Katie Murray and Trinity Rudolph, both junior nursing and honors students at 91㽶Ƶ University, participated in the American Association of College of Nursing (AACN) Student Policy Summit in Washington, DC, in April 2025. The summit brought together undergraduate, master's and doctoral-level nursing students – as well as nurse practitioners – from across the country to explore the connection between healthcare and federal policy.
Murray, from Youngstown, Ohio, has a family history in nursing and was initially torn between pursuing a career in nursing and political science.
"Realizing I could combine nursing with political science was an eye-opening experience for me. Growing up, I watched how my parents were very involved in the political side of their careers and that left a lasting impact on me,” said Murray. “I want to follow in their footsteps to make a difference in my community, too."
Rudolph, from Twinsburg, Ohio, was drawn to nursing's holistic approach and developed an interest in policy while researching the black maternal mortality rate in the United States for her thesis.
"I didn’t start out interested in policy, but as I dove into my research, I discovered many issues related to how policy is made and how our laws affect the health of our citizens and healthcare coverage,” said Rudolph. “Once I had a personal connection to policy, I was motivated to apply for the summit because I wanted to see how things worked on Capitol Hill."
Murray and Rudolph learned about the AACN Student Policy Summit from a faculty member and were selected through a competitive application process. Each participating school was permitted to have two students attend the event.
Over the two-day summit, they heard from notable speakers, including an economist who had worked with Nancy Pelosi on the Inflation Reduction Act; Alan Wheat, the youngest African American elected to Congress and Nicole Artun, a Native American midwife from the Navajo Nation. The students also met Emmanuel Guillory, Senior Director of Government Relations for the American Council on Education.
Murray and Rudolph also had the opportunity to attend scheduled meetings with congressional staff members, including those from Representative Dave Joyce's office. They were surprised to learn that much of the day-to-day legislative work is carried out by young congressional staffers – often not much older than themselves.
"It was a little nerve-racking at first talking to the congressional staff members, but being able to share first-hand experiences with them about nursing and why these issues are so important to us was extremely cool," said Murray.
Rudolph shared that these conversations were important because they helped policymakers understand how critical nurses are to hospital systems and their communities, especially when working in rural communities and with minorities.
Both students gained a deeper understanding of how federal policy affects nursing practice and learned the importance of nurses using their voices to advocate for their profession. The experience reinforced their understanding that nursing extends far beyond clinical practice into policy and advocacy.
Looking to the future, Murray plans to work in an emergency department before pursuing a master’s degree in healthcare administration. Rudolph intends to work in labor and delivery, develop her medical translation skills using her Spanish minor and is considering law school.
Murray and Rudolph hope to encourage other nursing students to get involved in policy work and to seek out opportunities, emphasizing that students must be proactive in finding these experiences. They hope more nursing students will actively engage with policy issues that directly shape their future practice and patient care.