Recorded live at the ANCC Magnet & Pathway Conference 2026 in Chicago, hear from Angela Beddoe, CEO of the American Nurses Enterprise, and Corenza Townsend, LPN and Chief Administrative Officer of Norton West Louisville Hospital.
Angela shares conference highlights, and describes the vote to bring LPNs and LVNs into the American Nurses Association, an equity issue members have discussed for nearly a decade.
Corenza has a clear message for LPNs: a nurse is a nurse is a nurse, and the door’s wide open. She also shares how speaking up helped lead to a hospital being built in West Louisville.
A reminder that leadership is about action; it isn’t about titles or the letters after your name. Every nurse’s voice matters.
Timestamps
0:00 Welcome, live from Magnet & Pathway
0:43 Day-one highlights
1:41 What LPNs should look for next year
2:05 “A nurse is a nurse is a nurse”
2:50 The vote to bring LPNs and LVNs into the ANA
3:19 What’s next in 2027
3:52 Speaking up and building a hospital
4:33 Why your voice matters
About the host
Rosa Hart, BSN, RN, SCRN, FLAA, is a nurse, speaker, podcaster, and author of Speak Up, Start Now, available on Audible & Kindle.
Follow @NurseRosaSpeaks
[00:00:09] Hello and welcome to the Nurse Rosa's INsights podcast coming to you live from the Magnet and Pathway Conference live in Chicago, Illinois. I am joined by two executive ladies, Angela Beddoe, the CEO of the ANE, which is the American Nurses Enterprise, encompassing a lot of things, and Corenza Townsend, the CAO of Norton West Louisville Hospital, who is being celebrated
[00:00:34] for her innovation in nursing and speaking up. So we were just talking about all the amazing things that we have seen here in the first day of the Magnet and Pathway Conference. And Angela, what have we not seen yet that you can't wait for the world to know about? Angela Beddoe, Ph.D.: Great question. They don't tell me everything. They really don't. We have a great team that executes this and they surprise me sometimes too. I think that we had a lot of great
[00:01:04] time in our general sessions, you know, with the inspirational speakers. We had some really good awardees, very powerful. And I think on Friday, we kind of get a little bit more inspirational. We have Robin Roberts coming today, this afternoon, and I'll be having conversation with her on stage. And I think there's going to be some other surprise and delight moments for everybody. You know, there's been a lot of just good sessions, good camaraderie, you know, a lot of collegiality,
[00:01:32] connection. And just to see so many nurses smiling. It's just been amazing. Amazing. The pure joy that exists in this space has just been great. Dr. Kirsten Lerner, Ph.D.: Corinza, what would you like to see as LPNs are joining the American Nurses Association? And if they're coming to the next Magnet and Pathway Conference, what do you think they should look for to participate in?
[00:02:00] Yeah, I've actually run into a few here. And also LPNs who subsequently ended up getting their RN, which we love that as well. I think for the ones that have never been or never participated in anything for the A&A or A&E to get involved. You know, we've been having this conversation for a while now, and a nurse is a nurse is a nurse. And so we're here. I'm here. I think they should come next year. I don't know. We've got a bigger convention center than this, but I think they should. I mean,
[00:02:26] they're involved anyway. Get even more involved. Come network. Come see and feel and do all of the sessions and the camaraderie that we've been talking about. You know, I invite them. I'm sure Angela invites them. We've been having lots of conversations amongst everybody. I think it's exciting and to just remember that the door is wide open and that I'm excited to see next year because I plan on being here. We're excited. You know, our membership assembly, as you know, voted for LPNs and LPNs to become
[00:02:54] part of the American Nurses Association. To me, that's so exciting. I've only been here two years. This is a conversation I understand that they've been having for eight to 10 years at membership assembly. You know, I see a lot of chatter out there that says, oh, they're finally, they've been talking about this. And I think it's so special to hear the conversation that took place because our members, the majority of our members really feel it's an equity issue. A nurse is a nurse is a nurse. And so it's about time. And so we're excited about that. We're getting geared for that. We want
[00:03:23] to make sure that during the course, because I think it becomes more official July of 2027, that our team is gearing up so that we can, you know, get those focus groups together to hear more from LPNs and what their needs are, how we can drive impact for them as well, and also how we go together into the future. So it's exciting time and I just can't wait.
[00:03:47] Well, thank you both so much for making this such a nurturing environment for nurses to be inspired and believe that they can do anything. There's a video shared about Corenza Townsend and her speaking up and how that led to building a hospital. And the video said one of the gentlemen who helped her was saying, if one person can do this, then we can do anything. And so I think that was really what
[00:04:15] led to, you know, so much excitement around it is people see themselves in that. That's the important of representation, right? It was not about the letters after your name. It was not about a title that you were invited into necessarily. It was, you saw a need and you spoke up to meet that need and it's making a difference right now. And so that's what I want everybody to take away
[00:04:41] is that your voice matters. And if you're a nurse, we're supporting you. So feel free to jump in and maybe we'll see you at the next one.