Advocacy with ANA’s President Jennifer Mensik Kennedy: LIVE at ANCC Magnet & Pathway 2026

[00:00:10] Hello and welcome to the Nurse Rosa's INsights. I'm your host, Rosa Hart, live at Magnet. And today I get to talk to Madam President Jennifer Mensik Kennedy. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today. Thank you. I am. Thank you for inviting me and having me. So it's good to be with you. Thank you for doing the pass back and forth mic thing with me. It's not something I usually do, but it really helps with this background noise situation.

[00:00:37] So I have really enjoyed following you over the last couple of years. I've worked with the ANA on different things about how do we reach younger nurses for the next generation. And one of the things that kept coming up in our conversations is the importance of having a point of view and using your platform to actually say something, whether it's popular or not.

[00:01:03] And that can be really risky because if you take a stand for anything, then that means there should be someone who has a different point of view. Right? Yeah. And so when you started really speaking out, my heart just jumped because I was like, this is the leader that we need. And it worked out pretty well, didn't it?

[00:01:28] So for those of you who don't know, she made like Time 100 Titan list. Is that what that was called? Yeah. And so tell us what that was for specifically, and then we can talk some more about different issues that we would like to talk about. Yeah. Thank you. I was named to Time 100's global most influential in the Titan category for advocacy and particularly around advanced practice nurses.

[00:01:54] And, you know, it's fantastic to be recognized. I did not expect that in a million years. And I know when they said they were going to interview, do an initial interview, I'm like, yeah. So that was pretty cool. And my kids thought it was pretty cool, too, when they got to see the magazine. They know what Time magazine is. They know what Time magazine is. So that made me more legitimate with my kids.

[00:02:15] Well, and it just goes to show, like, if you had not spoken up and advocated for something that, you know, was a risk, they wouldn't have anything to talk to you about. So good job. Now, there are some other things to talk about because nursing is not a one issue profession. Speaking of which, advocating for nursing as a profession has been one of those hot topics.

[00:02:40] So can you tell us where we're at now as of October 2026 and what you're hoping to see develop from that? So there is just so much going on. And I think the important part about advocacy is that we all play a role in it. And we do such a great job of being advocates for our patients that we also need to be an advocate for each other and our profession. And so, you know, I really hope that everyone turns out and votes.

[00:03:08] Nurses have a tendency to vote less often than the general public. And we have such a have such insight into policy and what the public needs that I really encourage everyone to vote because that is advocacy in a way. And so we're looking to see what happens in the election. And it's not necessarily about which party wins, but if there are party changes that has some downward spirals for committees.

[00:03:32] And who's chairing different stuff at a federal level, because that does change how we approach working with the Congress. And so what we can put forward now, we are looking to see what happens with H.R.1 and all the Medicaid funding and how states are working through that, how hospitals are dealing with that. We're hearing from a lot of nurses about the impact of that already and seeing if there's going to change and something's going to change in Congress next year with that.

[00:04:01] But also, really, we're going to focus in in 2027. It's a new Congress. So it's 120th and 120th Congress. And Congress works in two-year cycles. And we're going to really focus in on workplace violence and really putting forward that we need OSHA to help, you know, to mandate prevention. You know, it's one thing to say workplace violence that could be a felony. That's after the fact. We really need prevention.

[00:04:28] And we really need to track what's going on and get accurate numbers about everyone. When I am in crowds and I say, how many of you have had workplace violence? You know, almost every single person has experienced that. And so the numbers that are tracking don't reflect the personal experience people are having. So that's going to be important. Title VIII funding for its federal funding for nursing workforce and nursing education in this country.

[00:04:55] So we're really focused in on getting that approved in appropriations in Congress by the end of the year. And it's a little over $300 million a year, which might sound like a lot. But I explain to individuals that residents, general medical education, gets over $20 billion every single year to train residents. And we fight for a little over $300 million. And they don't have to go through the same process to get it approved.

[00:05:23] So there's a lot of work there from an equity perspective that we're going to continue to focus on in 2027 as well, as well as making the work of nurses visible. So I'll stop rambling from there. Well, it's definitely not rambling. It's just there's so much to talk about. I want to talk to you all day, Jennifer. Jennifer. So there's two things I want to pull out of what you said when it comes to advocacy.

[00:05:52] You're talking on a national level, which you are addressing. And there is like a national fellowship for advocacy with ANA. I did the state version of that in my home state, the fellowship in leadership and advocacy. And it was incredibly helpful in teaching me the legislative process and how to identify who I'm a constituent for. Because if it's somebody I didn't vote for, it's like I might not even recognize their name. Right.

[00:06:19] But I'm still their constituent, which means they have to talk to me. And I was all like I got to shadow my one of the state senators as a part of that. And they brought me into like the big meeting room. And like they thanked me for being there. And it wasn't like a big deal or whatever. Like they have to announce whoever has permission to be in the room that day.

[00:06:44] And, girl, like they all like clapped for me and thanked me for being there as a nurse, just as a nurse. And I think that nurses don't realize how welcome they are in rooms that they don't necessarily get a mailed invitation to be in. And I think when you're talking about, you know, there's national, there's party stuff.

[00:07:10] But on the state and local level, that's where every nurse can have a direct impact on their community. And there are issues to vote on at the city and county and state level that can dramatically transform the health of your community. So when we're talking about these national issues, you know, just just realize that there is that local side of things as well.

[00:07:37] And then if I can pivot to your pivot on the educational funding. Sure, it's ironic that there's like only a million doctors and six million nurses and they get so much more for their education. But they're also they don't have a good survival rate either. Other physicians are committing suicide a lot. And, you know, nurses are, too. And the ones who are not are leaving the profession either way.

[00:08:06] To your point about OSHA, it's I've heard you talk about this as well. It is safer to be a construction worker or a police officer. You will experience less workplace violence and whether or not it's violence, less workplace injury from lifting and other safety conditions. Or like we're exposing ourselves intentionally, even with PPE to infectious diseases and things like that.

[00:08:32] So thank you for taking the conversation to prevention. Because maybe sometimes we need hard hats, but that's not part of uniform. And then when we there is equipment we need, we need to have that on hand. And so thank you for taking that conversation, not just that. Is it a felony to hurt a nurse?

[00:08:55] But how do we keep our nurses and our doctors and anybody who's working in health care and whose priority it is to help others? How do we keep those people safe so they can keep doing that? Right. So then when it comes to AI, that's something else you spoke up on. I saw you went to the JPMorgan Chase conference and you're inserting yourself into the financial conversation and the conversation around AI and health care. What did you learn about that?

[00:09:25] So what I learned, what I learned particularly, and I think this is something for us to take away, is no one's waiting for permission. No one's waiting for nurses' voices. No one's waiting. They are envisioning another health care system, a very consumer-based structure. And they're just doing it. They're not asking for permission. And because what I hear often is that tech companies will come to organizations, health care and nursing, and it's always no, no, no, no.

[00:09:54] And I think the conversation needs to be, here's why it might be no, but here's what actually would be useful or here's what's helpful. And partnering with technology. And I think there are some companies who've done a really great job of partnering with nursing, who've hired nurses as part of their team, and have really worked with nurses to do that.

[00:10:15] But there is so many organizations out there who have created nursing products and nursing services and have not had a nurse even remotely in the inside working on this. And so I think there is the whole gamut, right? There is technology that can be super useful and helpful and reduce the workload of nurses so we can spend more time with their patients.

[00:10:39] But then there is technology companies who would like to license their AI as a nurse and want them to take the NCLEX. So we have that entire gamut. And it's really upon us within our states right now, particularly to, you know, what legislation from a state perspective is going on. In Oregon, I partnered with our representative, Travis Nelson, who is a nurse. And we created first the country language to protect nurse titles from AI.

[00:11:08] So AI, a non-human agent can't use the title of RN or LPN or those titles because that's, you know, it is important. There is no, you know, no federal legislation per se in sight to kind of encapsulate all of the AI. And I think tech companies would actually probably prefer that because we have a lot of states passing different legislation around AI right now.

[00:11:33] And so we're going to have different practices informed state by state, even with the same company. So it's going to get complex. But I want people to know that technology should never replace your clinical judgment. You should always have the last say and you should know how AI is being trained and the evidence that's informing those decisions. And be always, always be able to safely say, you know, this is not correct for the patient and have an escalation pathway.

[00:11:59] Nurses have to be part of the governance and a rollout and selection of technology and AI in their health care systems. And so make sure, you know, you have that voice and advocacy in your organization to make sure that occurs. And, you know, when in doubt, build your own hospital. Yes, it is. Yes, yes, yes. Like our friend, Corenza Townsend. Now, she did that with a system in a system. Right.

[00:12:24] And so it's really great when you get to partner with your workplace to make the changes that you need to see. But, you know, if you go on Nurse Innovator Row here at Magnet, you'll see, I don't know, 20, 30 different nurse led companies where they're building solutions. And so much of the time, the place you work doesn't give you the time of day to even share your idea, let alone pilot it.

[00:12:51] And so something you and I were talking about earlier is no man is a prophet in his own country. Sometimes you got to take it somewhere else. You might keep working at that same hospital and go jump into a business accelerator program where they can teach you how to roll that out. Or are there resources with the American Nurses Association or enterprise that can support nurses who have innovative ideas like that? Absolutely.

[00:13:20] I would have everyone go onto the American Nurses Association website and type in innovation. And there's an entire section related to innovation, how to get involved, how to contact the staff and how to bring your ideas forward and help kind of move you through that process because it is complex. And I think too often nurses at all levels. So direct care nurses and nurse executives give away their intellectual capital for free.

[00:13:46] And it is, you know, people are making money off of and I know we just want to solve it. We just want to take care of our patients and have something solved. But look at all the companies making money off of ideas that nurses have generated without the nurse there. They may or may not have even paid the nurses for that advice. The nurse was just so honored to be included in the conversation. They just gave it away for free.

[00:14:11] So maybe that's something that we can talk about and maybe you are already including that in the conversation around intellectual property and how to consult with tech companies and what protections to put in place so that you can preserve that conversation. But whether it's paid or unpaid, at least protect your ownership of your ideas. Is there something in place for that already?

[00:14:33] No, definitely resources on the innovation site that will help direct you to where you need to go to get that type of protection. Sometimes protections do vary state by state. So there is federal things you would put in place, but also state level protections and want to make sure that you kind of manage both of those early on in that conversation. So, well, thank you so much for sharing your time with us at Magnet.

[00:14:57] I know there's 14,000 other people you could be talking to, but I especially hope that people who are not able to come here in person are able to get a taste of what's going on here at Magnet and the conversations that are happening. And join the conversation in the comments. Make sure you follow the Nurse Rosa's INsights podcast and you can find Jennifer Mensik Kennedy at Kennedy on LinkedIn, among other places. That's where I like to follow her. I love what she posts on there. So, yeah, enjoy and stay tuned for the next one.

[00:15:27] Thank you.