University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing alumnus, Instructor and Acute Care Pediatric NP Specialty Track Coordinator Jeremy Jordan, MSN, CRNP, CCRN, CPNP-AC, CNE, will serve on an inaugural committee dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion. His two-year term begins July 1, 2021.
Jordan, who earned his master of science in nursing from the School in 2014, was appointed as one of five members of the inaugural DEI committee for the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP). He also serves on the National Board of the Acute Care Special Interest Group for NAPNAP.
“I am honored to be chosen to serve on this important committee. As an LGBTQ person and male in nursing, the challenges and opportunities related to DEI are both personal and professional,” Jordan said. “This work will provide pediatric NPs around the country with the skills to address the unique and diverse needs and backgrounds of our patients and families.”
This committee will serve as an advisory group to the NAPNAP Executive Board, working to integrate best practices in the association’s work. They will act as a resource to the executive board as it pursues professional training and development, while also developing tools and recommendations for practicing nurse practitioners.
“Nurses have daily interactions with patients and families, and every single one of those interactions is an opportunity to have a positive or negative experience,” Jordan said. “As a profession, we’re finally getting a better understanding—and finally admitting—that marginalized communities don’t have the positive experiences they deserve to have. By recognizing implicit biases and structural changes that need to be made, nurses can continue their commitment to better patient outcomes and overall care.”
Jordan, who is currently a student in the School’s PhD program, is also involved in the School’s PhD DEI committee, and said the skills he has gained through UAB’s training and the School’s DEI initiatives have prepared him to serve on NAPNAP’s committee.
“The School of Nursing and UAB as a whole have had really great movement and recognition of spaces that need improvement in relation to DEI issues,” Jordan said. “Because of the formalized training that UAB has developed within its Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, as well as the School’s focus on DEI issues, I felt like I was getting a lot of exposure to these topics and conversations, as well as to what was happening within our school, UAB and the South. I believe having that information and that perspective will be useful on this committee as we hold important conversations.”
Participation on NAPNAP’s DEI committee also provides opportunities to hear and learn from individuals around the country, while working to impact change across the country as well.
“Taking the training I’ve received to the national level means I can not only help disseminate that information, but it also brings me out of the UAB bubble, the Southeast bubble, and lets me see what is going on around the country, and how it is affecting practitioners, their patients and their families,” Jordan said.
