"The National Academy of Medicine agrees with me that nurses have a really important role in improving health equity and addressing societal factors." — Julia Resnick, AHA senior program manager of strategic initiatives

Societal factors — socioeconomic status, food insecurity, environment (including air and water quality), education, and more — are linked to individuals' health outcomes, and nurses are perfectly positioned to address those social determinants of health (SDOH).

At last week's AONL 2021, the annual conference of the American Organization of Nursing Leadership, Julia Resnick, the American Hospital Association's (AHA) senior program manager of strategic initiatives, outlined four areas where nurses can make an impact in achieving health equity. Read about it in this week's lead story.

4 Areas Where Nurses Can Make an Impact in Social Determinants of Health

Nurses 'have a really important role in improving health equity and addressing societal factors,' AONL conference speaker says.

Nurses Urge CDC to Reinstate Universal Masking

Nurse union cites the growing Delta variant, which already is dominant in the United States.

AORN Updates Skin Antisepsis Guidelines: What This Means for Organizations

Professional guidelines are out in the field for certain subsets of patients to receive nasal decolonization.

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A Streamlined Care Continuum Elevates Quality for Moms and Babies

Care teams for expectant mothers and babies are often made up of clinicians across multiple specialties and different locations. This means patients with complex cases may have to travel or be transferred to numerous sites in order to receive the care they need.

Reduce Outcome Bias Through Focused Reviewer Questions

A useful strategy to reduce outcome bias is to have the screener provide case-specific questions for the reviewer that are focused on the process of care rather than the outcome.

How ERs Fail Patients with Addiction: One Patient's Tragic Death

Addicts often fall victim to two huge gaps in the U.S. healthcare system: a paucity of addiction treatment and high medical costs.

Why Pandemic-Initiated Safety Protocols Are Here to Stay

When COVID-19 hit, it heightened public awareness of safety protocols, causing healthcare facilities to be more acutely aware of the need to consistently enforce protocols for verifying who was in a building at a given time.

Must Reads

State funding aims to address nursing shortage in SC — News 19
Nursing Honor Guard pays tribute to fallen frontline workers in El Paso — CBS 4
DCH Regional Medical Center offering $15K incentive for new nurses — WVUA 23
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses of color in Florida face issues surrounding 'structural racism' — Florida Phoenix
Happy 50th anniversary to first nurse practitioner in Idaho — Idaho Press
As Appalachian hospitals disappear, rural Americans grapple with limited care — National Geographic

That's all for this Monday. Thank you for turning to HealthLeaders for your healthcare nursing news.

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Carol Davis
Nursing Editor