Background

On January 25, 2021 leading nursing organizations launched the National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing (the Commission). The Commission will examine the issue of racism within nursing nationwide and describe the impact on nurses, patients, communities, and health care systems to motivate all nurses to confront systemic racism.

The Commission is being led by the American Nurses Association (ANA), National Black Nurses Association (NBNA), National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nurse Associations (NCEMNA), and National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN).

The Commission members and organizations represent a broad continuum of nursing practice, ethnically diverse groups, and regions across the country.

Vision, Mission and Goals

Vision Statement:

The nursing profession exemplifies inclusivity, diversity, and equity creating an antiracist praxis and environments.

Mission Statement:

Set as the scope and standard of practice that nurses confront and mitigate systemic racism within the nursing profession and address the impact that racism has on nurses and nursing.

Goals:

  1. Engage in national discussions within the nursing profession to own, amplify, understand, and change how racism negatively impacts colleagues; patients, families, and communities; and the health care system.
  2. Develop strategies to actively address racism within nursing education, practice, policy, and research, including addressing issues of leadership and the use of power.
  3. Use the Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice as a framework to create a roadmap for action to address racism in nursing.

Who, What, When, Where, How and Why?

Who:

  • Nurses from races and ethnicities that have been marginalized and under-represented because of actions from predominantly white groups and others who may view themselves or their group as superior.
  • Nurses from predominantly white groups along with nurses who are advantaged and privileged by unfair structural and systemic practices.

What: Lead a national discussion to address racism in nursing to create safe and liberating environments as well as an antiracist profession for all nurses.

When: Racism is historically rooted in the nursing profession and continues today. The time is now to transform the profession by addressing racism in nursing.

Where: The National Commission to Address Racism in Nursing is focused on exploring the impact of racism across nursing education, practice, policy, and research, with particular emphasis on leadership and the use of power.

How: Collaborate with partner organizations, the broader nursing community, and subject matter experts to:

  • Understand and own the negative impacts of and seek to change racism in nursing through engagement, listening sessions, storytelling, etc.
  • Use the American Nurses Association’s scope and standards of professional nursing practice framework to set antiracist behaviors into action which dismantle systemic racism within the nursing profession.
    • Establish a scope of practice statement that describes the role of the profession and individual nurses in identifying and addressing racism in nursing and the implications for the profession, patient care, and the healthcare system.
    • Institute standards of practice that describes the actions and behaviors expected of the profession, individual nurses, and organizations to address racism in nursing.

Why: So that the nursing profession exemplifies inclusivity, diversity, and equity.