Health Policy & Advocacy

Empowering nurses to lead and advocate

Nurses gain experience and valuable insight from their work on healthcare’s front lines. Our voices and expertise are an important part of conversation and debate over healthcare policy. Indiana University School of Nursing is a state and national leader in offering health policy and advocacy initiatives. Our faculty integrate health policy into courses available to students at all levels of degree programs—from BSN to PhD.

From the classroom to the statehouse, you can learn how to influence healthcare issues and lead as an advocate for the profession and patient care. Integration of health policy courses and experiential learning opportunities results in increased numbers of nurses in health policy and advocacy at local, state, and national levels. Currently, out of seven IUSON programs offered, four are student-focused, two advance the development of faculty to integrate health policy and advocacy into teaching, research, and service, and one is geared toward nurses in clinical practice.

Dr. Sharron Crowder: IUSON’s health policy, advocacy, and leadership innovator

Sharron Crowder, PhD, RN, ATSF, is a clinical associate professor and special assistant to the dean for health policy initiatives. She has held nursing positions in a variety of clinical and academic settings in the United States and abroad. Her contributions to health policy and teaching have been recognized with major honors and awards, including Indiana University President's Bicentennial Medal and the Association of Black Nursing Faculty's Lifetime Achievement in Teaching Award.

Dr. Crowder is a 2019-2021 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow. During her fellowship placement, she was assigned to the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Education and Labor.

Committed to national efforts to increase the number of nurses in leadership, Dr. Crowder is known for her use of innovative strategies in academic settings, the development of community-engaged learning opportunities, fostering legislative fellowships, and the creation of health policy academic–practice partnerships. She is also a recognized leader and consultant in the creation of health policy models of development.