The AARP Center for Health Equity through Nursing^SM (A-CHEN) is seeking nurses, working or retired, to mentor nursing students from underrepresented communities. A mentor is defined as a wise and trusted counselor or teacher, a tutor, advisor, or coach. Mentors can also serve as role models. Nurse mentors are volunteers who commit to serve as a positive, professional role model for nursing students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, and American Indian/Alaska Native schools.

A-CHEN serves as a vehicle for change and a national resource, hosting specific programs and activities that align with AARP’s health equity priorities, including the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

For the past several years, the Campaign for Action has worked with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration, Indian Health Services, and other federal offices to prioritize diversifying the nursing workforce and support schools of nursing with creating or updating their mentor programs. Most recently, the Campaign hosted a mentor-training workshop with Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native-serving Institutions. It also held a nursing track at the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities’ (HBCU) 2019 National HBCU Week Conference.

“The work the Campaign is doing could not be more urgent,” said Deborah C. Stamps, EdD, MBA, MS, RN, GNP, NE-BC, founder and chief executive officer of Deborah Stamps Consulting, LLC. “About half of all Black and Latino students entering four-year colleges fail to complete their degrees. When students fail out of nursing programs, they suffer, our health care system suffers, and stubborn health disparities persist. Mentoring is a proven retention and success strategy. Mentoring is going to get us to a more diverse and representative nursing workforce,” said Stamps, who has more than 30 years of progressive health care leadership and is a recognized authority on workforce development, diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, nursing education, and leadership.

A-CHEN is now leveraging this mentoring program through a partnership with the AARP Office of Volunteer Engagement, which is recruiting mentors to work with nursing students through a portal on AARP’s website. Interested active or retired nurses will be prompted to sign up and then complete a questionnaire that takes about fifteen minutes. It asks about an applicant’s education and professional experience in nursing, their areas of specialty, their hopes for serving as a mentor and concludes with some demographic information.

The AARP mentoring team will follow up with a few more questions, match eligible volunteers with a participating nursing school in their area, then invite the mentors for some trainings in preparation for their service. There are also quarterly learning collaborations and check-ins for every participating mentor.

Mentoring has tangible benefits for the mentor. In addition to the pride in being a part of someone else’s growth and development in the nursing profession, mentors have the opportunity to grow their own skills such as listening, accepting feedback, problem-solving, and leadership. Mentors learn new things about their own fields, about themselves, and about – and from – their mentees.

People who are interested in applying can go to the AARP Volunteer Portal for the Nurse Mentoring Program.

For background on the Campaign’s mentoring program, visit this landing page: https://campaignforaction.org/mentor-training/.

The AARP Center for Health Equity through Nursing serves as a vehicle for change and national resource for advancing health equity.  CCNA is an initiative of AARP Foundation, AARP and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and it runs the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, an initiative of the same organizations building a healthier America through nursing. Since its founding in 2007, CCNA has created national and state multi-sector networks to stimulate collaboration, innovation and spur action for better health and well-being through nursing.

NLN Proudly Announces 2022 Centers of Excellence in Nursing Education

Honorees Recognized for Sustained Excellence in Faculty Development, Nursing Education Research, Student Learning & Professional Development, and Academic Progression in Nursing

Washington, DC — Sixteen nursing education programs across the academic spectrum of higher education in nursing as well as leading teaching hospitals and clinical sites have been named 2022 NLN Centers of Excellence by the National League for Nursing. Formal recognition will take place during the 2022 NLN Education Summit at the Honors Convocation on Friday, September 30.

As in years past, there have been repeat awardees, including Duke University, Emory University, University of Alabama, and University of Kansas. Duke University stands out for being the only institution to have all four designations.

2022 NLN Centers of Excellence

Creating Environments that Promote the Pedagogical Expertise of Faculty

Boston College
Duke University School of Nursing
Fairfield University
Indiana University
Pennsylvania State University
University of Alabama in Huntsville
University of South Carolina

Creating Environments that Advance the Science of Nursing Education

Kent State University
University of Alabama
Villanova University

Creating Environments that EnhanceStudent Learning and Professional Development

Emory University
South Dakota State University
University of Delaware
University of Kansas
University of New Mexico

Creating Workplace Environments that Promote the Academic Progression of Nurses

Norton Healthcare

Extending congratulations to the exceptional institutions named 2022 NLN Centers of Excellence, NLN Chair Kathleen Poindexter, PhD, RN, CNE, ANEF, interim associate dean of academic affairs at Michigan State University in Lansing said, “It is no secret that it takes a village of scholars and visionary leaders to collaborate to co-create and sustain educational excellence. Those individuals—faculty, deans, and administrators—deserve our deepest gratitude. NLN Centers of Excellence faculty and leadership have proven ready to share their expertise, best practices, and insights with the entire nursing education community to enable more programs to qualify for the prestigious COE designation.” 

NLN President and CEO Beverly Malone, PhD, RN, FANN, said, “NLN Centers of Excellence help raise the bar for all nursing programs by role modeling visionary leadership and environments of inclusive excellence that nurture the next generation of a strong and diverse nursing workforce to advance the health of the nation and the global community.”

Since 2004, the National League for Nursing has invited nursing schools and programs to apply to achieve COE designation, based on their ability to demonstrate in concrete, measurable terms their sustained excellence in faculty development, nursing education research, student learning and professional development, and academic progression in nursing. Historically, a number of programs have achieved recognition in multiple categories or once designated, have maintained their COE status through multiple award cycles.

For more information about the program and application requirements, visit NLN.org. For more information about the 2022 NLN Education Summit, visit Summit.NLN.org.

About the National League for Nursing

Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education. The NLN offers professional development, networking opportunities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to its nearly 45,000 individual and 1,100 institutional members, comprising nursing education programs across the spectrum of higher education and health care organizations. Learn more at NLN.org.