From Voice to Influence: Advocacy as a Nurse Leader Competency

Dec. 16, 2026 at 12 PM CT

From Voice to Influence: Advocacy as a Nurse Leader Competency

Nurse leaders advocate every day, even when they do not label their actions as advocacy. Decisions about care delivery, workforce resources, organizational priorities, funding and regulation all benefit from nursing’s perspective. Advocacy is an essential leadership competency, not an activity reserved for policy experts. Participants will explore how influence begins with a personal stake, grows through organizational leadership and extends to public policy, while identifying concrete ways to strengthen nursing’s voice and lead meaningful change.

Learning Outcomes:

• Explain how advocacy functions as a core nurse leader competency across personal, organizational and policy settings. 
• Assess where nursing’s expertise is missing or underrepresented in a current workplace decision.
• Use a stakeholder and influence lens to determine whom to engage, what message to communicate and what action to request.

About the Presenters

Joan O’Hanlon Curry, DNP, RN, CPNP-PC, CPON, NEA-BC, FAPHON, FAONL, FAAN, Senior Director of Nursing, Inpatient Oncology

Joan O’Hanlon Curry is the Senior Director of Nursing, Inpatient Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Joan is the past president for the Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses (APHON) and the current chair of the advocacy committee. She is also an active participant with Nurse Leaders in Advocacy (NLIA) through AONL and is on the advocacy committee for the Friends of the National Institute for Nursing Research (FNINR). She is deeply committed to mentoring emerging leaders and truly believes that the nursing voice has the power to change healthcare. She graduated in May 2023 from Case Western Reserve University Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing with her DNP in Executive Leadership and was honored as a fellow of AONL this past year.