Addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion: A response of professional nursing organizations to the future of nursing: 2020–2030 recommendations

Abstract

One way in which professional nursing organizations have chosen to address the social determinants of health (SDoH) is through policy work focused on diversity, health equity and anti‐racism activities. The recent report, Future of Nursing 2020–2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity (FON 2020–2030), calls on professional nursing organizations and/or nursing coalitions to focus on addressing the SDoH to mitigate health inequities, including a focus on addressing racism and promoting practices to ensure the diversity of the nursing workforce. While these recommendations highlight issues of high importance to nursing and the broader society, they assume that professional nursing organizations or coalitions have not been sufficiently engaged in this work to date. Our goal was to better understand the current and/or ongoing activities of professional nursing organizations around their anti‐racism work of diversity, health equity, and inclusion (DEI) activities recommended in the FON 2020–2030 report. To address this goal, we conducted a needs assessment of professional nursing organizations to document their DEI activities and the timing of these activities relevant to the recommendations in the report. The 26 responding organizations indicated they had been engaged in work addressing DEI issues for periods ranging from 4 months to 51 years. Minimal funding was the major barrier to advancing this work. Creating a vigorous shared DEI agenda across the profession, as suggested in the FON 2020–2030 report, will require input from nurses across the profession, as well as identification of resources to support this critical endeavor.