HCA and WCN launch video on how nurses can advance health equity in Washington State
The Health Care Authority (HCA) partnered with the Washington Center for Nursing (WCN) to create this health equity video for nurse leaders across our state.
To HCA, health equity means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. This requires removing obstacles to health such as poverty, discrimination, and their consequences, including powerlessness and lack of access to good jobs with fair pay, quality education and housing, safe environments, and health care. Health equity is a core value of HCA.
Our language is based on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s definition of health equity.
What’s the video about?
Nurses and nurse practitioners play an instrumental role in providing quality care for patients. (Nearly half of Washington’s Apple Health (Medicaid) patients get their care from nurse practitioners.) Nurses and nurse practitioners have the power to influence health equity by recognizing their own bias and acknowledging that all patients have different backgrounds, experiences, cultures, and beliefs.
Watch the video to learn what HCA, WCN, and these nurse leaders are doing to advance health equity across Washington State.
- Valorie Taylor, MultiCare Behavioral Health Network
- Sandra Riojas, Central Washington Family Medicine
- Megan Wilbert, International Community Health Services
- Jerome Mendóza Dayao, Harborview Hospital
- Kristen Swanson, Seattle University College of Nursing
Visit hca.wa.gov/health-equity and WCNursing.org to learn more.