you a nurse? Will you run for office?”

Analyzing data about education, recruiting, and retention as well as the importance of legislative advocacy for the nursing field were key focus areas of the Maryland Nursing Workforce Center’s (MNWC) first-ever State of the Maryland Nursing Workforce Symposium: Learning from the Past, Valuing the Present, Shaping the Future.  The symposium, held June 6 in Baltimore at the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON), which houses the MNWC, convened expert stakeholders from across the state to examine Maryland workforce data and trends to gain valuable insights into nursing supply, demand, and education. It also provided a platform for networking and collaboration. Through expert speakers, facilitated discussions, and small-group sessions, participants had the opportunity to connect with colleagues, exchange ideas, and strategize for the future. “Today is an opportunity for us to become acquainted,” Crystal DeVance-Wilson, PhD ’19, MS ’06, MBA, BSN ’00, PHCNS-BC, assistant professor and director of the Maryland Nursing Workforce Center, said in her introduction.  “[The center has] expanded our focus to keep up with the needs of the Maryland nursing community and to better nursing workforces around the country,” added DeVance-Wilson, who also serves as vice chair of UMSON at the Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville, Maryland. “Data and reporting is still our core function, and we have been physically collecting data from whoever will share it.” Maryland state Del. Bonnie L. Cullison, MA, (District 19, Montgomery County) presented the event’s keynote presentation, “The Intersection of Policy and the Nursing Workforce: Leveraging Resources for Stabilization.”  The health care system is completely reliant on “skilled, amazing, courageous, dedicated people” who give their all and more every day, said Cullison, vice chair of the House of Delegates Health and Government Operations Committee. Those in the nursing workforce have the power to affect policy changes that will improve outcomes for the state, she added. Cullison also spoke of the importance of legislators working with those in nursing. “I completely rely on you to inform me and my colleagues in the Legislature what factors affect your ability to practice at your highest levels and to practice effectively,” Cullison said. “There are 187 of us in the General Assembly, and most of us are open, have open doors, and listen.” The symposium also included two panel discussions: Analyzing Maryland Nursing Workforce Data: Insights and Trends and Navigating the Complexities of the Nursing Workforce in the Modern Health Care Landscape. Deborah J. Baker, DNP, AG-ACNP, NEA-BC, FAAN, senior vice president for nursing in the Johns Hopkins Health System and vice president of nursing and patient care services and chief nursing officer for The Johns Hopkins Hospital, gave the closing address, “Putting the Pieces Together: Building for the Future Through Collaboration.” Multiple participants took part in the morning panel about workforce data, including Kimberly Link, JD, a senior advisor for health boards at the Maryland Department of Health. Link, who was part of the Commission to Study the Health Care Workforce Crisis, broke down how the state is working not only to collect but also to analyze data regarding the workforce crisis across health care, nursing included.  “As we formed these groups and had meetings, it became very apparent that there's all this data out there from all of these different sources. How do we analyze that?” Link asked.  The workforce shortage is complex, she said, and there are many reasons that the state and the nation are in the position they’re in. Link said the commission realized answers would not come quickly or easily and set out to have findings shared with the Maryland Legislature to inform policy decisions. That’s where the work happens, she said, adding that the commission can collect and analyze data, but it needs to be shared with the Legislature, which develops the relevant laws and policies. Link also discussed some of the information the commission discovered that can help inform future policy. “Here’s a couple things that we found out. And again, there’s no lightning bolts here, no smoking guns. You know these things,” Link said. “The commission found that the workforce shortages in critical health care applications existed before the pandemic, and especially in nursing.” The commission also learned that while other states such as Virginia have made progress, Maryland has not returned to pre-pandemic workforce levels. And, she said, the shortages are most prevalent in the rural areas of the state. The biggest takeaway? “We need better data,” Link said.  “And we need a place to store it, to collect it, and to maintain it, not just to have a one-time study, a snapshot of what the nursing profession looks like at any point in time,” she added. “We need an ongoing repository of data from a lot of different sources so that we can address supply and demand issues.” The MNWC, which was established in 2018 by a Nurse Support Program II grant funded through the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission and administered by the Maryland Higher Education Commission, is hoping to address these concerns.  The center’s goals include providing access to and assisting with the analysis of nursing workforce data; understanding the areas of demand and the resources needed to meet those demands; and ensuring Maryland is meeting the recommendation set forth in the National Academy of Medicine’s 2010 Future of Nursing report that calls for improving collection methods of workforce data.