Ernest Grant is an American nurse and educator living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.[1] In 2018, he began serving as the 36th president of the American Nurses Association (ANA). Notably, he is the first male to serve in this position.[2][3] One of his goals has been to encourage diversity in nursing. Since being elected, the percentage of male nurses has increased.[4] He also serves as adjunct faculty for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing.[5]
As an internationally recognized expert on burn care and fire safety, Dr. Grant was presented with the Nurse of the Year Award in 2002 by former President George W. Bush for his work in treating burn victims from the World Trade Center site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Grant has extensive experience working with burn injuries. He worked at the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has also taught burn education to U.S. soldiers prior to their deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan during the George W. Bush administration.
Grant was instrumental in advocating for nurses’ safety during the Personal protective equipment (PPE) supply shortage in early 2020.[9][10][11]
Grant, an African American, signed up to participate in a COVID-19 vaccine trial to help rebuild trust with the Black community.[12] During an interview with Black Enterprise, Grant commented, “I thought it was imperative to serve as a role model to not only nurses who need to be involved and included in COVID-19 vaccine development, but also for Black people who have been historically underrepresented when it comes to vaccine testing. As a result, it was especially important for me to be that representation, given the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 in our Black communities.”[13]
Grant was also interviewed by David Greene (journalist) of NPR about his experience in the COVID-19 vaccine trial to help decrease vaccine hesitancy.[14]
Source: Wikipedia
