AANA Leadership Expands DEI Awareness Through Educational Initiative

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
James Baldwin, 1965 

Last fall, the AANA Board of Directors and AANA Foundation Board of Trustees began providing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) education for member groups, committees, task forces, and panel members, as well as staff liaisons, through Blue Ocean Brain.   

The board-approved DEI strategic plan required more than 250 individuals to complete 12 lessons on various aspects of emotional intelligence, diversity and inclusion, and leadership as part of the onboarding process. “What better way than to start with the AANA leadership? It was very important to me and the entire board of directors that we approved the resources to provide DEI education in an impactful way,” said AANA President Dina Velocci, DNP, CRNA, APRN. “Our member volunteers embraced the opportunity to expand their awareness of DEI.”   

According to Blue Ocean Brain, 96% of AANA learners have interacted with Blue Ocean Brain content since launching, surpassing the average of 73%. This resulted in over 7,960 articles and 580 brain exercises being read, shared, and saved.  These members are afforded access to Blue Ocean Brain for an entire year to encourage continued learning on various topics. 

“Blue Ocean Brain has been instrumental in helping to establish a DEI curriculum that is both up to date and easily accessible in a format that appeals to every type of learner. Its user interface and experience, far exceeds any DEI training I have undergone within an organization and it’s scoring format gives a fresh outlook on continued education and compliance,” AANA DEI Committee Co-Chair, Donte Flanagan, DNP, CRNA.  

Blue Ocean Brain is a leading provider of workplace learning and professional development content, pioneering the microlearning concept over a decade ago.  Blue Ocean Brain provides daily, expertly crafted content, designed to support and enhance a company’s most important resource – its employees.  The Blue Ocean Brain catalog consists of thousands of microlearning lessons spanning modern workplace topics such as diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI); leadership; emotional intelligence; handling change; communication; and much more. A leader in delivering workplace learning solutions that make professional development accessible and achievable every day, Blue Ocean Brain delivers first-class service to companies of all major industries in over 50 countries around the world.