The value of nurse leaders on federal advisory panels: experience with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

This article focuses on interviews with six nationally known nurse leaders who have been, or currently are, members of National Advisory Committee for the Healthcare Research and Quality (NAC). The nurse leaders are either deans and/or professors of schools of nursing. They discuss how their participation on the NAC serves the Federal Government and what they view as the benefits they now offer the nursing profession from being on the NAC such as an increased focus on evidence-based research. These nurse leaders also discuss what they bring to the table in terms of helping to influence public policy vis a vis health care quality, safety, and scientific evidence and their bearing on health care systems and services. They also talk about the myriad Federal opportunities that exist beyond this influential panel for nurse leaders to help continue shaping the future of health care.