Keynote Speaker Dr. G. Rumay Alexander Lit Up Students with Passion

“I love your energy and spunk and how you light it up,” said Keynote speaker G. Rumay Alexander, EdD, RN, FAAN, President, National League for Nursing, Washington, DC. She went on to urge nursing students to be the light against darkness, the color in the world, and “to bring light, wonder, and possible change.”

In her Keynote, “Light It Up,” Dr. Alexander pointed out that, in today’s environment, “The only certainty is uncertainty. To enhance the significance of the future, you need to show up and light it up.” Be on FIRE, she urged as she defined FIRE :

“ F ocus…stay woke.”

“ I gnite the world, meaning respect and pay attention to what is going on.”

“ R esponse required, meaning respond to the issues of the day and practice empathy. Change does not come without effort.”

“ E ngage, meaning take action to resolve problems.”

“Problems do not age well,” Dr. Alexander pointed out. “Think about and be prepared to manage issues at hand. Also, recognize that you can not talk your way out of what you behaved your way into.” She stressed recognizing the “adjacent possible,” which is the space next to what we think is possible and provides the next step for evolution and innovation. “To keep the fire and spark alive, you need to nurture your ability to change and adapt. You need to continually reinvent and re-energize yourself. To win, you need to show up and light it up. Excellence comes in all forms; be the real deal. Your legacy is every life you touch. When you become angry, you have ceased to care for others. Never withhold your goodness. In your life, light it up.” She concluded by asking participants to stand and energetically sing, “This nurse is on fire! This nurse is walking on fire.”

In addition to being NLN President, Dr. G. Rumay Alexander is Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief Diversity Officer in the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Alexander has a compelling record of leadership and advocacy for diversity and inclusive excellence in academia. Her passion for equity of opportunity has led to appointments on landmark healthcare initiatives, including the Commission of Workforce for Hospitals and Health Systems of the American Hospital Association and the National Quality Forum’s steering committee for the first national voluntary consensus standards for nursing-sensitive care.

The Keynote Speaker was sponsored by Central Methodist University, Fayette, MO. The Opening Ceremony was sponsored by Nurses Service Organization (NSO), Fort Washington, PA.

In Thursday’s Plenary Session— "What Would a Nurse Do? Meet the Nurse Innovators Changing Human Health"— Rebecca Love moderated a panel of cutting-edge nurse entrepreneurs Brittany Molkenthin, Wrenetha Julion, and Rachel Walker , as they described their inspiring work and how they are changing human health.

After a moving video, produced by the session’s sponsor, Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, NJ, on nurse-led innovations that changed the course of human health, moderator Rebecca Love, MSN, RN, Managing Director, US Markets, Ryalto, advised students, “Nurses are natural innovators. Believe in yourself and your ability to make a positive impact, change the world, and create new solutions to relieve suffering.”

The first panelist to share her journey in innovation was Brittany Molkenthin, BSN, RN, a pediatric intensive care RN at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center who is CEO of her own company, Lactation Innovations. When she discovered that women were reluctant to feed their newborns because they were concerned that babies were not taking in enough milk, she developed the Manoula Device that measures the amount of breast milk in a baby’s stomach. She plans to seek FDA approval and expects to commercialize the device. “I am a nurse scientist, CEO, and entrepreneur,” said Ms. Molkenthin. “No one is better positioned to optimize healthcare than a nurse. Follow questions where they go. Consider rejection as just a change in direction.”

Next, Wrenetha Julion, PhD, RN, MPH, FAAN, Professor and Chair of Nursing at Rush University Medical Center, in Chicago, IL, described the nationally-recognized Chicago Parent Program that she developed for at-risk families living in low-income, ethnic minority communities and her intervention called Building Bridges to Fatherhood. She explained that her innovative parenting program used advisory councils and professionally-produced training videos on parenting with real parents, real children, real moments, and real dialogue. She noted, “Noticing things is my super power; when I noticed fathers get minimal attention, I got an advisory committee and produced Bridges to Fatherhood to help fathers parent. Only when you dig in to find the root cause of a problem, can you help.”

The third innovator to share her journey to innovation was Rachel Walker, PhD, RN, OCN, an assistant professor at University of Massachusetts College of Nursing in Amherst, and a nurse inventor who has developed multiple new devices, including a portable machine that can generate critical IV fluids in disaster settings. She is also the first nurse to be selected by the AAAS and the Lemelson Foundation as an Invention Ambassador. She recalled that when told “nurses are implementors, not innovators and was not invited to sit at the table with innovators, I brought my own chair and nursing questions.” Dr. Walker shared her experience in working with a team to develop a portable machine that can generate IV fluids in a disaster and urged students to ask nursing questions, challenge the status quo, and be problem solvers to develop ground breaking innovations. In conclusion, she said “I am a nurse; I am an innovator; I am going to change the world.”

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Costume night winners! Contact Trisha Mims at trisha@nsna.org prior to the end of the Convention to claim your prize.

Tina Beaulieu from Pitt Community College, Greenville, NC, is the dance-off winner. Contact Trisha Mims at trisha@nsna.org prior to the end of the Convention to claim your prize.

Thank you all for a fun night! Most of all, thank you to the sponsors for making the night possible.

Sponsors:

Nurses Service Organization, Fort Washington, PA

Nursing Mastery, Coralville, IA

Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing, Oak Brook, IL 

University of Washington, Seattle, WA

NRSNG, Allen, TX

Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, NH

Emergency Nurses Association, Schaumburg, IL

Central Methodist University, Fayette, MO

American Nurses Association, Silver Spring, MD

NSNA Store Hours

Visit the NSNA Convention Store to purchase items such as graduation cords, stoles, pins, patches, pop sockets, academic planners, etc.

Friday: 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Saturday: 7:30 am - 3:00 pm

Convention Special: Purchase the 2019-2020 NSNA Academic Planner onsite for $16 (original price is $20 on the NSNA Store).

Wi-Fi

Complimentary Wi-Fi is available at the Salt Palace Convention Center for one hour and $15 for a full day session. Salt Palace Guest Wi-Fi is available in all meeting rooms and lobby areas. It is not available in the exhibit halls.