October 2025: Congratulations, Dr. Rich!
We are so proud to announce that our President and Founder, Dr. Anita Rich, has been inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing! This represents a huge personal honor for Anita and it also has tremendous implications for the work of Nurses Heart to Heart!
The American Academy of Nursing (AAN) serves the public by advancing health policy and practice and Academy Fellows are inducted into the organization for their extraordinary contributions to improve health locally and globally.
The mission of the AAN is to improve health and achieve health equity by impacting policy through nursing leadership, innovation, and science. With more than 3,200 Fellows from 55 countries, the Academy represents nursing’s most accomplished leaders in policy, research, administration, practice, and academia.
A former president of the American Academy of Nursing, Dr. Linda Burnes Bolton, DrPH, RN, FAAN, said "The essence of nursing is human care." It is truly heartening to see just how powerful that care is.
As Nurses Heart to Heart has grown and developed over the last 15 years, our mission has also expanded to include policy and advocacy work. To have a long-term, sustained impact on the wellbeing of nurses and their patients, we are engaging a holistic approach: meeting immediate needs on the ground AND advocating for nurses and their needs at the highest levels of healthcare leadership and government.
This is why Anita pursued official recognition as a Certified Global Nurse Consultant (CGNC) with the International Council of Nurses and it's the reason that this new designation as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing is so important. These qualifications and honors open greater access to opportunities to work with other nurse leaders and global leaders who want to support and improve the nursing profession.
In fact, while Anita was in Washington, DC to be inducted as a Fellow, she was able to schedule a meeting with the Tanzanian Ambassador to the United States and Mexico, H.E. Ambassador Elsie Sia Kanza, whom she first met last month in Atlanta as part of a group from Emory.
During this one-on-one meeting in Washington, the two spoke for close to an hour about nursing in Tanzania and the work of Nurses Heart to Heart in the county.
It was so encouraging to have this conversation with Ambassador Kanza and it's exciting to think about what Nurses Heart to Heart will be able to do with our local partners in Tanzania!