A Message from WIN's President - August 2026

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

“This Never Should Have Happened.”

That is the theme of this month’s President’s Message.

Why?

When it was first announced that I would become the next President of the Western Institute of Nursing—having run unopposed for the position—someone responded to the news not with “Congratulations,” but with these words:

“This never should have happened.”

Those words have stayed with me.

I understood at least part of what was meant. This individual believed that every election should have at least two candidates for each position. Certainly, having multiple candidates willing to serve and lead is an admirable goal for any organization. But the comment also made me think about something much bigger: Who steps forward to lead? Who gets encouraged to lead? And who can see themselves reflected in the leadership of our organization?

So, I want to turn those words into a challenge for each of you.

Consider becoming more actively involved in WIN. Submit an abstract for our conference. Mentor a fellow member. Join a committee or one of our growing Special Interest Groups (SIGs). And yes—consider running for a position on the WIN Board of Directors.

That is how my own journey began. My involvement with WIN started during my graduate and doctoral studies, and over the years, this organization became an important part of my professional home.

But I would be less than candid if I did not acknowledge another reason those words have remained with me.

Part of me wondered whether “this never should have happened” meant that someone like me should never have become President of WIN.

Someone who is Black.
Someone who is male.
Someone who is queer.
Someone who is an associate professor.
Someone whose career has been built at a teaching university.

I cannot know everything that was behind those words. But I do know why they resonated so deeply: there remain far too few people with backgrounds like mine in positions of leadership—not only within nursing organizations, but across our profession.

And that is precisely why this moment matters.

One of the things I have always loved most about WIN is that I have felt at home here. I have found colleagues who welcomed my LGBTQ+ research. I have had opportunities to contribute meaningfully to our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. And I have witnessed WIN intentionally create space where people from many different backgrounds, identities, institutions, and career paths can find mentorship, professional support, community—and opportunities to lead.

That includes serving on our Board of Directors.

And, yes, it includes becoming President.

As we approach WIN’s 60th Anniversary Conference, April 6–9, 2027, in Bellevue, Washington, I find myself thinking not only about the remarkable history we will celebrate, but also about the organization we want WIN to become over the next 60 years.

I want our members to look at WIN’s leadership and see possibility.

I want graduate students and emerging scholars to see a pathway for themselves. I want colleagues from institutions that may not traditionally be viewed as research powerhouses to know their scholarship and leadership matter. I want people who have historically been underrepresented in nursing leadership to know that there is a place for them at the table.

And I want all our members to know that WIN belongs to all of us.

So, I have come to a very different conclusion about those words that were spoken to me.

Yes, this should have happened.

Perhaps it was even long overdue.

And my greatest hope is that my presidency will not be viewed simply as a historic “first,” but as one more step toward a WIN in which increasingly diverse leadership is no longer remarkable—it is simply who we are.

I hope that someone reading this message will think, “Maybe I could do that, too.”

My answer is simple:

Yes, you can.

And I hope you will.

I’ll see you in Bellevue.

NINR LISTENING SESSION: Shaping the Future of Nursing Science Together

In partnership with the Midwest Nursing Research Society (MNRS), Southern Nursing Research Society (SNRS), and Eastern Nursing Research Society (ENRS), WIN invites you to participate in an interactive listening session with the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) to help shape the future of nursing science.

This special session will give postdoctoral fellows and early-stage investigators an opportunity to help inform NINR’s next strategic plan by sharing their perspectives on emerging scientific opportunities, pressing health challenges, and research priorities that can advance nursing science and improve health.

The response has already been tremendous—more than 300 people have registered! This level of interest speaks to the importance of creating opportunities for the next generation of nurse scientists to have their voices heard and to participate in conversations that will help shape the future of our discipline.

Please join us on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

I am looking forward to seeing so many of you there—and, most importantly, hearing what you have to say.

Your voice matters. The future of nursing science is ours to shape together.

WILL NURSING NO LONGER BE CONSIDERED A “PROFESSIONAL DEGREE”?

In closing, here is something for which I can unequivocally say: this never should have happened.

How did nursing—the profession Americans have consistently placed at or near the very top for honesty and ethical standards—find itself having to defend whether advanced nursing education should qualify as a “professional degree” under federal student loan policy?

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Education issued a final rule that excluded post-baccalaureate nursing programs from its definition of professional degree programs for purposes of the new federal student loan limits. Under that rule, graduate students would generally have been limited to $20,500 annually and $100,000 in aggregate federal borrowing, compared with $50,000 annually and $200,000 in aggregate borrowing for students enrolled in programs designated as professional degrees.

Let me be clear: the Department has stated that this regulatory designation is not intended to suggest that nurses themselves are not professionals. Nevertheless, the potential consequences for graduate nursing education are very real.

At a time when our nation needs more advanced practice nurses, nurse scientists, nursing faculty, and nursing leaders, creating additional financial barriers to graduate education raises serious concerns about who will be able to pursue these degrees—and ultimately about the future nursing workforce.

Fortunately, nursing did not remain silent.

National nursing organizations and other healthcare and higher education groups challenged the rule in court, while nursing organizations, policymakers, educators, and advocates mobilized across the country. Following a federal court ruling that stayed implementation of the Department’s narrowed professional-degree definition, the Department issued an interim list that now recognizes MSN, DNP, and DNAP programs as professional degree programs for purposes of the higher federal loan limits while the litigation continues.

That is important progress.

But our work is not finished. Notably, the PhD in nursing is not currently included in that interim designation—an especially troubling omission for organizations like WIN whose very mission depends upon developing the next generation of nurse scientists, researchers, educators, and scholars.

So perhaps there is another lesson here.

Our voices matter. Our professional organizations matter. Advocacy matters.

The future of nursing science cannot be taken for granted. Whether we are advocating for research funding, graduate education, health equity, the development of our scientific workforce, or recognition of the essential contributions nurses make to the health of our communities, we must be willing to speak up.

Nursing is a profession.

Nursing science matters.

And ensuring that future generations have equitable opportunities to become advanced practice nurses, nurse educators, and nurse scientists should matter to all of us.

This never should have happened.

But when challenges like this do happen, WIN and the broader nursing community must be prepared to stand together, speak with a collective voice, and advocate for the future of our profession.

Austin Nation, PhD, RN, PHN, NE-BC
President, Western Institute of Nursing