Nurses as Agents of Change – Making Change Happen: Leadership, Advocacy and Activism in Action

Event Description:
Annual Sybil Palmer Bellos Lecture
Established in 1964, the Bellos lecture honors 1927 Yale School of Nursing graduate Sybil Palmer Bellos, who led an exemplary nursing career, working with immigrant families in New York and holding several leadership positions in New York and Connecticut. Each year, the Bellos lecture features a remarkable individual who epitomizes Bellos’ dedication to expanding the frontiers of healthcare.

Speaker:
Ernest J. Grant, PhD, RN, FAAN

Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging
Duke University School of Nursing
Immediate Past President- American Nurses Association (ANA)

Title of Presentation:
Nurses as Agents of Change – Making Change Happen: Leadership, Advocacy and Activism in Action

About the Speaker:
Dr. Ernest J. Grant is the Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at the Duke University School of Nursing. He is also the immediate past president of the American Nurses Association (ANA), the nation’s largest nurse’s organization representing the interests of the nation’s 4.3 million registered nurses. He is the first man to be elected to the office of president of the American Nurses Association in its 127 years of existence.

A distinguished leader, Dr. Grant has more than 30 years of nursing experience and is an internationally recognized burn-care and fire-safety expert. He also 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. For the past four years in a row, Dr. Grant has been recognized by Modern Healthcare Magazine as one of 50 Influential Clinical Executives in Healthcare and as one of 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare. He has been nationally recognized for his work addressing racism, equity, and inclusion within the nursing profession. Modern Healthcare named him as one of 2023 Top Diversity Leaders.

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. He was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nursing in 2011. Grant holds a BSN degree from North Carolina Central University and MSN and PhD degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.