Marilyn “Nia” Wright, MSN, MHA, RN, CNOR, is a retired nurse who can’t stay away from the industry she loves.
As a nurse student, Wright was nicknamed Nia, an acronym for Nurse in Action, because she was eager to care for people and often volunteered to do whatever she could for as many patients as she could, whether or not those patients were part of her assignment. Wright exemplified this enthusiasm throughout her entire career.
Wright is an author, teacher, international speaker, and nationally certified nurse and was recently named a 2022 Nurse of the Year for the state of Maryland by the Maryland Hospital Association and The Daily Record.
She retired from her position as senior nursing director of one of the largest and busiest surgical services in Maryland at Luminis Health Anne Arundel Medical Center (LHAAMC) after serving in that role for over a decade.
Wright is a passionate, enthusiastic advocate for the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, serving for four years as the co-chair of the Cultural Diversity and Workplace Advocacy Nursing Initiative and was instrumental in expanding the committee’s membership to include members from the community as well as other hospital departments. As a result, the initiative’s name was changed to the Cultural Diversity and Workplace Advocacy Collaborative, and in 2018 Wright became the Executive Sponsor of the Collaborative.
She was also the executive sponsor and founding member of the African American Business Resource Group, a Luminis Health grassroots endeavor formed by employees across all demographics focused on creating a welcoming environment for underrepresented demographics and removing barriers that impact diversity, equity, and inclusion in the healthcare system.
Wright now serves as senior justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) consultant for Luminis Health. Her philosophy is that diversity is a valuable asset to any organization, allowing for creativity and productivity that incorporates multiple perspectives and perceptions and enabling the organization to cast a wider net and meet the needs of a larger population, including the employees themselves.
The series highlights healthcare leaders who are prominent figures in their organizations and are making transformational impacts in nursing.
Meet Nia Wright, MSN MHA RN CNOR, Senior Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion consultant for Luminis Health.
Talk about the roles you held in nursing.
I started as a staff nurse on a med/surg unit in 1979. Through the years, I have progressed in leadership roles to continuously improve the patient’s care and the support and shared governance of the clinicians and support staff.
How long have you worked in the nursing field?
45 years.
Why did you become a nurse?
I’ve wanted to be a nurse since I was seven. As a child, I was prone to upper respiratory infections; the nurses were always kind and gentle and made me feel better. I knew I wanted to be like them. I was that little girl with the nurse’s bag who bandaged my dolls and my friends if they had little cuts or scrapes. So I wanted to do anything I could do to help people heal and feel better.
What are the most important attributes of today’s nursing leaders?
Caring for the caregivers, fostering resilience, and leading by example regarding self-care. Nursing leaders must Look for opportunities to ensure shared governance and support their staff’s professional growth.
What does being a nursing leader mean to you, and what are you most proud of?
Being a nurse leader means providing strategic direction, tactical operations guidance, resources, and support to the nurses and all of the members of my team of healthcare associates. I am most proud of how I led my team during the pandemic with caring, compassion, transparency, tenacity, and resilience.
Tell us about your career path and how you ascended to that role.
My career path has been one of progressive leadership in education and management. I have served as a preceptor, educator, and clinical specialist. Honestly, the leadership roles chose me. I’ve always been the kind of person to see a problem and want to solve it. I offered suggestions to resolve issues. My first leadership role was as assistant head nurse of otolaryngology. I transitioned from med/surg nursing to the operating room, and my leadership path began as a team lead of Ophthalmology. I progressed to a clinical manager, assistant director, director, and senior director through the years. In each role, I endeavored to incorporate others in the decision-making process. I believe that each of us, regardless of title or job category, has something to offer to improve and enhance the care we provide continuously. The leader’s role is to tap into each team member’s knowledge, talents, and skills, enable them to do their best, empower them to be change agents, and help them grow professionally.
What is the most significant challenge facing nursing today?
The most significant challenge facing nursing today is the stress of the job. The stress originates from staffing challenges that include re-designing staffing structures, such as re-visiting the team nursing model and adding licensed practical nurses to personal life challenges.
As a nursing leader, how are you working to overcome this challenge?
As a nurse leader, I must ensure my staff knows I support them. Just as the challenge is multi-faceted, so is the approach to resolution. I worked with the staff and leaders to revise the on-call program, which gave the team more control over their schedules and reduced the number of on-call shifts. We worked together. That’s the key. I had an open door policy so that staff and leaders knew they could come by to discuss a personal or professional concern confidentially. I always encouraged them to practice self-care. If they did what was best for them to thrive, it would positively influence the care provided to the patients and the other team members, and the work environment.
How are you helping advocate for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace?
Previously, I established a platform for open, honest dialogue on diversity and inclusion issues. As a result, Luminis Health became the first Healthcare System to sponsor a local chapter of Coming To The Table – a national organization focused on healing the wounds of inequity caused by racism. The Luminis Health chapter seeks to heal the wounds of all biases and injustices. As the first executive sponsor of the Cultural Diversity and Workplace Advocacy Collaborative, I led many informative and interactive educational events to heighten awareness of the need for diversity, equity, and inclusion in every aspect of the organization.
Tell us about your new role as the Senior Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) consultant for Luminis Health.
I work with the various Business Resource Groups (ex. LGBTQIA), Inclusion Groups (ex. Counter Racism Task Force), Human Resources partners, and leadership in providing guidance, being a sounding board, offering assistance with seeing concerns through the lens of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, provide group and individual education, assist with policy development and revisions, analyze metrics that measure our JEDI progress and collaborate with leaders and staff in developing strategic plans and goals for our Luminis Health JEDI Journey.
What nursing leader inspires you the most and why?
Today, I am most inspired by the president of Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center, Deneen Richmond, MHA RN. She is a nurse who has been a stalwart advocate for justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion throughout her career. She is a formidable force, particularly in quality and population health. She is well respected by her peers and those she supports. Additionally, Deneen is an African American woman who graduated from my alma mater, the University of the District of Columbia. She is a stellar example of how true grit and determination can make a difference in the communities we serve and the industry we love.
What inspirational message would you like to share with the next generation of nurses?
You are in the world’s most trusted profession. Your work is vitally important. So stay in the driver’s seat. Let your voice be heard. Advocate for your patients, your community, and yourself.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
My professional mantra for over forty years has been, “I touch the world one person at a time. I make a difference in people’s lives every day… I am a nurse.”
Nurses from underrepresented groups in nursing who are interested in leadership are invited to apply for the Academy for Diverse Aspiring Nurse Leaders to be held at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing July 17-19, 2023. The academy is for those with more than three years of nursing experience and not yet in healthcare or academia leadership roles.
The unique leadership development program is led by experienced leaders from diverse backgrounds committed to equipping nurses for future leadership roles. I
The Academy for Diverse Aspiring Nurse Leaders was created by the Vanderbilt School of Nursing and Vanderbilt University Medical Center to serve the needs of nurses from underrepresented groups in nursing leadership and/or those committed to expanding and supporting diversity in nursing leadership.
“If you’re a registered nurse, advanced practice nurse, nurse educator, case manager, or nurse informaticist, this program will help you develop a career plan and toolkit for future leadership roles,” says Mamie Williams, PhD, senior director for nurse diversity and inclusion at VUMC and academy co-director.
The Academy for Diverse Aspiring Nurse Leaders is a companion event to Vanderbilt’s highly successful Academy for Diverse Emerging Nurse Leaders for nurses who have been in academia or healthcare leadership for less than three years.
“Participants called that program ‘life-changing,’ ‘transformative,’ ‘profound,’ and ‘the most meaningful and impactful thing I have participated in,” says Rolanda Johnson, PhD, VUSN associate dean of equity, diversity and inclusion and academy co-director. “They felt strongly that learning how to be a successful diverse leader at an earlier stage in their careers would have been valuable and suggested the creation of a similar program for nurses who aspire to leadership.”
Spots are limited, so applicants are encouraged to apply by May 31.
Alice Benjamin’s nursing education journey has been everything except traditional. At first, she thought her path would hinder her career, and she secretly envied the traditional 4-year nursing program. But her education journey has provided unique, colorful, resourceful, well-rounded, and practical real-life experiences that helped mold Benjamin into the nurse leader she is today.
Benjamin aspired to become an advanced practice nurse and grow within the nursing profession, but the impact outside of the hospital motivated her the most.
Seeing the health disparities and health inequities negatively impacting the black community inspired Benjamin to become a community health leader in creating programs and empowering and educating communities of color to take control of their health and get the most out of their healthcare. Then she advanced her nursing education and learned more about research, health policy, and public health. Finally, she advanced her clinical expertise in cardiology as a CNS and NP to make a difference in her profession.
Benjamin, affectionately known as ‘America’s Favorite Nurse,’ is the chief nursing officer and correspondent for Nurse.org. She credits her education and personal experiences for becoming a well-respected and credible community health leader, propelling her into the national spotlight with appearances on national media platforms as a medical correspondent.
The series highlights healthcare leaders who are prominent figures in their organizations and are making transformational impacts in nursing.
Meet Alice Benjamin, APRN, MSN, ACNS-BC, FNP-B, CCRN, CEN, CV-BC, Chief Nursing Officer and correspondent for Nurse.org, clinical nurse specialist and family nurse practitioner, and critical-care and emergency medicine nurse at the Community Hospital of Huntington Park, California.
Talk about your role in nursing.
I’m an advanced practice nurse. I’m a clinical nurse specialist and a family nurse practitioner, working primarily as a nurse practitioner in the emergency room. I wear many hats because I’m also the chief nursing officer at Nurse.org, the largest online nursing platform. I also do much volunteer work with the American Heart Association and AARP. And this stems from just loving being a nurse and caring for other people because I do a lot of work in community education and advocacy, which even spills over into television, which is another opportunity to educate viewers at home.
I love nursing. I’ve been doing this for over 24 years. I couldn’t even think of doing anything different than what I’m doing now. Again, I’m in the emergency room now, but I’ve worked ICU, telemetry, home health, and critical care. There are so many places and needs for nurses. My mentor once told me wherever there are people, you need a nurse. I’ve found lots of great opportunities in the nursing profession.
Tell us about your career path and how you ascended to that role.
Right out of high school, I never knew I wanted to be a nurse. But I was the eldest, and my dad was a retired serviceman and smoked cigarettes in the military. They used to say, smoke them if you got him. So he picked up that habit and suffered severe health issues. He had high blood pressure, strokes, heart failure, and heart attacks. And as the eldest, I would help take care of him, and my dad would tell me, “You’re gonna be a great nurse one day.” And I said, “Well, I’m gonna be an accountant, I’m gonna count the money and things like that.” But I naturally fell into it. And right out of high school, I signed up for a vocational nursing program, and on the pathway, you can take the early part of it and become a nursing assistant. So I immediately became a nursing assistant and went to school to become a licensed vocational nurse. And once I achieved that then I went on to more school and became an RN with my associate’s degree. Then I started working as an RN and went back to school, I got my bachelor’s degree, still working, and then I went and got my master’s and became a clinical nurse specialist, an advanced practice nurse.
I did that for quite some time and even went back to more school to become a family nurse practitioner because I wanted to do more in healthcare as a nurse. Again, inspired by my dad, who died of a massive heart attack. And when he died, I said, “I’m going to be the best cardiac nurse in the world.” So I spent my career climbing the career ladder as a nurse and doing tons of community service with the American Heart Association, the NAACP, the Urban League, and women’s groups to get the word out about heart disease in underserved communities. So while working in the hospitals, I simultaneously did that. And in hindsight, I look back, and I’m like, gosh, where did I have the time to do all that? But when you’re so passionate about something, it fuels this fire and motivation. I just had the energy and the passion to do it.
I’ve also been adjunct clinical faculty at pre-licensure nursing programs to help model nursing and cultivate and foster future nurses. And during this career, inspired by my father, I often tried to bridge the gap by taking what I was doing in the hospital and the community organizations I was working with. Because people go to the hospital, they receive care, get discharged, and then they’re in the community with whatever resources they have. They must learn to navigate resources, insurance, and everything they need to stay healthy. So I did a lot of bridging the gap. At one point, I was the first nurse to chair the American Heart Association’s western state affiliate’s health inequity program. I oversaw American Heart Association’s community outreach programs over ten states which I’m very proud of because, as a nurse, knowing firsthand what happens in the hospital and having the experience of my dad, who went to a small community hospital, that didn’t provide all the resources and help that he needed to bridge the gap. So I’ve spent much of my career trying to bridge the gap between hospitals, clinics, and the community.
What are the most important attributes of today’s nursing leaders?
One of the essential attributes of a nursing leader is knowing how to be strategic when it comes to communication and working with others. As nurses, we are great at our nursing organizations. We advocate for nursing quite often. But sometimes, we’re not invited to specific strategic meetings, committee workgroups, or important work being done in healthcare, and we should be at that table. So we need to invite ourselves. We need to rub elbows with other groups recognizing that nursing is the largest segment of the healthcare workforce. We have nurses of all levels, LPNs RNs, and different types of advanced practice nurses, and we have a lot to contribute as the eyes and ears and often providers of care in the hospital. If we can be a part of these committees working on crucial national health initiatives, we can contribute and help make a change. So, for example, for my work with the American Heart Association, someone asked, “Would you want to chair this committee?” I said, “Absolutely.” It was interesting because I was the only nurse invited to that committee of 50 of us from over ten states. They said I was the first person ever to attend. So we have to recognize that nursing doesn’t just happen in the hospital. It occurs anywhere people are, and we need to strategize with other community leaders, even from business finance and education, and realize we can make a difference in many areas.
What does being a nursing leader mean to you, and what are you most proud of?
It always feels good when a patient comes back to you, and you may not even recognize that person, and they’ll say you took care of my mother or me when I was in the hospital. Then they tell you the story, and you start to remember, and they thank you so much because they were knocking on death’s door. And because of the care that I provided or some motivational words that I shared with them to keep them motivated and keep them going, I made an impact on their life. So that always feels good.
But as far as professionally, what am I most proud of? I have a lot of things that I’m proud of. But one of the things that makes me unique has been my presence on national platforms and television. A Woodhull Study shows that less than 2% of health experts are on tv or less than 2% of television contributors are nurses. Often, when nurses do have the opportunity to talk on television, it’s about a strike or some act of violence against them or something that victimizes the nurses instead of the nurse being a leader. I’m the expert. And I’ve had the privilege of being on several different programs, and now and as a medical contributor for NBC for Los Angeles, as a nurse to model that nurses can be health experts, too. So I’m very proud of that.
What is the most significant challenge facing nursing today?
One of the things we have to focus on is the work environment and the mass exodus that’s happening with nursing. COVID did a number on many people, more than we could have anticipated. But again, it’s the largest segment of the workforce, with workers on the frontline in these hospitals. Nursing care is around the clock and is what keeps hospitals open. Nurses were overwhelmed, overworked, under-resourced, and often needed to be appreciated more in ways that nurses found meaningful. We must fix that because nurses are leading the bedside. And we know that the baby boomers will be retiring, which will give us a nursing shortage. We know that more than 80,000 nursing school candidates are turned away yearly because we don’t have enough space in schools for them. We’ll find ourselves in dire need and shortage of bedside nurses if we don’t turn around and fix the workplace environment. And there are a lot of things. Talking about finance, staffing, the pipeline quality of education, what is meaningful to the nurse, and how to make them feel appreciated because it’s not always about the money. It’s about just being appreciated by your employer. So we have to fix that, or healthcare will crumble even further.
As a nursing leader, how are you working to overcome this challenge?
One of the things I’m doing to help with that is my role at Nurse.org as their Chief Nursing Officer. Nursing schools, hospitals, students, and different health organizations follow, listen, or collaborate with nurses at work. And what I’m doing as a nurse leader there is making sure that we are addressing critical professional issues that impact our profession, and our practice, spreading the word on important things, giving attention to the nurses who seem voiceless in their stories, and getting the attention and hopefully providing the influence that’s needed to get agendas and policies and practices moved and changed. Because things will happen at a certain hospital in a small city, and nobody ever knows. But if we take that story, we amplify it on our side. We not only let all the nurses know that this is going on, but then that sparks conversations in hospitals with their leadership. If we can address and discuss those issues, it gives them attention to something that doesn’t have to happen at the next hospital.
You said that your father was your inspiration to become a nurse. What nursing leader inspires you the most and why?
Mary Eliza Mahoney is my most significant source of inspiration. She was the first African American to study and work professionally as a trained nurse in the U.S. She inspired me. And especially during those times in the 1870s as an African American. Graduating from nursing school was a challenging feat. I could only imagine the barriers in place, but I’m sure her passion for caring for people pushed and motivated her to move forward. She could overcome adversities and challenges, especially of that magnitude, for the sake of wanting to care for someone, which is inspirational to me
What inspirational message would you like to share with the next generation of nurses?
There’s so much I want to say to the future generation of nurses. It may sound very cliche, but I want to tell them not to give up. And I say that because we can often ask for something at a hospital and be told no. Or that doesn’t fit our agenda. Or we can’t do that right now. We need the resources. And I found that where there’s a will, there’s a way. And so in the work that I’ve done, especially with community work, there often is no budget, we’re working mainly with volunteers, we have to influence people to want to participate and get to the cause, donate to the cause. And by not giving up, we can push forward to get our agendas, move the policies that we need to put in place the practices we need to put in place to make things better for the next nurse and the next patient. So the next generation of nurse leaders will be vital because it’s not a denial. It may be a delay. So I don’t want them to give up. They must keep pushing so conditions can only get better. We’ve come so far in nursing. Here in California alone, nurse practitioners can practice independently in a position. That’s been a tall order. We’ve been fighting for that for so long. But we wouldn’t be where we are today if we had given up when met with so many obstacles. So I don’t want nurses to give up, and that’s the message I would tell the next generation of nurses.
I have been an RN for 20 years and a medical assistant for five years prior.
Please talk about your career path and how you ascended to that role.
I feel that it was in God’s plan. I started as a MA and had a 5-year plan to be a nurse (5 years is how long the MA/phlebotomy certification lasted). I met my goal. However, just as I was ready to enroll in nursing school, I realized that I could not afford my livelihood and attempted to withdraw. As I withdrew from the day program, CCBC initiated its first evening/ weekend program (God’s blessing). I enrolled in that program and completed it on time as scheduled within five years. My next goal was BSN, so I enrolled in the first nursing partnership cohort with Notre Dame. With the same partnership, CCBC recruited faculty from within the hospital where I was employed. I then duplicated the same situation for MSN.
At the MSN level, l concentrated on nursing education. I started healthcare in ambulatory care as MA. I entered a nursing role in critical care for 14 years. Then, I transitioned to outpatient ambulatory care as an interventional radiology nurse. While working towards my MSN, my current leader transitioned to a more corporate role and inquired how I felt about management. I never thought about management, just education. I am a product of teenage parents. I remember holding flash cards for my mom. I remember organizing my mom’s books. I remember when my mom told me about tutoring adults that couldn’t read and how important it was not to be judgmental. My manager had been teaching and guiding me to function in her absence, and I also attempted to do that with my team. I remember thinking, why would I allow someone new to take over a role I already know I can progress? So I applied for that position and was hired. I branched off to skilled nursing and went from manager to ADON within a year and DON within two years. After skilled nursing, I felt I needed to help patients never reach long-term care or intensive care units. I then returned to ambulatory care with a focus on the PCMH model. I came to UMMS to be a part of a larger organization that would allow me to flourish and be a change agent for innovative nursing care with a more diverse population.
Why did you become a nurse?
I have always been able to put the needs of others before my own. I have always enjoyed the satisfaction of taking care of others. I became a nurse to help, care for others, and give back to society.
What are the most important attributes of today’s nursing leaders?
The essential attributes are empathy, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Even if it is not your belief, seeing someone’s point of view opens doors for communication, which is always good. Proper communication leads to innovation within the healthcare system.
What does being a nursing leader mean to you, and how are you making a difference?
Being a nursing leader means someone who inspires passion and motivation in others to believe in advancement and forward movement. A leader ensures their team has the support and tools to achieve their goals professionally and personally and to advocate for professional advancement.
What is the most significant challenge facing nursing today?
Access to diverse, equitable healthcare and the lack of available nursing educators.
As a nursing leader, how are you working to overcome this challenge?
Making short- and long-term goals include maximizing my education to obtain DNP and assuring work-life balance. Also, to actively and continually participate in the academia of licensed and unlicensed healthcare professionals. Also, by encouraging others to set goals for advancement in healthcare.
What nursing leader inspires you the most and why?
I am inspired by all nursing leaders who can lead the profession with their hearts first by balancing equitable patient care and cost-effective care. The nursing leader who truly empathizes with the population’s needs. The nursing leader who supports diversity, equity, and inclusion as a framework in their leadership style. Most of all, I am inspired by the leader who understands they are only as good as their team.
What inspirational message would you like to share with the next generation of nurses?
Denzel Washington said, “Ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship.” Everything worth having is worth working for… sometimes our circumstances should be our motivation.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
As Oprah powerfully stated, “No matter where you are on your journey, that’s exactly where you need to be. The next road is always ahead.” So be kind to yourself and know that you can do it!
For 15 years, Latanya Weston was in operating rooms in her home state of Georgia, amputating the limbs of patients who suffered from kidney disease. The feeling of the scalpel pushing down on flesh and the sound of the bone cracking haunts her.
A Georgia native, Weston knew that the mortality rate of kidney disease is 30 to 40 percent higher in her state than the national average. But, while the numbers show that the percentage of black and white adults treated for kidney disease are roughly the same, Weston knows a different reality.
The series highlights healthcare leaders who are prominent figures in their organizations and are making transformational impacts in nursing.
Meet Latanya Weston, a nurse practitioner at Somatus, the nation’s leading and largest value-based kidney care company.
Talk about your career path and how you ascended to that role.
I was constantly stricken with various illnesses when I was growing up. As a high school student, I spent most of my senior year being operated on or hospitalized. Although I could maintain my overall academic achievements through these health issues, I was told I would need to repeat my first semester as I had been in the hospital too much. It was unfair to the other students. This news was incredibly disheartening. I had already mapped out a career plan and did not want to delay graduating. I made a tough decision and begged my parents to let me sit for the “General Education Development” exam. I excelled and went on to sit for the SATs. I became a college student while my friends were still in high school.
Once graduating from the surgical technology program, my career path began at Mitchell County Hospital, where I was a surgical technologist. Together our surgical team operated on many patients suffering from advanced kidney disease and renal failure. In many cases, these patients had developed peripheral arterial disease. They were on the table to have a limb amputated or were crashing into dialysis and needed to get a venous catheter implanted. Although I loved being a surgical technologist, my heart’s desire was always to become a nurse. So, in 2006, while working as a surgical technologist, I returned to school and became an operating room nurse. This allowed me to work at a bigger hospital in my hometown to gain more experience. However, the unsettling patient trends I had noticed in the county hospital were now amplified—more amputations and dialysis catheters, and again always in patients of color. So, in 2007, I again shifted my career and decided to leave my hometown for a hospital away from home.
After more than a decade along this career path and seeing patients in severe distress day after day, I grew to feel I needed to make a change. Then, one day while I was on call for the operating room, I fell down a flight of stairs and hurt my foot. The pain was constant, and I could no longer stand on my feet in the operating room as long as I had. I had to make a change, and a part of me felt like this was a sign that I should go back to school to educate and prevent the disease processes that were landing so many patients on the operating room table. For quite a while, I had been thinking about what impact I could make if I met patients earlier in their healthcare journey before surgery was the only option. I then decided that I would become a nurse practitioner.
What inspired you to become a nurse?
I knew I wanted to be a nurse from a very young age. My aunt was a nurse who would conduct home health visits at her patients’ houses, and from the time I was in second grade, I would beg to go with her. I enjoyed visiting patients and watching my aunt care for them. I always felt I had this same gift of caring as she did. Nursing takes a special heart and mind; everyone does not possess this attribute.
Furthermore, I grew up in a community with significant health challenges, yet people didn’t prioritize their health. Most people don’t have primary care physicians, schedule annual check-ups, or think about preventive care. Members of my community were often struggling with obesity, diabetes, and kidney disease, and there were several dialysis centers in my neighborhood. Kidney disease impacted my family as well. My sister passed away at 33 because she could not get a kidney transplant.
I’ve lived my whole life in Georgia, where the mortality rate from chronic kidney disease is over 40% more than the national average.
As a nurse practitioner, I finally feel I am where I was meant to be. Now I reach patients early on in their healthcare journey when their primary care physician first diagnoses them with kidney disease. Through education and support, I can change the direction of a person’s life and stop them from ending up on someone’s operating room table.
What are the most important attributes of today’s nursing leaders?
Given the changes in the healthcare industry, building trusting relationships between clinicians and consumers can often be taxing. Nursing leaders must be of great character and moral values. This includes the ability to show respect to another and communicate appropriately. One of the major complaints in the patient population is that providers do not listen. As nursing leaders, we can’t overstate the importance of being a good listener and communicating relevant information to providers. This will strengthen the patient-provider relationship and encourage more communication, improving overall patient outcomes. Nurse leaders must maintain integrity, respect, grace, and professionalism and always take the time to listen and communicate, making their relationships the building blocks to success.
What does it mean to you to be a nursing leader, and how are you making a difference?
The leader I am today is the ultimate assignment. I wanted to uncover the world of medicine and was given the great opportunity to travel as a Locum Tenens Nurse Practitioner from 2016 to 2018. That experience blessed my entire being and made me realize that my mission is not only to save lives but to change them. I worked in the Pacific Northwest to combat mental illness and addiction and changed many lives. In every home or exam room I enter, the person on the other side of the door becomes my family. No matter the situation, I take their hands, and together we weather the storm one diagnosis at a time. I ensure they do not feel alone in the battle, which makes a difference in patient outcomes.
What is the most significant challenge facing nursing today?
The healthcare industry has come a long way in recognizing the impact of social determinants of health on patient health, but this is still the most significant challenge facing us today. As nurses, we see first-hand, time and again, that providing “equal” care to patients is not enough. Care plans must consider the whole person, where they live, their resources, and everything else that affects them when they leave their doctor’s office.
This is particularly true about kidney disease, which disproportionately affects Black people. Black people make up around 13% of the U.S. population but account for around a third of those with kidney failure.
In many cases, patients don’t realize they have kidney disease until the day their doctor gives them the diagnosis. Without understanding the disease process and how each element of the care plan works together to slow and control their chronic kidney disease progression, it’s very difficult for a patient to commit to making significant lifestyle changes.
We also know that socioeconomic issues are tied to kidney disease. Even if a patient has health insurance, they may still have financial concerns, making it difficult to afford medications and treatments. They may be worried about paying their rent or utility bills, which makes it difficult to focus on their physical health. In addition, they may not have a wheelchair or a ramp to get in and out of their house or transportation to their next doctor’s visit.
Shopping for kidney-friendly foods may also be a challenge, both in terms of affordability and availability. Patients may also need help adopting new meal preparation methods with no one to guide them, and they find it much easier to fall back on frozen meals.
There are countless other barriers to care that we see in our patients every day, and as nurses, we are often the best equipped to inform the rest of the care team about what our patients need.
As a nursing leader, how are you working to overcome this challenge?
I’m now a nurse practitioner at Somatus, the country’s first value-based kidney care company. Our goal is to give whole-person, 360-degree support to kidney disease patients, providing preventive care and breaking down the barriers and challenges patients face every day. For example, when a patient is first diagnosed with kidney disease, we go to the patient’s home to do a complete evaluation, look through their cupboards, figure out where they can source nutritious food, demonstrate how to prepare meals, and even help them with administrative tasks and paperwork.
Together with my fellow Somatus care team colleagues, we work with a nephrologist and other health care providers to give patients the whole-person support they need to follow their care plan and make lifestyle changes.
Every day I see the impact of individualized, patient-centered care. Sometimes there are significant actions like teaching a patient to monitor their blood pressure every day, but other times it’s something small, like praying with one of my patients, that makes a huge difference. This is what I love.
What nursing leader inspires you the most and why?
Mary Eliza Mahoney is the first African American licensed nurse in the U.S., and when I think of her perseverance and tenacity, I also see myself. She worked tirelessly as a private home nurse, doing what she loved while advocating to be treated as a professional and equal. Her example shows that we can not only prolong and save lives but can also change them.
What inspirational message would you like to share with the next generation of nurses?
When you become a nurse, whenever you walk through the door, someone on the other side waits for you to enter the room and be their guiding light. So I like to take a moment to ask myself, “I wonder who my next blessing is in that room?” every time I meet a new patient. This road is not for the weak, but the journey is incredibly rewarding as you touch and change lives day after day. I always tell people, “Nursing is not a money thing… it is a heart thing.”
Meet Nia Wright, MSN MHA RN CNOR, Senior Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion consultant for Luminis Health.
