Events
To connect, collaborate, and celebrate innovation across the nursing profession, ANA is hosting several events throughout the year to showcase the creativity and ingenuity of nurses who are leading change or driving healthcare transformation.
National Nurses Month Event
Nursing’s Power to Change the World: 2023 National Nurses Month
Celebrate National Nurses Month with critically acclaimed author Sarah DiGregorio and nurse innovators from her new book, Taking Care: The Story of Nursing and Its Power to Change Our World. You’ll participate in a live Q&A, get an exclusive behind-the-scenes peek into our popular See You Now podcast process, and enter a raffle to win a signed copy of the book!
Join the conversation and connect with nurses, nurse innovators, and nursing advocates from across the country as we celebrate the breadth of knowledge, wisdom, and innovation that flourishes across our profession.
Date: May 12, 2023
Time: 12:00 p.m. EDT
Location: Virtual
Meet Our Speakers:
Sarah DiGregorio
Journalist and Author
Sarah DiGregorio is the critically acclaimed author of Early: An Intimate History of Premature Birth and What It Teaches Us About Being Human. She is a freelance journalist who has written on health care and other topics for The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Slate, Insider, and Catapult.
Tobi Ash, MBA, BSN, RN
Director, Women’s Health
Tobi Ash, MBA, BSN, RN, is the director of women’s health in a clinic in South Florida. Although she lives in Florida, Tobi joined forces with other nurses in New York to form the EMES Initiative. This volunteer-based, nurse-led non-profit organization started in response to the measles outbreak in 2018 in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in New York City and Rockland County. This organization is dedicated to providing health education and combatting misinformation in this community, especially around preventable diseases. She is the editor-in-chief and main contributor for PIE: Vaccine Information for Parents Informed and Educated, a project of the EMES Initiative, and an active philanthropist for projects relating to hunger, poverty, and education.
Dr. Roxana Chicas, PhD, RN, is an assistant professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University, where she researches occupational and environmental health disparities, investigating the physiological effects of chronic heat exposures among agricultural workers through community-engaged research. In collaboration with the Farmworker Association of Florida, she has led two heat-illness intervention studies using real-time biomonitoring equipment among immigrant farmworkers in the U.S. Southeast, which has the potential for widespread impact against heat-related illness in vulnerable outdoor workers. As a bilingual bicultural nurse scientist, she is committed to conducting research that informs policy to advance environmental justice.
Dr Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN
Executive Director
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
Dr. Katie Huffling, DNP, RN, CNM, FAAN, is a certified nurse-midwife and the executive director of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE). With ANHE, Dr. Huffling works with nurses and nursing organizations to elevate environmental health issues, such as climate change, toxic chemicals, and sustainability in health care, amongst the nursing profession. She is a passionate supporter of nurse-led advocacy in support of healthier environments for all.
Dr. Huffling received her DNP in Health Innovation and Leadership from the University of Minnesota. She is an appointed member of the US Environmental Protection Agency Children’s Health Protection Advisory Council and a member of the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Decarbonizing the U.S. Health Sector. She was a recipient of the 2018 Charlotte Brody Award, which recognizes nurses who go beyond everyday nursing endeavors to proactively promote and protect environmental health.
Dr. Sherri Wilson, DNP, MPA, RN, is a health care leader who currently serves in a national role as Director of Partnership Development and Career Pathways SME at Stride Inc., where she is responsible for developing industry partnership opportunities to support student employment and work-based learning opportunities.
Dr. Wilson has since worked in various leadership roles throughout her career, including as an operations director for Kaiser Permanente, where she led a system-wide workforce development initiative to advance the education of over 600 medical assistants across the organization through industry partnerships. In addition, she established a Regional Perinatal Service Center to improve health outcomes associated with high-risk obstetric patient populations across DC, Maryland, and Virginia.
Innovation Awards
Nurses are continuously innovating to address the needs and challenges across healthcare. The ANA Innovation Awards highlights, recognizes, and celebrates nurse-led innovation that improves patient safety and outcomes. Innovations fall into two categories – the creation of something new or an improvement upon something existing.
The Innovation Award categories include:
- Care Delivery Models
- Medical Device or Product
- Educational Interventions
- New Business, Program, or Service
- Research
- Technology
The 2023 winners will be announced March 8, 2023! Sign up to watch the ceremony: 2023 Navigate Nursing + National Nurses Month Webinar Bundle (Free for ANA Members)
Innovation Lounges
Are you a nurse who wants to learn more about how to advance your innovation work? Discover new opportunities, engage in authentic conversations, network, learn about the work happening across nursing colleagues, and to offer support and guidance. Our goal is to create a space to accelerate your innovation ideas. The next ANA Innovation Lounge is April 19 and registration is free! See 2023 Events Here
NursePitch™
NursePitch™ events are opportunities for nurses from across the country to share their product, program, or business. Some events are geared towards those looking to advance their work and receive additional funding and support and others to showcase their incredible work on larger national stages.
Innovation Sandbox
Are you a nurse or nursing student working to solve a problem and have innovative solution that would benefit from micro-funding? Consider applying for the ANA Innovation Sandbox. 2023 Applications Are OPEN NOW!
Learn More About The Innovation Sandbox Here!
Innovation Accelerator
The ANA Innovation Accelerator offers a community of resources and support for nurses and nursing students interested in creating positive change in healthcare through innovative practices. This free nine-month Accelerator invites participants to explore content areas focused on human-centered design, business models, entrepreneurship/intrapreneurship, intellectual property, and leadership.