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Policy Impact
 2025-2026 Policy Priorities to Advance Health Equity
119th Congress
Increase Accessibility to All Forms of Health Care  Artificial Intelligence
As part of the 2025-2026 Policy Priorities to Achieve Health Equity, the American Academy of Nursing is committed to modernizing and innovating the health care system. The Academy supports evidence-informed policies that adopt modernizations in technologies, treatments, and models of care that are sustainable, reduce burden, and are effective over time. Innovation in the health care industry, including emerging practices and complex technologies, such as artificial intelligence, must be tested before they are advanced to protect patients, providers, and systems. View Academy Actions Research and Science
As part of the 2025-2026 Policy Priorities to Achieve Health Equity , the American Academy of Nursing believes that to truly improve the health of all people, policies must advance evidence-informed solutions that ensure everyone has access to critical resources and high-quality health care. The Academy supports evidence-informed policies that adopt modernizations in technologies, treatments, and models of care that are sustainable, reduce burden, and are effective over time. The Academy supports increased investments in research and scientific careers. View Academy Actions Supporting Access and Funding to Medicaid
The American Academy of Nursing strongly recommends Congress avoid federal spending cuts to this vital program and take action to protect essential funding. Reductions in coverage are harmful to health and people will lose access
to care. Maintaining and promoting Medicaid coverage is essential to ensure that populations receive health care that meets their needs. Policy Work
Position Statements
Policy positions taken by the American Academy of Nursing Learn MorePolicy Actions
Letters to the Administration and Congress, Amici Briefs, and Federal Comments Learn MoreExpert Panel Publications
Recent publications in Nursing Outlook, published by the Expert Panels Learn MoreMeeting's Proceedings
Summaries of the Policy Dialogues, hosted by the Expert Panels. Learn More2025-2026 Policy Dialogue Series
Policy Dialogues are hosted by the Academy's Expert Panels to lead engaging discussions to further enhance awareness and develop policy proposals that work to achieve the Academy's vision of healthy lives for all people. May 22, 2025Nurses United in Disaster Response: Advancing Public Health Nursing Leadership for Climate-Ready CommunitiesThis policy dialogue will focus on the critical role of nurses and public health nurse leaders in responding to climate change driven natural disasters and other public health emergencies. The Environmental and Public Health Expert Panel will collaborate the Child, Adolescent, and Family; Emerging Infectious Diseases; and Psychiatric, Mental Health and Substance Use Expert Panels on this policy dialogue.
September 10, 2025Shifting the Future: Policy and Research Updates on Suicide in the Nursing Profession
This policy dialogue will discuss the growing nurse suicide crisis and the lack of adequate research, evidence, and policies to support the continued aim for healthier work environments and increased wellbeing among the nursing workforce. The Building Health Care System Excellence Expert Panel will partner with the Psychiatric, Mental Health, and Substance Use as well as the Acute and Critical Care Expert Panels on this dialogue.
December 10, 2025Policy Imperatives for Advancing Virtual Care
This policy dialogue will be a continuation from the 2024 policy dialogue on virtual nursing. While the prior dialogue focused on understanding the current state of virtual nursing, the second dialogue in the series will further explore the challenges and policy implications of this rapidly evolving model of care delivery. The Building Health Care System Excellence Expert Panel will partner with the Informatics & Technology Expert Panel on this dialogue.
February 3, 2026Ageism: Removing Stereotypes through a Geroscience LensThis policy dialogue proposal focuses on understanding ageism, age-related disease, and nursing’s role in healthy aging using multidisciplinary and multidimensional approaches to explore the innovative perspectives and policies from the growing field of Geroscience. The Aging Expert Panel will collaborate with the Genomic Nursing and Health Care as well as the Health Behavior Expert Panels for this dialogue.
Policy Programs and Initiatives
American Academy of Nursing Fellow at NAM
The American Academy of Nursing’s (AAN) National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Fellowship program provides talented scholars in nursing with the opportunity to experience and participate in evidence-based public health studies that improve the care and access to care of patients in domestic and global health care systems. NAM is one of three Congressionally chartered academies that make up the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, “that works to provide objective advice on matters of science, technology, and health.” Have You Ever Served in the Military?
Managed and designed by the American Academy of Nursing, Have You Ever Served in the Military? is an initiative to improve the health of Veterans. Have You Ever Served in the Military? encourages healthcare providers to ask about and document their patients’ military background. Nurses and other healthcare providers are given information to assist in identifying the most common health concerns linked to military service, as well as questions the provider should ask the Veteran or his or her family member in order to obtain a more complete military medical history. Expert Panels
Expert panels are one of the major forces within the Academy for developing new knowledge, promoting collaboration, and shaping policy. Fellows leverage their expertise in developing outcomes that provide the critical knowledge, and analysis, summary, and integration for transforming health policy and practice. The Expert Panels advance evidence-based innovations in health care delivery to address the health needs of populations, including diverse, at-risk, and disenfranchised populations. These may take the form of policy proposals, testimony, manuscripts, policy briefs, recommendations, advocacy papers, position statements, and research agendas. The primary goals of this work are to:
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