Lead, Drive, and Thrive – Recording Available
January 25, 2025
9:00-11:20 a.m.
Join Jennifer S. Mensik Kennedy, President, American Nurses Association, and Sophia Aragon, CEO of Washington Center of Nursing, for a morning dedicated to honing your leadership skills.
2 ANCC contact hours
Registration Fees
- Washington State Nurses Association member: Free
The art of navigating health care systems
Presented by Jennifer S. Mensik Kennedy, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAA, President, American Nurses Association
Learn critical information and practical strategies to embrace your power of leadership and grow your skillset to lead, drive, and thrive in your health care system. Discover how to translate leadership theory into practice by understanding why the system exists and what benefits it brings to nurses and patients.
All nurses are leaders, but the challenges of the role require an adept and agile strategy for the navigation of health care systems. The challenges that nurse leaders face are distinct from any other profession, so leadership styles and solutions need to be just as unique.
We’ll explore how nursing is both an art and a science. Nurses must learn to translate their leadership learnings into practice as they understand and improve systems.
Objectives:
- Identify the relevant aspects of organizational politics to successfully navigate health care systems.
- Identify steps to effectively work with colleagues in decision-making.
- Describe methods to leverage the unique aspects of systems to improve patient care.
About the speaker
A sought-after presenter and prolific author, Jennifer S. Mensik Kennedy, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, serves as the 38th president of the American Nurses Association.
Mensik Kennedy is currently an assistant professor at the Oregon Health and Science University School of Nursing. She was named by Modern Healthcare as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare in 2023.
Her books include Lead, Drive, and Thrive in the System, 2nd edition, and The Nurse Manager’s Guide to Innovative Staffing, 2nd edition. She co-authored Lead like a Nurse, A Nurse’s Step-By-Step Guide to Transitioning to the Professional Nurse Role, and The Power of Ten, 2nd edition, and contributed a chapter to The Career Handoff: A Healthcare Leader’s Guide to Knowledge & Wisdom Transfer across Generations.
Mentoring as a path to build leadership skills
Presented by Sofia Aragon, JD, BSN, RN, FAAN, Executive Director, Washington Center for Nursing
Explore how mentoring can help you build your leadership skills and social support systems critical for professional fulfillment and career advancement.
We’ll examine WCN’s mentoring program for diverse nurse educators. This program strengthens mentor support systems to build a stronger mentorship pool for future nurse educators.
We’ll hear from program participants who will share their experiences and the impact it has had on their careers as nurses. Mentors and mentees will describe how being a mentor promotes both personal and professional growth and satisfaction in nursing, and how this approach has inspired other efforts to support nurses advancing their careers.
Objectives
- Describe the value of collaboration in development of innovative programs to diversify the nursing workforce.
- Describe a process to develop a nursing faculty mentoring program centered on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Summarize strategies to develop successful mentoring relationships.
About the speaker
Sofia Aragon, JD, BSN, RN, FAAN, is the Executive Director for the Washington Center for Nursing. As a state nursing workforce center, WCN advances nursing leadership, diversity, and workforce development for LPNs, RNs, and ARNPs.
Aragon earned a BA in Economics from the University of Washington, a BSN from Seattle University; and a Juris Doctor from Loyola University — Chicago School of Law. She is certified as a Qualified Intercultural Developmental Administrator and Certified Diversity Practitioner.
Aragon is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and was recently awarded the Dr. C. June Strictland Distinguished & Transcultural Nursing Advocate Award by the University of Washington School of Nursing.
Workshop recording
A recording of the workshop will be available approximately three weeks after the event. All those who register will receive a link to the recording.
Continuing education
This nursing continuing professional development activity was approved by Oregon Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
Approval valid through 01/24/2027
OCEAN ID #2024-55
Upon approval, attendees may earn 2 contact hours. Participants must be present for all the educational activity to receive contact hours.
Thanks to Northwest Region Nurses Association for handling the registration process. The link below will take you to their website to register for the event.