Emergency nurses know creating a sense of belonging is a critical component of compassionate patient care. To help nurses develop those safe spaces, Emergency Nursing 2025 offers a variety of sessions and activities that explore how to remove barriers to make health care more accessible to diverse patient populations.
Getting It Right: Communicating With the Deaf Community | Sept. 18, 5:15-5:45 p.m.
Chelsea Elertson, AAS
The Deaf community faces many daily challenges, including access to health care. Conference attendees will discover resources available to help this vulnerable population in the education session “Getting It Right: Communicating with the Deaf Community.”
Via a certified live interpreter, U.S. Air Force Air National Guard Lt. Col. Barbara McCormick, DNP, RN, CEN, and Wyoming Air National Guard Technical Sgt. Scott Foor, MA, BS, EMT, will talk with Chelsea Elertson, AAS, a Deaf mentor and American Sign Language tutor, about Elertson’s experiences as a patient in the health care system.
“I love to educate the public about how the Deaf community interacts within the nation, especially in medical environments,” she said. “So many medical staff are unaware that I am deaf because deafness is invisible until someone mentions it.”
Attendees will be informed about the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act in relation to Deaf patients and why certified medical interpreters must be used.
Barbara McCormick, DNP, RN, CEN
“Once Deaf people get excellent patient care at a hospital coupled with quality language access, they’ll share the news,” said McCormick. She and Foor previously worked together on a mission to provide no-cost health care in underserved communities across the U.S. and its territories.
DEI Engagement Activity | Sept. 18, 11:15 a.m.-4 p.m. and Sept. 19, 9 a.m.-noon
In the Experience Hall, attendees can reflect on what it means to belong in this year’s interactive diversity, equity and inclusion activity.
Aaron Coats
One side of the booth highlights “What Does Belonging Mean to You?” Participants will see a grid of 25 terms that reflect different elements of belonging — words like respect, collaboration, safety and diversity — and place stickers by the four they feel best represent belonging. “Everyone is different, so people will find different elements important,” said ENA Marketing Specialist Aaron Coats, co-chair for the ENA DEI Employee Resource Group.
The other side of the booth highlights “ENA – Fostering A Culture of Belonging.” Participants will write down a time when someone made them feel like they belonged, or vice versa, and post it on the board. Visitors can also scan a QR code to submit their words online to be added later.
The goal of both activities is to show how ED nurses create safe, welcoming spaces for all. “Seeing these things from their peers can give people a more optimistic outlook and maybe even give people ideas for how they can do that themselves,” said Coats.
The JEDI Games | Sept. 19, 3-3:45 p.m.
Finally, attendees will learn to apply the principles of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion — and win prizes — at the JEDI Games, a game show-style session.
Hershaw Davis Jr., DNP, MBA, RN
The ENA JEDI Advisory Council (formerly known as the DEI Committee) will revive the game show format after getting lots of positive feedback on the Star Wars-themed JEDI Jeopardy at Emergency Nursing 2024 in Las Vegas. “It seemed that this was extremely popular, so we decided to bring something back that could get people engaged,” said JEDI Advisory Council Co-chair Hershaw Davis Jr., DNP, MBA, RN.
The 2025 edition will be themed to Family Feud. “We’ll have the buzzer and the whole nine yards,” said Davis. Attendees will be organized into teams, competing to give the top answers to questions focused on JEDI principles based in research. A reference list will be provided at the end of the session.
“Come with an open mind and the Force will take it from there,” quipped Davis.