Roque Anthony F. Velasco, MS, APRN, AGPCNP-BC, CNS, CMSRN, ACRN, AAHIVS
(he/him, they/them)
Senior Nurse Practitioner
DAP Health
Member of ANAC Board, Chair of Membership Committee, Board Liaison for the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee
Years as an ANAC member: 9
Local ANAC chapter: Greater Palm Springs
What does Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month mean to you?
Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month means celebrating and recognizing how the AAPI community contributes to the richness and diversity of our country. Especially this month, it is important to highlight how AAPI nurses continue to be underrepresented in nursing research, academia and leadership. I completed my undergraduate and graduate degrees in California, where 20% of nurses are of Filipino heritage. Despite this, I never had a Filipino nursing instructor. This highlights the importance of representation and creating pathways for AAPI nurses to hold research, academic and leadership positions.
The profound impact of the pandemic also heightened AAPI hate and sentiment, contributing to a significant increase in racially motivated hate crimes against AAPI people. This AAPI Heritage Month, we must highlight how AAPI people continue to be othered – and how otherness contributes to this oppression. All of us must acknowledge how this kind of oppression transcends beyond racial or ethnic identity, and we must come together as a community to uplift each other.
What does ANAC mean to you?
ANAC has been an integral part of my growth as a nursing professional. I have been in HIV care my entire nursing career. Being surrounded by other nurses and healthcare professionals who are passionate about fighting to end HIV/AIDS has been rewarding. Being an ANAC member and being involved in the organization has made my practice more meaningful. My involvement in ANAC illustrated how HIV advocacy could not be contained within the clinical setting. With ANAC, we continue to advocate through education, practice, research and policy.
What words of wisdom might you pass on to those entering the field?
Our nursing discipline affords us the privilege to transform how our patients and the community experience health and wellness. We must use this privilege to disrupt power structures that create and sustain health inequities and social injustice, especially among systemically minoritized communities.
