Voice of the President | September 2025

We reflected on past success — like the nurse-led Johnson & Johnson campaign 25 years ago that helped avert a nationwide nursing shortage — and imagined the future we want to build. The room was filled with energy, optimism and resolve. There was a strong consensus around key workstreams to advance this effort including messaging and marketing, finance, governance and measuring impact. At the center of each was a shared conviction: The voice of nursing must be unified, visible and amplified.

A consideration of the gathering was a campaign that will engage nurses, our hospitals and health systems and the public. To elevate the profession, we must make the value of nursing visible through storytelling, data and bold leadership. We must reach future generations, resonate with communities and inspire support from philanthropists, policymakers and health care leaders.

Building healthy work environments

Another compelling example of what becomes possible when we lead together is the Healthy Work Environment Coalition. Comprised of more than nine national nursing and interprofessional organizations — including AONL, the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, the American Hospital Association, the American Nurses Association, the Emergency Nurses Association, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the National Student Nurses Association and The Joint Commission — the coalition is advancing a shared vision for the conditions nurses need to thrive.

The coalition is a national alliance of experts committed to eradicating workplace incivility and bullying in health care. This cross-organizational initiative promotes respectful, inclusive and psychologically safe environments that support nurses and interprofessional teams. The coalition is putting its vision into action by defining and disseminating evidence-based strategies, advocating for national policies and providing essential tools and resources to guide practice. It is a powerful example of how aligned leadership across professional organizations can drive meaningful change and cultivate a culture rooted in dignity and mutual respect.

Why does this work matter so much right now?

Because nurses want more than just resilience. They want their work to be meaningful. They want to feel heard, respected and supported. At the Future of Nursing Summit, two nurse leaders said it best: “Nurses need to feel valued and lifted in their roles. Compensation should not be the driver, although fair pay is essential. Nurses want to deliver care that matters and contribute to the mission of their organization.”

Moving forward

To move the profession forward, we must engage more than just internal stakeholders, we must bring the public along with us. The campaign proposed in June will share nurse stories across mainstream and social media, introduce nursing as a vibrant career path in schools and call on donors and partners to help build a better future for the profession.

Nurses must also be seen, and supported, as vital to organizational health. That means representation at decision-making tables — on boards, in executive roles and in shaping strategic direction. As health care systems recognize the link between nurse engagement, clinical outcomes and financial sustainability, nurse leaders must be equipped to influence beyond traditional boundaries.

The message is clear: Nothing about me without me.

Nurse leaders bring a unique combination of systems thinking, clinical insight and deep connection to patients and teams. We are foundational to quality, safety and performance improvement. Present across the continuum of care, we often serve as the constant in a patient’s journey. We lead interprofessional teams, embed evidence-based practice and foster cultures where safety is not just a priority, but a way of being.

High reliability cannot be mandated; it is cultivated. It grows from trust, transparency and shared learning — areas where nurse leaders excel.

High reliability cannot be mandated; it is cultivated. It grows from trust, transparency and shared learning — areas where nurse leaders excel. When nurses are engaged, quality improves. When their insights shape processes, harm is reduced. When their contributions are acknowledged and honored, organizations become stronger, more agile and more effective. Much of this edition of the Voice is dedicated to this topic.

So how do we move this vision forward?

We convene.

We bring together those who may not have previously worked side by side. We bridge divides between academia and practice, professional associations and health systems, philanthropy and policy. We trade competition for collaboration and work in coalition to create meaningful, sustained progress.

We already have models. The Future of Nursing Summit and the Healthy Work Environment Coalition demonstrate what is possible when we come together with purpose and clarity. But this is just the beginning.

It will take coordination. It will take courage. It will take a steadfast commitment to shared purpose over individual interest. But we’ve done it before — and we are more than ready to do it again. Because nurses, and the communities we serve, deserve the very best.

Let’s lead not only within our own organizations, but across them. Let’s be the ones who bring others together, who drive quality and safety, who model reliability and who stand for collaboration as a path to transformation.

Together, we are better.