Advocating for the patient, improving healthcare and honing leadership skills are just some of the ways nurses benefit from serving on boards of directors, according to Mary Anne Marra, DNP, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, vice president and CNO at East Orange (N.J.) General Hospital.
Marra should know. She has served on three boards and supports the national Nurses on Boards Coalition’s effort to place 10,000 nurses on boards by 2020. The coalition was founded in November by 21 nursing and healthcare organizations, including the American Nurses Association, American Organization of Nurse Executives, National League for Nursing and Sigma Theta Tau International, with the aim of increasing the presence of nursing on corporate and nonprofit health-related boards.