Committed to Diversity, Equality and Inclusion
Celebrating our diversity of experience, our backgrounds and what makes all of us unique.
Our communities today are increasingly becoming more diverse, so in order to provide the best care and advocacy for our patients, we must understand, value and represent those visible and hidden differences that make our patients unique.
Cultural competence and patient centeredness are approaches to enhancing health care delivery that nurse practitioners (NPs) have long embraced. In addition, diversity has been a topic of discussion amongst American Association of Nurse Practitioner® (AANP) leaders for several years. Inspired by their leadership and vision for a more inclusive future, AANP is committed to ensuring that the organization reflects the diverse populations we serve as NPs. It is more important today than ever before that AANP demonstrates its commitment to diversity and inclusion.
In 2015, a diverse group of NPs came together in the AANP Leadership Program and decided to make diversity the focus of their project, which was presented to the Board of Directors the following year. The group made recommendations to develop an infrastructure that would sustain diversity and inclusion (D&I) throughout all domains of the organization, including NP practice, education, advocacy, research and leadership. This presentation catalyzed the development of the D&I Committee, which was assembled in Spring 2017 and chartered by Summer 2018.
“For me, when I care for patients and when I work with my colleagues, the thing I always remember is that who they are upfront doesn't change that we're all human beings. It's the gift that we have of diversity that we can help other people see their diversity and see how they can be themselves as they do this practice. It’s important that what we bring is who we are. We can show NPs and patients that it’s okay for you to be who you are as well.”
—Randy F. R. Rasch, PhD, RN, FNP, FAANP, who, among many other firsts was the first male African American to be inducted as a Fellow of AANP
AANP is looking forward to exciting things from the D&I Committee throughout 2019 and beyond.
Additional Resources
Explore these courses from the AANP CE Center for more information on treating diverse patient populations, available completely free to AANP members!
- Delivering Culturally Sensitive Care to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Intersex Patients (1.0 contact hours)
- Hypertension in Diverse Populations (1.0 contact hours)
- Refreshing NP Faculty Skills (1.25 contact hours)
- Women’s Pain Issues: The Same or Different? (1.25 contact hours, 0.5 of which may be applied towards pharmacology)