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This post was written by CHMP Graduate Fellow Amanda Anderson RN, BSN, CCRN

Amanda's Bike Helmet

Recently, I posed the following question to a group of my RN friends on Facebook: “Are you nurses ashamed of being nurses? Why aren’t you telling everybody with an ‘RN’”? You see, I follow my Facebook name with the letters, “RN,” and proudly. In response, my friends told me that they kept their nurse status secret when off the job. Some spoke of liability, others, fears that neighbors would show up with weird spots and bumps on their days off.

These concerns are real, but are they valid? Is nursing something to hide, or is it a vocation that should be shared 100% of the time, in everything we do, in every situation we’re in?

My response to their responses was simply, “How is this any different than walking away from a coding person on the street?” A response, I realize, that is quite direct and some might say harsh, but wouldn’t you consider it valid, too?

This post was written by CHMP Graduate Fellow Amanda Anderson RN, BSN, CCRN

Amanda's Bike Helmet

Recently, I posed the following question to a group of my RN friends on Facebook: “Are you nurses ashamed of being nurses? Why aren’t you telling everybody with an ‘RN’”? You see, I follow my Facebook name with the letters, “RN,” and proudly. In response, my friends told me that they kept their nurse status secret when off the job. Some spoke of liability, others, fears that neighbors would show up with weird spots and bumps on their days off.

These concerns are real, but are they valid? Is nursing something to hide, or is it a vocation that should be shared 100% of the time, in everything we do, in every situation we’re in?

My response to their responses was simply, “How is this any different than walking away from a coding person on the street?” A response, I realize, that is quite direct and some might say harsh, but wouldn’t you consider it valid, too?

I had a lot of pre-conceived notions about poverty and people living in poverty.

These ideas are challenged daily this summer as an intern working at LIFT, a national non-profit whose mission is to help community members achieve economic stability and well-being.

After a comprehensive training orientation with skilled teachers, I have the opportunity to work one-on one with clients in LIFT’s Bronx office to secure housing, employment, public benefits, legal services and financial advising.

In 5 short weeks this experience has educated me and raised my awareness about people living in poverty. The people who come to LIFT as clients are not at all lazy. They work hard every day and come to LIFT because they just need help getting back on their feet.

Having lived through the recession, I think we can all relate to changes in economic security – some folks clearly impacted greater than others – but we all shared common feelings of anxiety, nervousness and panic.

I had a lot of pre-conceived notions about poverty and people living in poverty.

These ideas are challenged daily this summer as an intern working at LIFT, a national non-profit whose mission is to help community members achieve economic stability and well-being.

After a comprehensive training orientation with skilled teachers, I have the opportunity to work one-on one with clients in LIFT’s Bronx office to secure housing, employment, public benefits, legal services and financial advising.

In 5 short weeks this experience has educated me and raised my awareness about people living in poverty. The people who come to LIFT as clients are not at all lazy. They work hard every day and come to LIFT because they just need help getting back on their feet.

Having lived through the recession, I think we can all relate to changes in economic security – some folks clearly impacted greater than others – but we all shared common feelings of anxiety, nervousness and panic.

The Center for Health, Media & Policy National Advisory Chair, Sheree Crute, CHMP co-directors Diana Mason and Barbara Glickstein, and the entire CHMP community welcomes new National Advisory Member  Andre Blackman. He brings his passion for health, media, technology and innovation to us. Read more about Mr. Blackman below. We’re thrilled to have him join us in this leadership role.


andre-blackmanAndre Blackman
 is an influential and connected agent of change/innovation within the health and social entrepreneurship community. He is very passionate about the intersection of media,  technology and useful innovative concepts as it relates to the improvement of public health  and social change, as well as the stories that result from these new ideas.

Through his consulting firm, Pulse + Signal, Andre aims to empower a new generation of health innovators through personal digital branding and strategic digital PR/communications. He has been involved in traditional and digital campaigns for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) focused on areas such as disease informatics, HIV/AIDS and diabetes. He is passionate about his equipping high impact health professional clients for the next phase of innovation through focused branding and digital technology education.

Andre also serves on the following advisory boards: CDC’s National Health Communications, Marketing and Media Conference; Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media; IntraHealth International OPEN; SXSW Interactive Conference Advisory Board and is the co-founder of the FastForward Health Film Festival – an event dedicated to highlighting the stories of forward thinking in health initiatives around the world.

The Center for Health, Media & Policy