Approximately 250 students, faculty, and alumni attended Loyola Nursing’s screening of the award-winning documentary Inheritance at Loyola’s Damen Center in February. The film follows the struggles of a boy growing up in rural Appalachia in a family struggling with opioid addiction and poverty. The screening was followed by a panel discussion, moderated by faculty member Leah McClellan, with the film’s co-director and the now-young man featured in the film.

Dean Lorna Finnegan said Inheritance highlighted how the opioid epidemic has become a public health crisis. It also helped nursing students better understand how social determinants of health, such as poverty and housing instability, can impact health outcomes.

“Nurses are often the first and most trusted advocates for people navigating these complex challenges,” she said. “We have the responsibility to destigmatize mental illness, provide holistic care, ensure that no one struggles in silence, and advocate for a future where health is a right, not a privilege.”