10,000 Nurses on Boards by 2020

A new coalition of national nursing organizations will work to increase nurses’ presence on corporate and non-profit health-related boards of directors throughout the country. “Without a nurse trustee, boards lack an authority on the patient experience, quality and safety, and the largest part of the hospital workforce,” Trustee Magazine, a publication of the American Hospital Association, wrote recently.

The Nurses on Boards Coalition will implement a national strategy aimed at bringing nurses’ valuable perspective to governing boards and national and state commissions with an interest in health. The goal is to put 10,000 nurses on boards by the year 2020. The effort is a direct response to the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health (2011), which recommended nurses play more pivotal decision-making roles on boards and commissions in improving the health of all Americans.

The effort is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and AARP as part of their collaborative effort to implement the recommendations of the IOM report through the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action.

Members of the coalition are listed below. Other organizations may choose to be a part of this important and historic coalition going forward.