UMSN Alumna Dr. Carmen Alvarez Participates in National Health Policy Panel

Submitted on Dec 6, 2013

"Back to the Future of Nursing: A Look Ahead Based on a Landmark IOM Report" celebrated the three-year anniversary of the groundbreaking report on nursing.

[Story updated on December 12] When it was released in 2010, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health provided nursing leaders with support and a framework for furthering the practice, education, and direction of the nursing field. It has since become the most frequently viewed IOM report ever. The IOM’s 2013 Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Lecture by Donna Shalala, Ph.D., held December 11, 2013, in Washington, D.C., at the National Academy of Sciences, examined the impact of the report and highlighted the next priorities through the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action.

Included among the prestigious panelists for the lecture is University of Michigan School of Nursing alumna Carmen Alvarez (Ph.D. 2013) , who is now a postdoctoral fellow at George Washington University.
 
"Dr. Alvarez clearly articulated laws that restrict nurses ability to practice to the full extent of education and abilities severely limits access, quality, and affordability," observed Antonia M. Villarruel, Ph.D., FAAN, UMSN Associate Dean for Research and Global Affairs and Professor & Nola J. Pender Collegiate Chair. "The Future of Nursing Report is an essential blueprint, and the Campaign for Action is a comprehensive strategy of nurses, consumers, and other stakeholders to addressing issues within our health care system."
 
Dr. Alvarez was well received by the event audience, as she discussed practice experiences and views on health care policy. “Now that the nation is working on increasing access to care through health reform, the role of nurses as primary care providers has become that much more important,” she said. “The IOM report is a great 'voice' that reaches multiple audiences in helping to direct how to clear more pathways--at multiple levels--for nurses and advanced practice nurses to meet the overdue need of increased access to primary care in our communities.”
 
Keynote:
  • Donna Shalala, Ph.D., President, University of Miami; Chair, Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing
Panelists:
  • Carmen Alvarez, Ph.D., RN, NP-C, CNM, Julio Bellber Postdoctoral Fellow at The George Washington University
  • Linda Burnes Bolton, Ph.D, RN, FAAN, Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; Vice-Chair, Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing
  • Susan Hassmiller, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, Senior Advisor for Nursing, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Study Director, Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing
  • Darrell Kirch, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Association of American Medical Colleges
  • David Vlahov, Ph.D., RN, Dean and Endowed Professor of Nursing Education, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco 
Moderated by:
  • Harvey Fineberg, MD, Ph.D., President, Institute of Medicine