Origins of the Nurses Culture of Health Alliance

Nurses with an interest in health and healthcare reform first met in-person at the College of Nursing on the University of Massachusetts campus in Amherst. Three nurse educators; a school nurse; an APRN in gerontology and a public health nurse attended. Discussion focused on short-comings of the Massachusetts healthcare law and how to draw attention to the absence of incentives and rewards for living a healthy life. In fact the absence of health as an organizing concept in the law. A suggestion by the public health nurse to contact someone from the Massachusetts Association of Public Health Nurses (MAPHN) led Vanetzian, convenor of the meeting, to access the MAPHN website along with access to the Robert Wood Johnson (RWJF) National Culture of Health Initiative. This, and recommendations of the Future of Nursing Report (IOM, RWJF, AARP) greatly influenced future thinking and ideas considered by the Interest Group.