Nurses responded to the COVID-19 pandemic during uncertain circumstances of disease severity and transmission. Many hospitals were unable to supply proper PPE and normal standards for infection protocols changed based on availability of supplies and not on evidence. Some nurses who secured their own PPE were told not to use them or were penalized and some nurses were fired for speaking out about unsafe conditions as their colleagues became ill. In this webinar, an ethicist and an attorney will explore nurses’ legal and ethical obligations in the face of workplace safety conditions while in the midst of a public health emergency.

This webinar will cover:

  • the limitations of charitable and sovereign immunity and the elements required for Good Samaritan immunity to apply
  • the elements required for a patient abandonment charge & what nurses can do to avoid a charge of employer abandonment
  • the relationship between nursing and society and liberty v social responsibility
  • nurses’ obligation to incur risk v society’s duty to protect nurse
  • the importance of recognizing moral distress
Maureen "Shawn" Kennedy, MA, RN, FAAN 

Editor-in-Chief, American Journal of Nursing

Host


Maureen "Shawn" Kennedy, MA, RN, FAAN is the Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Nursing. As Editor-in-Chief, she’s led award-winning projects and series that have increased nurses’ awareness of important professional and social justice issues, enhanced curriculum, and provided evidence for policy change. Her work in advancing standards for nursing publications was recognized in 2016 by the International Academy of Nursing Editors with the Margaret Comerford Freda Award for Editorial Leadership and in 2017, she was awarded The Nightingale Initiative for Global Health Advocacy in Action Award for excellence in promoting nursing scholarship. Author of several book chapters and numerous articles in AJN and other journals, she’s an “author-in-residence” for Nurse Author and Editor, an online journal. Her editorials in AJN have received six Clarion awards from the Association of Women in Communications.

Kenya V. Beard, EdD, AGACNP-BC, CNE, ANEF, FAAN

Dean of Nursing and Health Sciences, Nassau Community College

Moderator


Kenya V. Beard, EdD, AGACNP-BC, CNE, ANEF, FAAN, is the Dean of Nursing and Health Sciences at Nassau Community College, part of the State University of New York system. As a 2012 Macy Faculty Scholar, she founded the Center for Multicultural Education and Health Disparities and propagated research and best practices to advance the needle on diversity, inclusion, and health equity. In her former role as Senior Fellow at the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement at George Washington University School of Nursing, she wrote blogs and co-produced health care disparity segments for the Center’s radio program, HealthCetera, on WBAI-FM for an audience of over 400,000 diverse listeners. Dr. Beard is a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, the New York Academy of Medicine and the Academy of Nursing Education. She is Chair of the American Academy of Nursing’s Diversity and Inclusivity Committee. Her work has earned her numerous awards and honors.

Virginia W. Adams, PhD, RN, FAAN
Nurse Education Program Consultant
Co-chair, Diversity & Inclusivity Committee, American Academy of Nursing
Vice Chair, New Hanover County Health and Human Services Board

Virginia W. Adams, PhD, RN, FAAN, is Co-chair, Diversity & Inclusivity Committee, American Academy of Nursing, and Vice Chair, New Hanover County Health and Human Services Board. Currently a Nurse Education Program Consultant, she was Dean and Professor, School of Nursing, UNC Wilmington, among other academic posts. She was the inaugural chair of the Core Steering Group of the International Council of Nurses Education Network (ICNEN). She also served as the first director of the inaugural National League for Nursing Center for Diversity and Global Initiatives, which developed a toolkit to increase diversity in nursing education programs. Her work as an educator and community health advocate has been recognized from local organizations to international associations.

Maureen "Shawn" Kennedy, MA, RN, FAAN
Editor-in-Chief, American Journal of Nursing
Host

Maureen Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, FAAN, is Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Nursing. Prior positions include adjunct faculty, nursing administration, a clinical specialist in acute adult care and emergency nursing. As editor-in-chief, she’s led award-winning projects and series that have addressed important professional issues, enhanced curriculum, and provided evidence for policy change. Her editorial work was recognized in 2016 by the International Academy of Nursing Editors with the Margaret Comerford Freda Award for Editorial Leadership, and in 2017 she was awarded The Nightingale Initiative for Global Health Advocacy in Action Award for excellence in promoting nursing scholarship. Author of several book chapters and numerous articles in AJN and other journals, she’s an “author-in-residence” for Nurse Author and Editor, an online journal. Her editorials in AJN have received six Clarion awards from the Association of Women in Communications.

Edie Brous, Esq
Nurse Attorney, New York City 

Edie Brous, Esq. is a nurse attorney in private practice in New York City, where she concentrates on professional licensure representation, medical malpractice defense, and nursing advocacy. She has practiced in major litigation law firms representing nurses, physicians, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. Ms. Brous is admitted to practice before the bars of the state courts of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York Federal Courts and the United States Supreme Court. She is a member of many bar associations and nursing organizations and was the 2011 president of The American Association of Nurse Attorneys. As a nurse, Ms. Brous has a clinical and managerial background in surgical, emergency and critical care nursing. In addition to her law degree, she holds master’s degrees in Public Health and in critical care nursing from Columbia University. She has been part time faculty at Columbia University, and has held adjunct faculty positions at several universities teaching legal aspects of nursing. Ms. Brous has lectured and published extensively on legal issues for nurses and co-authored the textbook Law and Ethics for Advanced Practice Nurses. She is the 2008 recipient of the Outstanding Advocate Award and the 2017 Outstanding Litigation Member Award from The American Association of Nurse Attorneys. She is the contributing editor for AJN’s legal column.
Douglas P. Olsen, PhD, RN
Associate Professor, Michigan State University College of Nursing & College of Human Medicine

Douglas P. Olsen, PhD, RN, is Associate Professor, Michigan State University College of Nursing & College of Human Medicine. Prior to that, he was at the VA’s National Center for Ethics in Health Care. At the VA, he was a member of the national ethics consultation team, staff to the National Ethics Committee, and ethics advisor to VA’s Central IRB. Prior to the VA, he taught health care ethics and psychiatric nursing for 13 years in Yale University’s graduate program and chaired the nursing school’s IRB for over 10 years. He is a board member and former Associate Editor of Nursing Ethics and contributing editor for ethics at the American Journal of Nursing. He has taught ethics in Russia, Japan, Turkey, Lebanon and Hong Kong. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles on nursing ethics. He is the contributing editor for AJN’s ethics column.


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