Nurses will learn about trends and issues that impact their practice, nursing education and health care delivery in New York State at a "Future of Nursing: A Call to Action" conference Sept. 15 in Syracuse.

The conference will explain a recent report about the role of nurses in the health system by the Institute of Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "Working on the front lines of patient care, nurses can play a vital role in helping realize the objectives set forth in the 2010 Affordable Care Act, legislation that represents the broadest health care overhaul since the 1965 creation of the Medicare and Medicaid programs," the report says. It goes on to explain barriers nurses must overcome before they can lead change and advance health:

* Nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training.

* Nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression.

* Nurses should be full partners, with physicians and other health care professionals, in redesigning health care in the United States.

* Effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and information infrastructure.

The conference will feature Barbara Zittel RN, PhD, from the Office of the Professions within the New York State Education Department. She is also the executive secretary to the New York State Board for Nursing, responsible for the licensure, practice and discipline of about 340,000 licensees in New York. She also serves on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's "Campaign for Action."

Register by Aug. 30. The $35 fee includes a light meal and one Continuing Nursing Education credit hour. The conference begins at 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15 in room L100A of St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center, 301 Prospect Ave., Syracuse. A poster session goes from 5 to 6:30 p.m., followed by the presentation from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

The conference is sponsored jointly by Upstate's College of Nursing and Institute for Continuing Nursing Education, Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society and the LeMoyne College Nursing Honor Society.