by Matt Batcheldor

Mamie Williams, PhD, MPH, MSN, APRN, senior director of Nursing Diversity and Inclusion at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, has been named co-chair of the American Nurses Association’s (ANA) Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation (HNHN) Advisory Committee.

According to the ANA, the HNHN committee’s goal is to broadly connect and engage individual nurses and partner organizations to take action within six domains: physical activity, rest, nutrition, quality of life, safety and mental health. In addition, the committee aims to provide a web platform to inspire action, cultivate friendly competition, provide content and resources to nurses, gather data, and connect nurses with each other, with employers and with organizations.

While serving on the VUMC Nurse Wellness committee, Williams established a partnership with the HNHN initiative, which led to the organization inviting her to co-chair the advisory committee.

Williams has more than 25 years of nursing experience and has held progressive nursing roles at VUMC for more than 10 years. In 2021, she was named senior director of Nursing Diversity and Inclusion, in which she builds on efforts to create a sustainable system for diversity, equity and inclusion in nursing at VUMC, working within VUMC and engaging the wider community.

Williams formerly served as the founding co-chair of the VUMC African American Employee Resource Group, which aims to foster a feeling of inclusion, promote professional development, raise awareness of relevant issues and is open to all employees. She credits her work as the co-chair of the VUMC Racial Equity Task Force as instrumental to her abilities to lead a disparate group of leaders to an innovative goal.

Five years ago, Williams worked with executive nurse leadership to establish a director of nurse safety and well-being role. The role was designed to work with the disparate safety and well-being initiatives, pro- grams and departments to ensure a unified and structured means of ensuring nurse mental health, physical and social well-being.

“By leveraging my experience and knowledge gained from working with the VUMC Nurse Wellness Committee, I can make a meaningful impact on a national level,” Williams said. “I am honored to be asked to concentrate on improving the work environment for nurses across the country.”

Williams holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing from the University of Kansas, a Master of Science in Nursing from Tennessee State University and a Master of Public Health from the University of Illinois.

“Congratulations to Mamie on this important new role,” said Executive Chief Nursing Officer Marilyn Dubree, MSN, RN, NE- BC. “Mamie is truly a national leader in nursing, and I am so proud of her work to promote nurse well-being in this nationwide forum.”