Ernest J. Grant, PhD, RN, FAAN, the 36th president of the American Nurses Association and the first man elected to that office, will give the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing (VUSN) Dean’s Diversity Lecture on Monday, May 13, noon-1 p.m., in VUSN’s Nursing Annex room 161.
Grant’s lecture, “Nursing at the Crossroads: The Future of Health Care,” is open to the Vanderbilt community, but space is limited. Lecture attendees may order a box lunch for the event at https://vusn6.vanderbilt.edu/machform/view.php?id=85157
“As head of the country’s largest nursing organization, Dr. Grant has insight into the trajectory of the profession and the opportunities and challenges it faces,” said VUSN Dean Linda D. Norman, DSN, RN, FAAN, the Valere Potter Menefee Professor of Nursing. “Those include the need to attract more men and people from diverse backgrounds into nursing to reflect the diversity of our patients, as well as efforts to provide culturally sensitive care.”
In his role as ANA president, Grant is charged with advancing the nursing profession and representing the nation’s 4 million registered nurses. Among his top goals are advocating for legislation and policies to improve public access to quality health care and encouraging diversity in nursing.
Grant has more than 30 years of nursing experience and is an internationally recognized burn-care and fire-safety expert. As burn outreach coordinator for the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at University of North Carolina (UNC) Hospitals in Chapel Hill, he ran the center’s nationally acclaimed burn prevention program and oversaw burn education for physicians, nurses and other health care personnel.
Grant is frequently sought out for his expertise as a clinician and educator. In addition to being a prolific speaker, he has conducted numerous burn-education courses with various branches of the U.S. military in preparation for troops’ deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2002, President George W. Bush presented Grant with a Nurse of the Year Award for his work treating burn victims from the World Trade Center site.
Grant serves as adjunct faculty for the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Nursing, where he works with undergraduate and graduate nursing students in the classroom and clinical settings.
The Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Dean’s Diversity Lecture Series explores the diversity of backgrounds, cultures, ideas and viewpoints in our world today. It seeks to equip students, faculty, staff and other community members with the knowledge and understanding needed to lead nursing forward in a global society.