Health Policy & Legislation News

Welcome to the Health Policy & Legislation Newsletter, your go-to resource for understanding the dynamic intersection of healthcare and policy. At the Association of California Nurse Leaders (ACNL), we recognize the pivotal role that nurse leaders play in shaping the future of healthcare through education, legislative engagement, advocacy, and informed leadership.

In this issue, we’ll explore critical updates on health policy and legislation impacting California's nursing community and beyond. From changes in healthcare access and funding to the impact on workforce and the call to make our voices heard, this newsletter equips you with the insights and tools needed to navigate and influence the legislative landscape.

As nurse leaders, your voices are essential in shaping policies that promote equity, improve patient outcomes, and address the pressing challenges of our time. We hope this newsletter empowers you to stay informed, get involved, and drive meaningful change in our healthcare system.

Thank you for your continued dedication to advancing nursing and health policy. Together, we can make a difference!

Welcome to our new* and returning Health Policy Committee members for the 2026-2027 year.

Mary Lynne Knighten, Chair

Surani Hayre-Kwan, Co-chair

Susan Engle, Co-chair

Nic Breeland, Board Liaison

Dahlia Maldonado, Secretary

Mojgan Bashiri, PolicyEngage Coordinator

Carolyn Bogard, Chapter Liaison Coordinator

Alice Martanegara, Education Subcommittee Lead

Jennifer Baird*

Jessica Cheverie

Jonathan Clevenger*

Bri DuBose

Angela Flower

Michelle Hepburn*

Steve Garcia

Polly King

Ramya Mehta*

Diane Morey

Denise Robinson

Angeleena Singh

Brittany Walker*

Ann Marie Watkins

Sandra Marquez

Shiloh Williams

Joyce Eden

Taylor Brumley, Staff Support

Dr. Kimberly Long, CEO

The last day to register to vote for the primary election on June 2nd is May 18, 2026.

Primary Election - June 2, 2026: California Secretary of State

In recognition of the vital link between health and voting, we’re inviting all members of the ANA\C and ACNL community to take 1 minute to verify your voter registration at your current address. Click the link here: https://vote.health/acnl and we will be able to measure our response.

By confirming that your voter registration is up-to-date, you can secure a seamless voting process this primary election, ensuring you’ll get your mail-in ballot.*

Did you check your voter registration?

Fantastic! There are additional ways to support our mission of connecting voting and health, all while maintaining a non-partisan approach.

● Order your FREE nonpartisan Vot-ER Badge to begin helping communities, like your patients, register to vote in upcoming elections.

● Order free facility materials to help more people- patients and staff- register to vote!

*While you can still cast a provisional ballot if you register to vote onsite during early voting, we recommend checking your voter registration now to ensure you get a mail-in ballot.

Thank you for your commitment to building a healthier democracy.

Submitted by Bri DuBose, PhD, MHI, RN, ANA\C Fellow

The Department of Education Reimagining and Improving Student Education (R.I.S.E.) Committee published the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on January 30, 2026, followed by the public comment period, which closed on March 2, 2026. 80,801 comments were submitted. See the R.I.S.E. proposal here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/01/30/2026-01912/reimagining-and-improving-student-education

The proposal was driven by the H.R. 1 One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), which President Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025. The R.I.S.E. Committee proposal was approved by the committee members by consensus, does not include nursing as a professional degree, and limits access to loans for post-baccalaureate degree attainment. It will be implemented on July 1, 2026. The final rule should be published in the next few weeks.

Federal legislation to add nursing to the list of professional degrees has been introduced by Congressman Lawler, H.R.6718. The Professional Student Degree Act. H.R.6718 adds nursing (MSN, DNP, and PhD) to the list of professional degrees.

What next steps can you take? We recommend:

After reading H.R.6718 Professional Student Degree Act, contact your Congressional Representative to request their support for H.R.6718 - Professional Student Degree Act https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/6718/text

When writing letters to your Representative, ensure that your letter is individualized.

Our motto: #Becomeinformedtointelligentlyengage!

The Health Policy Committee is nearing completion of this multi-year program, which started with competency development and has culminated in seven courses. Policy literacy is now a core nursing competency, requiring leaders like you to understand how the lawmaking process impacts access, quality, patient safety, and reimbursement. The C. Duane Dauner Health Policy Certificate Program for Nurse Leaders is a fully asynchronous program from ACNL designed for nurses at all leadership levels, from staff nurses to CNOs.

With the continuous changes in legislation and policy at both the federal and state levels, it is imperative that nurse leaders become savvy in the health policy and advocacy arena. Learn how to use your voice to shape healthcare policy and make meaningful changes for your patients and community.

The program, comprises seven courses:

• Course I: Legislation and Policy-making
• Course II: Advocacy
• Course III: Stakeholders and Key Players
• Course IV: Evidence and Data Utilization
• Course V: Networking, Communication, and Interpersonal Skills
• Course VI: Budget and Health Policy Finance
• Course VII: Rights and Responsibilities - Coming Soon!

You may take the courses individually, in any order and receive continuing education units. Or you may take the entire program, at which you will receive a certificate in health policy at the end.

So far 91 nurse leaders have enrolled in the courses, with 26 receiving a CEU certificate. Please consider enrolling, and encourage your colleagues, staff, and friends to do so too. It’s an excellent value!

Please use the link below to register.

The ACNL Health Policy Committee was invited to submit a manuscript to Nursing Administration Quarterly (NAQ). It was published in the January/June issue. Click the link to go to the NAQ website.

Leading Nurses to Become Informed and Intelligently Engage: Association of California Nurse Leaders’ Health Policy Work

A Call to Action for Nurses Who Believe in Democracy, Dignity, and the Power of Collective Voice

By Dr. Sharon Goldfarb, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC

My reflection on peaceful gatherings:

Last summer, I found myself in London on an unusual day. What England was formally celebrating was King Charles's Day became, which, in a twist of poetic irony, something else entirely for the Americans gathered nearby. We called it No Tyrants Day. It wasn't spectacle. It wasn't opposition for its own sake. It was something far more elemental—the deep human instinct to stand together and declare dignity matters, fairness matters, and our collective voice matters. Even among expats far from home, a shared vision for America bound us together across every difference.

Months later, back home in Albany, California, I helped coordinate what has since grown into a movement. What began as a few hundred people quietly assembling has swelled to several thousand—not because of a single moment or message, but because of something more enduring: people recognizing themselves in one another and choosing to show up.

That is how change begins. Not in isolation. Not from the top down. But when ordinary people step into shared space and say, "This matters."

What We Stand For

The principles voiced at these gatherings are simple—but they are foundational:

• Protect free and fair elections
• Affirm that no one is above the law
• Defend democratic institutions and a free press
• Protect civil and human rights
• Advance equity and public health
• Limit the corrosive influence of money in shaping our collective decisions

Read that list again. Does it sound familiar? It should. These are nursing values.

The ANA Code of Ethics calls on us not only to care for individuals at the bedside, but to advocate for the conditions that make health, dignity, and justice possible in the first place. There is no firewall between our professional ethics and our civic responsibilities. To be a nurse is already to be an advocate.

What I Saw in the Crowd

What struck me most at these gatherings was not the scale—though the scale was remarkable. It was the texture of connection.

A nurse helping an older adult navigate a crowded sidewalk. Children drawing signs about fairness with stubby markers and absolute conviction. Strangers sharing water, sharing stories, sharing the simple act of standing side by side.

This is public health in its most human form.

Democracy, like health, is not a static condition. It is not something we achieve once and store safely away. It is something we maintain together—through attention, through care, through the willingness to be present when presence is what's needed.

The Rallying Cry

Nurses, we know something that not everyone knows: showing up saves lives. We show up in crisis. We show up when systems fail. We show up when patients have no one else.

Now our communities need that same presence—not in scrubs, but in streets and, town halls and voting booths. Not as partisans, but as professionals who understand, viscerally, what happens when the conditions for health are undermined. When equity is gutted. When institutions meant to protect people are hollowed out.

When people gather peacefully and purposefully, they create civic gravity. They shift what feels possible. History is full of moments when ordinary people—by simply refusing to disappear—changed the course of what came next.

We are living in one of those moments.

Advocacy is not separate from nursing. It is an extension of it. And right now, the most powerful thing many of us can do is step out from behind our screens, find our people, and show up.

Collective Voice. Only community. Only us.

About the Author

Dr. Sharon Goldfarb, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, is a nurse practitioner, educator, and public health advocate with over 35 years of experience. She serves as faculty at the University of San Francisco and holds leadership roles in health equity, nursing education, and civic engagement. Dr. Goldfarb is Co-President of the League of Women Voters Berkeley, Albany & Emeryville and Chief Nursing Education Advisor at Level Assessments. Her work centers on advancing equity, strengthening the healthcare workforce, and amplifying the role of narrative and advocacy in public health.

On February 10, 2026, Dr. Susan Engle was awarded the Contribution to ACNL award. Susan is an exemplary nurse leader who has made significant contributions to ACNL's work, vision, and mission, particularly through the Health Policy Committee.

Dr. Engle is not someone you will see behind the podium or claiming the limelight. Most of her contributions are behind the scenes, which is even more reason to nominate her and highlight her collaborative work. She supports initiatives, helps write position statements, reviews curricula, investigates legislation, explores regulations, searches for evidence, and buoys the committee’s endeavors. Her previous experience as a consultant to the Board of Registered Nursing enhances the committee’s understanding of practice and regulatory issues.

Some specific illustrations of how Dr. Engle exemplified this award criteria are:

• Susan assisted the Health Policy Messaging Subcommittee to develop two writing campaigns on behalf of ACNL to oppose proposed Out of State Nursing Programs legislation (AB 2578 in 2024 and AB 1087 in 2025. Her research into historically proposed legislation and current issues that could negatively affect California nursing schools and our practice partners yielded rich content for the letters. Both times the proposed bill failed to advance and was not voted into legislation.
• Susan conducted a comprehensive literature search and literature review for our recent position statement on Opposing Medicaid and Medicare Cuts and our manuscript about ACNL’s work to lead nurses to engage in advocacy and health policy activities. The manuscript was accepted for publication in the January/June issue of Nursing Administration Quarterly.
• Finally, Susan has worked exhaustively to help get ACNL’s first asynchronous education program off the ground. This has required numerous hours

• Review of the curricula for 7 courses
• Meeting weekly with office staff to ensure courses are developed in a standard format
• Supervising edits and changes being made
• Following up that recordings are created for the course content
• Reading Open Access articles to enhance the curriculum and
• Calculating “read time” to align continuing education units
• She then tests each course as a “learner” to ensure a good customer experience.

Without Susan’s substantive contributions the end products of our committee’s work would not be actualized and the larger mission of ACNL would not be achieved.

Submitted by: Mary Lynne Knighten, DNP, RN, NE-BC

We are excited to announce the latest podcast from the Health Policy Committee featuring:

• Surani Hayre-Kwan, DNP, MBA, FNP-BC, FACHE, FAAN

• Beth Pulatie, DHA, MSN, BSN, CRNA

• Sheree Scott, PhD, RN AGCNS-BC, CMSRN

Each discusses the healthcare gap and how APRNs can fill it from their own practice perspective.

APRNs Are Ready to Fill the Gaps. Are Health Systems Ready for Them? - Health Podcast Network

You can listen on your favorite streaming app, or directly from the ACNL website.

Submitted by Lisa Summers, MSN, DrPH, FACNM

Co-Founder, Healing Politics

A Challenge from Healing Politics

Kudos to ACNL and the Health Policy Committee on your commitment to using your voice to shape health policy. Your bill tracking, educational podcasts and strategic partnerships are making a difference.

At Healing Politics, we’d like to encourage you to take the next step: Consider running for elected office - or help another nurse expand their leadership through public service.

Despite being the largest group of healthcare professionals in the U.S., nurses are sorely underrepresented in elected office. Today, only 3 nurses are serving in Congress and just 83 nurses serve in state legislatures. California is one of 9 states without a single nurse in the legislature. We need to change that!

Representation matters. Research consistently shows that more diverse elected bodies that better reflect the communities they serve produce better public policy. Nurses bring skills and perspectives often missing in legislative halls: teamwork, expert communication, systems thinking, and a deep understanding of how policy decisions affect patients and communities. How might health policy look different if there were a nurse in Sacramento?

Healing Politics is a non-partisan non-profit educational organization with a mission to inspire and train nurses and midwives to run for elected office up and down the ballot. While only a small percentage of nurses will choose to run, all nurses can be civically engaged and fostering that engagement across the professions is central to our work.

We advance our mission through speaking engagements, a monthly newsletter, and regular online education events. We partner with other non-partisan groups like Vot-ER to encourage nurses to vote and to help ensure that patients are registered to vote.

Our signature program is the Campaign School for Nurses & Midwives, now in its 4th year. This summer’s school runs from July 30th to August 2nd at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy in Durham, NC, and there are just a few seats remaining.

For those intrigued by the possibility of running for office but not sure where to start or what questions to ask, we host a 90-minute online event, “So, you’re thinking of running for office?” We’ll walk you through the essential questions every potential candidate should be asking and connect you with curated resources to guide your next steps. The next session is Thursday, May 7th from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Eastern, and we’ll be joined by Texas State Senator Molly Cook, an ER nurse and one of the youngest members of the Texas legislature.

Your work in health policy is important, but political engagement is what turns good policy into law.

When nurses hesitate to engage politically, we point to our Code of Ethics. Provision 9 states that, “Nurses and their professional organizations work to enact and resource practices, policies and legislation to promote social justice, eliminate health inequities, and facilitate human flourishing.” And it emphasizes that nurses have a role at every level of the democratic process.

Whether it’s registering voters, serving as a poll worker, volunteering on a campaign, or running for office yourself, there are many ways nurses can - and should – engage politically. We hope you will sign up for our newsletter, attend our monthly events, and be a part of this growing community!

About the author:

Lisa Summers, MSN, DrPH, FACNM, is the Co-Founder and CEO, Healing Politics

Healing Politics is an educational, non-partisan, non-profit 501(c)3 organization. They are on a mission to inspire, motivate, recruit, & train nurses & midwives to run for elected office up & down the ballot while building a culture of civic engagement within the professions.

During a recent presentation to hospital leadership, I was asked about “the possibility of Artificial Intelligence (AI) replacing nurse practitioners.” I paused before responding to consider all the recent articles, opinion pieces, and conference presentations discussing similar concepts in healthcare.

An AI tool at Stanford University was developed to read and diagnose chest x-rays more accurately than experts (Kubota, 2017). Almost 10 years later, this tool’s (CheXNet) latest iteration matches or outperforms radiologists on 11 of 14 pathologies.

Nursing has been using AI-based tools for several years; the latest help with staffing assessment based on patient acuity (Othman et al., 2025), end-of-shift reports (Bruce, 2024), and now patient education (Gamble, 2026). While ambulatory care has embraced AI scribe support, the solution for acute and home-health nursing has struggled to catch on, and across all corners of healthcare, concerns have been raised about the accuracy and reliability (Razaghi et al., 2026).

Nurse leaders must be a part of discussions and decisions surrounding the use of AI in their organizations (Ronquillo et al., 2021). This is because “Nurses in all roles are accountable for decisions made and actions taken in the course of nursing practice. Systems and technologies that assist in clinical practice are adjunct to, not replacements for, the nurse’s knowledge and skill” (ANA, 2015, p. 15). The nurse-patient relationship extends to ensuring that any AI used in clinical practice is appropriate, unbiased, and protected.

Nurse leaders can stay ahead of practice changes using these key points (Carroll, 2023):

• Identify and define the best use cases, scope, and objectives for implementing the new technology.
• Ensure policies, procedures, and protocols for AI use are in place so roles and responsibilities are clear and follow the organization's clinical and technology use guidelines.
• Provide patients, caregivers, and clinicians with content protecting health information or other sensitive patient or clinician information in documentation and supportive resources.
• Frequently evaluate (and educate your nursing team) whether your organization’s automated outputs are from recent, reputable sources, including news stories, blogs, social media posts, and health literature.

My response to the question was no, I do not see a future where patient care is separated from nurses, from the bedside to the clinic. AI is a powerful tool, one we have been waiting for as digital care overwhelms us with massive amounts of data, and it will never replace the human sitting in front of the patient. AI must be used to support the excellent care we provide by covering tasks that can be safely automated, freeing us to spend more time on patient-facing, high-quality care.

We have a responsibility to ensure our teams learn about the AI they are using so they can become competent users and consumers of the tools. AI literacy through ongoing education is the first step in ensuring healthcare workers remain engaged and in control of their work as it shifts. Our ongoing education must include the AI modalities we are using now, and staff must participate in helping assess new tools before implementation. Staff bring unique perspectives from their interactions with patients, families, and the environment in which AI tools are used.

Nursing leaders have a responsibility to uphold the ethical use of AI in clinical care and to participate in discussions about its ethical use, while monitoring for biases that could emerge from the lack of human oversight. Ensure that nursing has a place at the table in policy development and oversight so innovative AI tools are thoughtfully deployed within your organization, while remaining safe for patient care.

Finally, remain active in professional organizations that offer learning opportunities. Being “informed to intelligently engage” is a key tenet of the ACNL Health Policy committee because it is essential for nurse leaders to stay abreast and take action on key legislation affecting healthcare.

To explore this more, access these additional resources:

ANA Center for Ethics and Human Rights. (2022, December). The ethical use of artificial intelligence in nursing practice. American Nurses Association.

www.nursingworld.org/globalassets/practiceandpolicy/nursing-excellence/ana-position-statements/the-ethical-use-of-artificial-intelligence-in-nursing-practice_bod-approved-12_20_22.pdf

Carroll, W. M. (2023, October). Generative AI in clinical practice and operations. Nursing Management. https//doi.org/10.1097/nmg.0000000000000056

Chargualaf, K. A., Engle, S. C., Davis, S. B., Bruder, R., Velez, K., Anglade-McCormick, M., & Nichols, M. (2025). Artificial intelligence: What does it mean for medical-surgical nursing practice?. Medsurg Nursing, 34(5), 215-241.https://doi.org/10.62116/MSJ.2025.34.5.215

Doston, T., Fontenot, J., Morris, D., & Hebert, M. (2025). The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Nursing Education: A Scoping Review. Journal of Nursing Education, 64(8), 479–488. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20250313-03 (open access)

Gamble, M. (2026, April 24). Agentic AI arrives for nursing shifts and health system call centers. Becker’s Hospital Review. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/agentic-ai-arrives-for-nursing-shifts-and-health-system-call-centers/

Jeffries, P. R., Russell, R. G., Ivory, C., & Aldrich, K. (2026, March). Nursing’s digital identity: Leveraging unique nurse identifiers and artificial intelligence-based tools to transform hospital nurse staffing models. Nurse Leader, 102700; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2026.102700

Soriano, R. (2026, February). Ambulatory care nursing in the era of artificial intelligence: Balancing innovation with authentic caring. Nursing economic$; 44(1), 47-51. https://doi.org/10.62116/NEC.2026.44.1.47

Submitted by: Dr. Surani Hayre-Kwan, DNP, MBA, FNP-BC, FACHE, FAANP

As part of the Health Policy Committee within the Association of California Nurse Leaders, the Legislative Review & Policy Impact Task Force was formed aiming at systematically monitor, analyze, and prioritize legislation that impacts nursing practice, workforce sustainability, and patient outcomes, while providing timely, actionable insights to inform and engage nurse leaders in advocacy efforts.

Key objectives of this Taskforce include:

• Legislative Surveillance: Systematically monitor and track state and federal legislation impacting nursing practice, workforce, and patient care.
• Policy Analysis & Alignment: Evaluate proposed bills for alignment with ACNL’s mission, vision, and strategic priorities.
• Prioritization of Impactful Legislation: Identify and elevate high-impact bills that influence nursing practice, health equity, and patient outcomes.
• Member Communication & Engagement: Provide timely, clear updates through the Bill Tracker platform to keep members informed and engaged.
• Advocacy Support: Equip nurse leaders with concise, actionable information to support informed advocacy and policy engagement.
• Continuous Improvement: Evaluate the effectiveness of the Bill Tracker process and enhance strategies for communication and impact.

To further support the work of the ACNL Legislative Review & Policy Impact Task Force acquired access to PolicyEngage in 2023 to serve as the foundation for the Legislative Bill Tracker system. The task force, utilizing this platform, developed the ACNL Legislative Tracker to support ongoing monitoring and communication of relevant legislation.

All ACNL members are encouraged to access the Legislative Tracker via the ACNL website under “Nursing Resources,” where they will find up-to-date information on bills currently being monitored by ACNL. Please see the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for help to access the Legislative Tracker on the ACNL website.

The next phase of work includes developing a member distribution directory to enable automated updates and notifications, further strengthening timely communication, and empowering nurse leaders to remain informed and actively engaged in advocacy efforts.

Submitted by: Mojgan Bashiri, DNP, MHA/MSN, RN

The health policy committee is thrilled to offer you this newsletter to educate and engage nurse leaders. My sincere thanks go to the committee members who bring so much to the table.

Dr. Mary Lynne Knighten

Created by Mariah Gillam, BA - ACNL Project Coordinator

Email: info@acnl.org
Website: https://www.acnl.org/
Location: 180 Promenade Circle suite 300, Sacramento, CA 95834, USA
Phone: 916-779-6949