2025 Nursing Conference Grant Winning Essays

The questions for this year’s application cycle were as follows: 

1. Please describe how you will share what you learn at this conference with colleagues. 

2. How will you incorporate what you learn from this educational offering into your practice? 

3. How will this conference advance your long-term career goals (beyond the attainment of continuing education hour requirements)? 

 

Essays were lightly edited for grammar, flow, and readability.  

 

Josephine Agyei

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Essay 1:  The Ghanaian Diaspora Nursing Alliance Annual Conference presents a vital opportunity not only for personal and professional enrichment but also for collective advancement across the networks I serve. The insights I gain from this experience will not remain isolated to my own development. I am deeply committed to ensuring that the knowledge acquired is shared across clinical, academic, and professional arenas in a way that promotes collaboration, innovation, and meaningful change. At Mount Sinai Hospital, where I serve as a Magnet Champion and a member of the Cardiac Surgery/ Cardiovascular Unit-Based Council, I will take an active role in facilitating a post-conference knowledge-sharing session with my colleagues. I plan to collaborate with unit-based council leadership to organize a discussion focused on translating lessons from the Ghanaian healthcare context into our practice environment. This will include reflection on culturally responsive care models, workforce resilience, and innovative practices developed in resource-limited settings that can inform our efforts to improve patient outcomes and staff engagement. As part of our shared governance structure, I will also propose actionable ideas for how we might integrate global nursing insights into ongoing education and quality improvement initiatives within the unit. In addition, I intend to share a written summary of key takeaways with nursing leadership to further support culturally informed, equity-centered approaches to professional development. In my academic role at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, where I serve as an intern at the Center for Global Initiatives, I will assist in planning a webinar for faculty and peers, identifying thematic overlaps between diaspora engagement and global capacity-building. This discussion will serve to inspire other emerging nurse leaders to see the value in cross-cultural collaboration and in honoring the contributions of African nurses in shaping global health systems. Through my national and international leadership roles, I have the privilege and responsibility to amplify the voices and insights of frontline nurses on broader platforms. As Director-at-Large (Staff Nurse) on the American Nurses Association Board of Directors, I will contribute to ANA discussions on workforce development, global nursing partnerships, and culturally inclusive policy frameworks, using what I learn from the conference to inform recommendations that affect nurses across the United States. I am equally dedicated to ensuring that the conference?s impact reaches the next generation of global nurse leaders. In my role as the inaugural Chair of the International Council of Nurses Alliance of Student and Early Career Nurses, I will share key themes and case examples with our global representatives. These lessons will be woven into our upcoming strategic priorities, particularly in areas related to leadership development, diaspora engagement, and early-career nurse empowerment. Through these efforts, I aim to ensure that the insights and strategies gathered from the Ghanaian Diaspora Nursing Alliance Annual Conference are translated into action, shared with integrity, and embedded into the fabric of my professional communities. The conference will not be a singular event but a catalyst for ongoing education, reflection, and global nursing solidarity.

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Essay 2: Attending the Ghanaian Diaspora Nursing Alliance Annual Conference will profoundly enhance both my clinical practice and leadership development, offering a unique opportunity to align my identity, expertise, and purpose with the broader mission of transforming African healthcare. As a critical care nurse in the Cardiac Surgery and Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, I care for patients recovering from high-acuity procedures such as coronary artery bypass grafts, valve replacements, and heart and lung transplants. Many of these patients come from diverse racial, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds, including West African immigrant communities. The knowledge I gain from this conference especially regarding health system challenges, culturally responsive practices, and resource-constrained innovation in Ghana will help me more effectively provide care that is not only clinically sound but also culturally attuned and socially conscious. The conference's emphasis on amplifying the voices of African nurses and reimagining health systems through local and diasporic collaboration will enrich how I understand the intersections of culture, structural inequity, and healing. I plan to incorporate this knowledge into my clinical setting by becoming a stronger advocate for patients whose needs are often shaped by migration history, language barriers, and intergenerational health disparities. I will work with my unit to explore how communication, discharge planning, and patient education can be tailored to better serve patients from African and other global majority communities, especially in critical care environments where trust and clarity are essential. I will also use insights from the conference to support inter-professional discussions around equity in care delivery, helping to integrate lessons from the Ghanaian context into our approach to quality improvement and clinical innovation. Beyond the bedside, this conference will shape how I approach healthcare systems leadership and policy development. As a graduate student pursuing a dual Master of Science in Nursing in Healthcare Organizational Leadership and a Master of Business Administration at Johns Hopkins University, I am preparing for executive-level roles that require a deep understanding of not only business and clinical operations but also cultural competency, stakeholder collaboration, and community engagement. The Ghanaian Diaspora Nursing Alliance Annual ConferenceConference will provide real-world examples of how nurses in Ghana and across the African diaspora are leading change through community-informed, resource-sensitive strategies. These models will directly inform how I develop policy recommendations, lead organizational change, and design leadership pathways for nurses in both U.S. and global contexts. In addition to my academic and professional pursuits, I am in the early stages of launching a nonprofit initiative focused on strengthening emergency response systems in Ghana through Basic Life Support (BLS) training. This initiative aims to equip nurses and midwives across the country with life-saving CPR skills using American Heart Association standards. While the organization is not yet formally established, I am actively researching, planning, and identifying potential partners to help bring this vision to life. Attending the conference will allow me to learn directly from frontline nurses and healthcare leaders in Ghana about the training gaps, infrastructure needs, and cultural considerations that must be addressed for such a program to succeed. These insights will be invaluable in shaping a responsive, community-centered framework for the initiative and ensuring it evolves in collaboration with local stakeholders. Ultimately, the Ghanaian Diaspora Nursing Alliance Annual Conference will serve as a catalyst for action. It will deepen my understanding of how healthcare can be transformed not only through clinical excellence but also through intentional cultural alignment, systems thinking, and grassroots empowerment. Whether at the bedside, in the boardroom, or across borders, I will incorporate what I learn into every level of my practice honoring both my professional responsibility and my personal commitment to uplifting African health systems and nursing leadership on a global scale.

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Essay 3: The Ghanaian Diaspora Nursing Alliance Annual Conference offers a powerful opportunity to advance my professional goals by immersing me in a community of visionary nurse leaders who are actively shaping the future of African healthcare. As someone who is committed to building a career rooted in global health, leadership, and policy, this conference provides the ideal environment to engage with pressing issues affecting the nursing profession on the African continent and within the diaspora. The insights, relationships, and strategies I gain will serve as both inspiration and instruction for the work I am actively pursuing and the path I intend to follow. This conference will support my goal of becoming a transformational leader by offering exposure to nurse-led innovations and grassroots solutions designed specifically for African healthcare systems. These models are often grounded in cultural understanding, community empowerment, and practical resourcefulness, all of which are essential components of sustainable healthcare leadership. Learning from the experiences of nurses in Ghana will allow me to apply new ideas to my own practice and leadership style. Whether through discussions on workforce retention, community-based care, or policy advocacy, the sessions will provide real-world frameworks that I can use to develop culturally responsive strategies and lead with clarity, empathy, and purpose. My goal of pursuing a PhD in health policy with a focus on global health will also be enriched by the conference experience. The opportunity to engage with stakeholders who are driving health policy in Ghana and throughout the diaspora will give me greater insight into how nurses can influence legislative processes and health reforms. This perspective is essential as I prepare to contribute to academic research and policy design that supports equitable healthcare systems. By learning how nurses in African contexts are influencing health priorities, I will be better equipped to advocate for policy solutions that are rooted in lived experience and community needs. The conference will serve as a practical case study in how nurses can lead within systems, not only as clinicians, but as policymakers, educators, and visionaries. The conference also aligns with my role as Director-at-Large on the American Nurses Association Board of Directors. I am committed to representing the voice of staff nurses on a national level and ensuring that the experiences of nurses from diverse backgrounds are reflected in the organization's priorities. Attending this conference will allow me to bring back knowledge that informs ANA's equity and global engagement efforts. It will also strengthen my role as the inaugural Chair of the International Council of Nurses Alliance of Student and Early Career Nurses, where I am responsible for shaping global strategy and supporting leadership development among emerging nurses worldwide. The relationships I form and lessons I learn at this conference will be woven into my work with both organizations, ensuring that the voices of African and diaspora nurses are centered in global leadership conversations. Finally, the conference will support my ongoing work to design a Basic Life Support training initiative for nurses and midwives in Ghana. While this program is still in development, the insights I gain at the conference will help shape a more effective and culturally grounded model. I plan to engage with local stakeholders to understand barriers to training, explore collaborative opportunities, and design a program that is both relevant and sustainable. The conference will help bridge my vision with the realities on the ground and ensure that this future initiative is developed with intention and integrity. This experience will strengthen every aspect of my professional identity as a nurse, a student, a mentor, a policy advocate, and a future global health leader. The Ghanaian Diaspora Nursing Alliance Annual Conference will not only support my goals, it will help me refine them, elevate them, and connect them to a broader collective vision of healthcare transformation. I am honored to take part in this space where cultural pride, clinical excellence, and global solidarity come together to shape a new future for nursing in Africa and across the diaspora.

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