Asking and Advocating for What Nurses Need (Free National Nurses Month 2023 Webinar)

Mensik Kennedy is currently an assistant professor at the Oregon Health and Science University School of Nursing in Portland Oregon. Mensik Kennedy is a sought-after presenter and prolific author. Her books include Lead, Drive, and Thrive in the System and The Nurse Managers Guide to Innovative Staffing 2^nd ed. She co-authored Lead like a Nurse, A Nurse’s Step-By-Step Guide to Transitioning to the Professional Nurse Role and The Power of Ten (Second Edition) and contributed a chapter to the book The Career Handoff: A Healthcare Leader’s Guide to Knowledge & Wisdom Transfer across Generations.

Mensik Kennedy has held numerous high-profile leadership positions within the nursing profession. She served as President of the Arizona Nurses Association 2007-2010. Nationally, Mensik Kennedy has served as Treasurer, Second Vice President, and Director-at-Large on the American Nurses Association board of directors. Additionally, she held the role of governor of nursing practice for the Western Institute of Nursing in 2010-2014.

Mensik Kennedy earned a PhD from the University of Arizona College of Nursing with a focus on health systems and a minor in public administration from the Eller College of Management. Mensik Kennedy's MBA degree is from the University of Phoenix, while her BSN degree is from Washington State University. She also holds an ADN degree from Wenatchee Valley College-North. Mensik Kennedy was inducted as a fellow to the American Academy of Nursing in 2014.

Amy K. McCarthy, DNP, RNC-MNN, NE-BC currently serves as the Director of Nursing of Women’s, Infants and Oncology at Texas Health HEB. She recently completed her DNP at The George Washington University, focusing her doctoral work on the impact of nurses’ self-efficacy on their motivation to pursue board of director positions. McCarthy believes in the importance of using transformational, heart-led leadership to inspire and empower nurses to build cultures of wellness and innovation within their workspace.

Over the past nine years, McCarthy has had the opportunity to work collaboratively with state and national leaders on strategies to accomplish nursing initiatives, which continuously inspires and invigorates her efforts to improve outcomes for the public and employees she serves at the bedside and in leadership. She currently serves as President of The Dallas Fort Worth Great 100 Nurses, is a Director on the Texas Nurses Foundation board, and began her term as Director-at-Large for the American Nurses Association (ANA) in January 2022. McCarthy previously served as Secretary of the Texas Nurses Association, as well as an appointed member of the ANA Nursing Practice Standards Committee.

Additionally, she served as the Texas Action Coalition representative to the Nurses on Boards Coalition. In this role, she helped to co-chair the communications workgroup and assisted in making recommendations concerning the communication and public relations needs of the organization to ensure that coalition goals were met. McCarthy has also worked with the National League of Nursing, serving on the advisory board of the Accelerating to Practice program, assisting in the creation of a new curriculum and residency program that focuses on a new graduate’s entry into the workforce.

McCarthy holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Biology from Southern Methodist University, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and Masters of Science in Nursing Administration from the University of Texas in Arlington. She also holds a Nurse Executive certification, as well as a certification in Maternal - Newborn Nursing.

Dr. Ahnyel Burkes is the interim Executive Director of the Louisiana State Nurses Association and Louisiana Nurses Foundation. She is a nurse entrepreneur and serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Culture of Care LLC. She is an Adjunct Nursing Faculty at Louisiana State University. She has served in numerous nursing leadership roles ranging from local, statewide, and national. Dr. Burkes received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Dillard University, a Master of Science in Nursing with a Healthcare Systems Management concentration from Loyola University in New Orleans, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice with a Nurse Executive Leadership concentration from Chamberlain University. Dr. Burkes is certified in Medical-Surgical Nursing and as an Advanced Nurse Executive.

In her previous role as the Director of Health Policy and Advocacy for the Louisiana State Nurses Association she led the association’s legislative agenda. Dr. Burkes is the chair of the Louisiana Nursing Supply and Demand Council and Chair of the Louisiana Healthcare Workplace Violence Task Force. One of her most notable contributions was spearheading Louisiana first Workplace Violence Law in 2022. Dr. Burkes completed the American Nurses Advocacy Institute in 2022. She is passionate about Health Policy and has served on various governmental boards, committees and taskforces focused on the healthcare workforce, healthy healthcare work environments and nursing practice.

Dr. Burkes has received numerous awards. She was inducted into the Louisiana Great 100 Nurses in 2018 and selected as a City Business 2021 Health Care Hero. In addition, she was awarded the Louisiana State Nightingale Registered Nurse of the Year Award in 2018, the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s 2019 Certified Nurse Award in Medical Surgical Nursing and the New Orleans District Nurses Association’s Legacy award in 2022. In 2021 she was recognized by Ochsner Health for Outstanding Community Achievement by a Nurse. She was recognized as a 40 under 40 honoree at her alma mater, Dillard University and recognized as the National inaugural 2022 Chamberlain University Emerging Caregiver. Dr. Burkes was listed on the 2022 Becker’s Hospital Review 75 Black Healthcare Leaders to Know.Dr. Burkes is a member of the American Nurse Association (Louisiana Nurses Association) and serves on the National Committee for Nursing Practice Standards. She is also a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, and the National Black Nurses Association.