The National Consortium for Building Healthy Academic Communities (BHAC) has elected its first board of directors, a historic move in the effort to revolutionize the culture of health and wellness at colleges and universities, Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, RN, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN, associate vice president for health promotion, university chief wellness officer, and dean of the College of Nursing at The Ohio State University and new Consortium president, announced today.<

The Ohio State University is among the first schools to join the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), which works with the private sector and PHA Honorary Chair Michelle Obama to make healthier choices easier, in a three-year commitment to make its campus healthier by adopting guidelines around food and nutrition, physical activity and programming. <

The Ohio State University College of Nursing has been named an NLN Center of Excellence (COE) for 2014 to 2018, the National League for Nursing Board of Governors has announced.

The selection is by competitive application reviewed by a panel of leaders in nursing education, with only 35 programs holding the designation. Six, including Ohio State, were added this year.

Health science experts and students from The Ohio State University will travel the state this month to teach healthy lifestyle behaviors, specifically geared to the prevention of heart attacks and strokes as part of the Department of Health & Human Services’ Million Hearts® Initiative.

The National Interprofessional Education and Practice Consortium to Advance Million Hearts® is growing and making an impact.

Summit purpose to improve population health and wellness outcomes for students, faculty and staff in higher education

Initiatives will include curriculum development, community programming, research, teaching, and mentoring future health leaders

A statement from University Chief Wellness Officer Bernadette M. Melnyk (melnyk.15@osu.edu):

The Ohio State University College of Nursing announced today that the college has teamed up with Wellness & Prevention, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, to offer the Nurse Athlete/Health Athlete program, the first under the college’s Health Athlete initiative to promote healthy practices in nurses and healthcare professionals.

Nine organizations representing both the private and public sectors, including three from Ohio, received U.S. Healthiest’s HealthLead Workplace Accreditation and shared their strategies for investing in the health of their employees at the inaugural US Healthiest HealthLead Forum hosted by The Ohio State University and Ohio State’s College of Nursing.