Fellowship in Health Policy and Media

Applications are now open! Deadline is March 17th, 2023. 

The Fellowship in Health Policy and Media has two aims: 1. To increase the health policy knowledge, skills and scholarship of Fellows and 2. To increase the visibility of nurses in the media by improving the skills of healthcare professionals, researchers, and journalists in disseminating their expertise. 

The Fellowship is a year-long (07/01/2023-06/30/2024), non-residential, unpaid program. Each Fellow is paired with a GW Nursing faculty mentor with similar areas of scholarship and, in collaboration with their mentor, Fellows design their own projects. 

 Fellowship Application Information

Overview

The application cycle for the 2023-2024 Fellows are now open!

Applications are invited from individuals with a record of accomplishment in education, practice, research, leadership, and policy and a demonstrated interest in health policy and/or media. Each Fellow develops and implements a project focusing on a specific policy and/or media area relevant to nursing / healthcare. Suggested areas of scholarship are proposed below.

This unpaid, non-residential Fellowship is one year in length (July 1 - June 30) but may be extended for up to one additional year. Conditions permitting, fellows may be encouraged travel to Washington, D.C. at least once during the year to meet with Center faculty and staff. Other work is conducted through distance technology. Fellows work with their faculty mentor to identify deliverables and participate in Center activities.

Fellows are provided with:

  • Mentorship with a Center faculty member
  • Opportunities to network 
  • Opportunity to expand knowledge of a specified area of health policy with the support of GW faculty expertise
  • Development of expertise in integrating policy and media
  • Continuing education opportunities, including participation in Center sponsored webinars and conferences
  • Ability to audit Advisory Board meetings 
  • Access to library resources
  • Courtesy appointment as a Senior Research Service Professor
Who Can Apply

The Fellowship is open to healthcare professionals (e.g., nurses, social workers, pharmacists, dentists, psychologists, physicians, public health professionals), journalists, media professionals, policy analysts and researchers. Applicants should demonstrate an interest in and commitment to health, healthcare, and influencing health policy and media at the international, federal, state or local levels.

Suggested Areas of Scholarship
  • Alzheimer's disease / dementia: epidemiology, disparities, prevention
  • Behavioral and mental health
  • Care delivery innovation: role of nursing
  • Gerontology
  • Health equity for racial, ethnic, sexual/gender minorities
  • Inter-professional education
  • Loneliness and isolation
  • Maternal / child health
  • Media and policy: media competencies, strategic communication, elevating the voice of nurses
  • Patient and family engagement
  • Primary care
  • Regulatory issues
  • Scope of practice
  • Simulation
  • Tobacco cessation
  • Vaccine policy
Application Requirements

To be considered for this Fellowship, please complete the online application below. Be prepared to submit the following:

A current Curriculum Vitae and a Statement of Purpose of no more than two pages, outlining:

  • Professional background/policy-related and/or media experience
  • Interest in the Fellowship
  • Scholarship topic of interest (preferably related to one of the suggested topics above)
  • An proposal for a project to be completed during the Fellowship

Deadline to submit is March 17th, 2023. 

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    2022-2023 Fellows

    • Lisa Beasley
    • Kristin Ferguson
    • Hildegart Gonzalez
    • Kasey Jordan
    • Danielle Altares Sarik

    2021-2022 Fellows and Accomplishments

    Lisa Beasley, NDP, APRN, NP-C, RN

    Mentor: Melissa Batchelor

    Project topic overview:

    • Create a podcast
    Outcomes:
    • That’s Healthful Podcast
      • Target audience – providers & general public
      • 60+ fully produced episodes, tracking with metrics for success
      • Promotion with social media, utilize graphic design
      • Soliciting funding
      • Had other fellows / mentors as guest speakers
      • Use of social media for promotion:
        • Facebook: www.facebook.com/thatshealthful
        • Twitter: @nowhealthful
        • Instagram: @thatshealthful
    Kristen Choi, PhD, MS, RN​

    Mentor: Tony Roberson

    Project topic overview:

    • Lessons on leveraging media for mental health policy advocacy
    • Policy to increase access to mental health care / telehealth expansion
    Outcomes:
    Brittany DiNatale RN, BSN​

    Mentor: Karen Drenkard

    Project topic overview:

    • Workplace violence against nurses
    Outcomes:
    • American Nurse publication, “Workplace violence: What Can Nurses Do?”
    • ANA End Nurse Abuse Campaign – nurse stakeholder on steering committee
    • That’s Healthful podcast guest
    • Creation of “What Can I Do” resource providing actionable steps for nurses to combat workplace violence
    Hildegart Gonzalez, PhD

    Mentor: Ric Ricciardi

    Project topic overviews and outcomes:

    1. The journalistic narrative and the nursing narrative around nursing in the media and on social networks
    2. The nursing sector in media and Social Media: knowledge, uses, expectations, attitudes, risks and opportunities. Nurses’ mass media and social media communications competencies development
    3. Political and decision-making competence in nurses
      • Interprofessional team received Nursing Management Research award in Spain given by national association of nursing managers
      • Systematic review to identify what scientific evidence exists on the training nurses receive for participation and political decision making
    Kasey Jordan, RN, PhD

    Mentor: Joyce Pulcini

    Project topic overview:

    • School nurse innovation leadership during the COVID-19 response and how school nurse leadership uses media
    Outcomes
    Naila Russell, DNP, CRNP​
    Danielle Altares Sarik, PhD, APRN, CPNP-PC​

    Mentor: Ashley Darcy-Mahoney

    Project topic overview:

    • Using media to emphasize the role of innovative nurse-led interventions in addressing barriers to care in pediatrics
    Outcomes:

    Fellowship sponsored webinar series

    Perspectives on Policy: Writing Op-Eds, Blogs, and Commentaries

    Date: March 24, 2022 - 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
    Presenter: Diana Mason, GW Nursing

    View Recording

    Disseminating The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 Report: Strategies and Challenges

    Date: January 26, 2022 - 1 p.m. - 2 p.m.
    Presenter: Ashley Darcy-Mahoney, GW Nursing

    View Recording

    Using Social Media to Influence Policy

    Date: Wed, October 20, 2021 - 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
    Presenter: Melissa Batchelor, GW Nursing

    View Recording

    About The Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement

    The Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement at The George Washington University School of Nursing is committed to…

    • Increasing the visibility of nurses across health care disciplines to educate the public about their expertise, perspectives and work.
    • Educating nurses, allied health professionals, and students in health policy and media.
    • Using research and scholarship to inform policy discussions and solutions.
    • Designing curricula, experiences and mentorships that support nurses and allied health professionals as leaders in advancing the health of populations and policies that improve delivery systems for high-quality care.
    • Increasing knowledge and skills of nurses and allied health professionals in using the media to disseminate research and informed perspectives that will shape health policy.
    • Engaging the public in discussions of health policy with nurses, allied health professionals and journalists.

    Mission and Goals

    Questions? Email [email protected]