American Nurses Foundation Announces New Reimagining Nursing Initiative Grant Recipients

MEDIA CONTACT: newsroom@ana.org

Three Nurse-led Programs Selected for Second Phase

SILVER SPRING, MD –  Today, the American Nurses Foundation (ANF) proudly announces the second round of grant recipients for its flagship Reimagining Nursing Initiative, a groundbreaking effort designed to fund bold, nurse-led solutions that transform healthcare and support nurse well-being. With this new round of funding, three visionary programs have been selected to scale their promising pilots nationally.

A total of $1.5 million will be distributed over two years to scale these projects as they expand their reach and deepen their impact:

• NurseAssist – AI. Led by Maxim Topaz, PhD, RN, MA, FAAN, FIAHSI, FACMI, in partnership with VNS Health, NurseAssist – AI is an artificial intelligence system that supports home healthcare nurses. It utilizes video, audio, and electronic health record data to reduce the documentation burden on nurses and empowers them to make informed healthcare delivery decisions and recommendations.
• CONCERN Early Warning System (EWS). The CONCERN EWS program, led by Sarah Rossetti, RN, PhD, FAMIA, FACMI, FAAN, FIAHSI, and Kenrick Cato, PhD, RN, CPHIMS, FAAN, FACMI, uses artificial intelligence to identify deterioration risks in patients based on nursing surveillance notes. It builds upon the original CONCERN EWS pilot in the first phase of the Reimagining Nursing Initiative, which proved to reduce adult in-patient mortality risk, sepsis risk, and length of stay in a randomized trial. CONCERN EWS provides thorough analysis of documentation patterns, detects early signs of deterioration and supports timely ICU transfers. CONCERN EWS aims to focus on lower-resourced pediatric settings, such as community-based hospitals.
• BayCare Health Nurse Well-Being Program Expansion. BayCare Health System will use its Reimagining Nursing grant to expand on a pilot it participated in as part of the ANF’s Nurse Well-being: Peer and Leadership Support program. This program empowers nurses to assess and monitor their well-being, recognize signs of stress in their peers and access mental health resources more effectively and earlier. The program will be utilized in six acute care units across three hospitals. BayCare Health System will extend the program to over 160 units across all 16 hospitals in 2025.
  
  “I’m so pleased that we reached thousands of nurses, students, researchers, and patients with phase one of Reimagining Nursing,” says Graig Eastin, executive director of the American Nurses Foundation. “With this new phase in 2025, the American Nurses Foundation will continue to support the patient journey and well-being of nurses, while impacting healthcare. I encourage all who want to learn more to contact us. We would welcome the opportunity to tell you more!”
  
  This second phase of the Reimagining Nursing Initiative has a particular focus on the patient care journey and seeks to continue the momentum initiated by the first round of nurse-led pilot programs to support solutions which positively transform health care through the adoption of approaches, tools, and practices that improve access, quality care, and positive patient outcomes. Building on the past focus areas of nurses being practice ready, supported by technology, and reimbursed for their healthcare expertise, this phase of the Reimagining Nursing Initiative applies lessons from specific settings across nursing overall to support systems change, while integrating well-being supports at the peer and leadership levels.
  
  To learn more about ANF’s Reimagining Nursing Initiative, please visit: https://www.nursingworld.org/rninitiative 
  
  

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American Nurses Foundation
As the philanthropic arm of the American Nurses Association, the American Nurses Foundation inspires change and innovation by harnessing The Power of Nurses™ through strategic, nurse-led philanthropy. With its 501(c)(3) status, the foundation mobilizes critical resources to fund innovative research and support initiatives that advance nursing practice, education, and leadership. By forging intentional partnerships and providing targeted grants, the foundation empowers nurses to drive change within healthcare systems and communities. This commitment ensures that nurse-led solutions remain at the forefront of efforts to enhance care delivery and patient outcomes.