The Johns Hopkins School of Nursing Receives 2020 Health Professions HEED Award for Diversity

For a third consecutive year, the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing (JHSON) has received the Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine for outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. The school will be featured in the December 2020 issue of the publication.

“Diversity and inclusion are about everyday actions, welcoming differences, and being intentional in the way we work with and support our communities locally and globally,” says JHSON Dean Patricia Davidson, PhD, MEd, RN, FAAN. “It is our mission to promote and integrate diversity into our curriculum, community, and scholarship, and we are proud to be recognized for this among our peers.”

Throughout the year, JHSON launched and continued many initiatives that strategically and intentionally advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Given that DEI is a school-wide responsibility, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community members regularly host events and programming, including social gatherings framed around inclusion and connection, celebration of heritage and cultural observances, promotion of social justice, and supporting services that demonstrate the school’s commitment to equitable outcomes for all. The school also welcomes faculty, students, and staff who wish to include pronouns in their email signatures in order to enhance inclusivity.

Another notable initiative includes working groups of faculty, students, staff, and community members who focus on using teaching and learning methods as a pathway to ensuring DEI. The group integrates, coordinates, and draws from a broad range of expertise and experience in order to provide curriculum and learning materials that reflect the philosophy of inclusive excellence and the values of DEI as key priorities, while also modeling the profession’s commitment to health equity and social justice.

Within the faculty population, 29 percent are from racial or ethnic minorities and 13 percent are men. Among the students, 36 percent are from racial and ethnic minorities, and 12 percent are men.

“Our profession is a leader in bringing the importance of DEI to the light, particularly within health care,” says Gloria Ramsey, JD, RN, FNAP, FAAN, associate dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. “We hope that the experiences we provide at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing prepare our students to be leaders for change. Amazing things happen when we, as a growing group of nurse leaders, speak up and work together as we serve our diverse communities. We must stand as a community while striving for inclusion and embracing change. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us that ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice;’ and Dr. Laura Markham suggests that the moral arc does not bend by itself, ‘we humans need to do the bending.'”

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Located in Baltimore, the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing is a globally-recognized leader in nursing education, research, and practice. In U.S. News & World Report rankings, the school is No. 1 nationally for its master’s programs, No. 3 for DNP and online programs, and No. 2 for online MSN Healthcare Organizational Leadership options. In addition, the school is ranked by QS World University as the No. 3 nursing school in the world, No.1 by College Choice for its master’s program, and No. 1 by NursingSchoolHub.com for its DNP program. For more information, visit www.nursing.jhu.edu.