Kent State University at Trumbull Professor and Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Coordinator Dr. Gina Severino, DNP, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, recently earned the Ohio Nurses Association’s (ONA) Excellence in Political Action Award.
Severino has been an ONA member for the past 36 years and joined ONA's Health Policy Council as an alternate in 2016 before becoming a full committee member in 2019. In her role, she represents ONA District Three at numerous state and local political events. She also attends the yearly Nurses Day at the State House NDASH events.
As a Professor of Nursing, she teaches healthcare policy courses at the undergraduate BSN and the RN-BSN program level. She emphasizes the importance of being a voice for the profession at local, state, and federal levels of government.
“I encourage our nurses and nursing students, to pay attention to legislation and be willing to write letters in support of nursing issues. I encourage them to take part in ONA and the American Nurses Association’s (ANA) grassroots effort in support of legislation that affects nurses,” Severino said. “At a minimum, I want them to exercise their right to vote because when nurses influence politics that improves the delivery of healthcare, they are ultimately advocating for their patients.”
As a member of the Health Policy Committee, she recently wrote a letter to Ohio legislators in support of HB 163 (MOT). A few quotes from her letter were included in a recent article written in the March 24, 2021, edition of the “Ohio Statehouse News.”
Severino earned a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Kent State University in 2018 and became Kent State Trumbull’s BSN Coordinator in fall 2021.