From Nightingale to AI: Annual Leadership Summit Illustrates Nurses Are Still Leading the Way

At a time when health care systems face growing strain, the Maryland Action Coalition’s (MDAC) Virtual Leadership Summit — hosted by the University of Maryland School of Nursing on June 9 —delivered a clear message: Nurses are essential drivers of innovation and equity. National leaders called for a bold reimagining of nursing’s role, from economic engine to policy force to front-line changemaker.

MDAC is part of the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, a nationwide movement to improve health care through nursing and an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The campaign includes action coalitions in 50 states and the District of Columbia working to implement the National Academy of Medicine’s “Future of Nursing 2020 – 2030” recommendations.

“This summit is more than an event,” Yolanda Ogbolu, PhD ’11, MS ’05, BSN ’04, NNP, FNAP, FAAN, the Bill and Joanne Conway Dean of the University of Maryland School of Nursing and professor, said as she welcomed summit attendees. “I look forward to it every year because it's a call to action. It's a call for us to reimagine how we educate, how we support, and how we empower nurses across the state to lead in every corner of our health care and educational systems.”

Rebecca Love, MSN, RN, BS, FIEL, president emerita of the Society of Nurse Scientists, Innovators, Entrepreneurs & Leaders, a nonprofit global organization committed to empowering nurses to create innovative solutions to transform health care, delivered a passionate keynote address, “Nurse Innovation that Transformed Our Past, Present, and Future,” in which she highlighted Florence Nightingale’s impact on the nursing profession, nursing’s role in the women’s suffrage movement, policy barriers that prevent equality for nurses in the United States, the need to have nursing classified as a STEM profession, the role of nurses in health care innovation, and today’s critical nursing shortage.

“Where would we be without nursing?” Love asked.

“Nursing led medicine out of the dark ages of medical practice. It was nurses who led the women’s suffrage movement in health and the fight for women’s right to vote. It was nurses who saved hospital systems from failing in the United States in the 1920s and established hospitals as the center of health care delivery, not only in the United States, but now around the world.

“And it was nurses, every single day during the pandemic, when everyone else stayed home and sat behind computer screens, it was the nurses who went in to treat patients in all settings when they had no PPE (personal protective equipment), there was no treatment, there was no vaccine, it was nurses who went in and saved health care, to save the future of our nations and our world in the pandemic of COVID, and I strongly believe it must be and will be nurses who save the future of health care.”

Later in the morning, Olga Yakusheva, PhD, MSE, FAAN, wondered “What is Nursing Worth?” during a presentation that explored the relationship between health care costs and patient outcomes. Yakusheva is an international expert and thought leader on the economic value of nursing to health care systems and payors. She is an economist and professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and an economics editor for the International Journal of Nursing Studies.

She reinforced the power that nurses wield given their sheer numbers; there are more nurses than retail salespeople, she said. “Everybody is connected to a nurse,” she explained. “Everybody loves nurses, and everybody needs nurses, and they need them during the most vulnerable points in their lives.

“You would think that nurses rule the world, and that’s how you should see yourselves! You have enormous social power; you have enormous political power!”

She presented common myths, including that nurses are a cost to the health care system (she said nurses are a key generator of economic value and are linked with improved patient outcomes and revenue-generating efficiencies) and that a nurse is a nurse is a nurse (successful organizations that thrive financially view nurses as human capital and develop and employ approaches to empower every nurse, she said).

She encouraged the audience, especially those who are leaders within nursing, to elevate nurses’ enormous contributions: “How do you quantify it, measure it, and bring it to other members of the C suite to help advocate and negotiate for reinvestment in the nursing budget?” she challenged.

She also argued for the effectiveness of artificial intelligence in freeing up nurses’ time, especially related to reducing documentation time, to holistically care for patients, help their fellow nurses, participate in professional development, and participate in mentorship.

Her bottom line: You cannot improve outcomes while reducing the cost of care.

“There is no non-productive time in nursing,” she said. “Allowing them the time to think, invest in their education, mentor others, just to hold a patient’s hand. That’s not non-productive time. That’s ultimately the most productive time.”

The day also included two panel discussions:

• “Rural Healthcare Delivery,” featuring Kara Platt, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, CNE, associate professor and chair of the Department of Nursing, Frostburg University; Danielle Wilson, MSN, RN, NE-BC, senior vice president and chief nursing officer, University of Maryland Shore Regional Health; Karen Wyche Latham, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, CENP, FAONL, vice president and chief nursing officer, MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center; and moderated by Crystal DeVance-Wilson, PhD ’19, MS ’06, MBA, BSN ’00, PHCNS-BC, assistant professor; vice chair of UMSON at the Universities ad Shady Grove; and director of the Maryland Nursing Workforce Center, UMSON
• “Nurses Leading the Way,” featuring Ernest J. Grant, PhD, DSc(h), RN, FADLN, FAAN, vice dean for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, Duke University School of Nursing, and immediate past president, American Nurses Association; Barbara Aranda Naranjo, PhD, RN, FAAN, former associate provost for health professions, The University of Texas Health Science Center; and Peggy Norton-Rosko, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, senior vice president and chief nurse executive, University of Maryland Medical System; and moderated by Ogbolu.

The day continued with poster presentations and a lightning round of live, three- to five-minute presentations exploring emerging innovations in nursing practice, research, and leadership.

Mary Etta C. Mills, ScD, MS ’73, BSN ’71, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, UMSON professor emerita, was presented with the Dr. Peggy Daw Exemplary Leadership Award. This honor is bestowed on a distinguished leader whose contributions have advanced the profession of nursing and influenced health care outcomes. The honoree embodies the core values of MDAC; honors diverse experiences and perspectives; and sets an example of including others while exploring new ideas and partnerships to achieve large-scale goals. The person’s achievements enhance MDAC’s strategic mission and advance access and opportunities for others.

And in her closing remarks, Ogbolu affirmed that the AI landscape is full of opportunities to improve health outcomes.

“Leading with hope and optimism — that’s the guidance we’re really getting from seasoned leadership to stay grounded in our core values and to use system thinking to drive change,” she said. “AI is here to stay, and we must lead its integration.”