3 days ago
Nurses have the ability to engage in policy formations for the well-being of our patients. There are several ways that nurses can choose to influence or become involved in policy making that can reap benefits for patients and as well as nurses. Levine (2020) states that the Institute of Medicine recommends that nurses further their practice by committing to continues education throughout their career and taking on leadership roles to help guide and advance healthcare and the nursing profession.
Professional organizations provide RNs an APRNs the opportunity to take part and participate in policy review. Typically, professional organizations involved in nursing advocacy also participates in issues involving nursing and healthcare at local levels all the way up the ladder to global levels. A professional organization provides nurses with a network where they can be heard by voting, discussing, and influence change on certain issues (Echevarria, 2018). Members can become directly involved via voting or survey response (Echevarria, 2018). A second was nurses can play an active role in policy review is to collect data and provide feedback to policy makers or other leaders on whether new policies being implemented are effective (Milstead & Short, 2019). Information such as this can be gathered though quality improvement projects.
Challenges may arise when nurses choose to play an active role in policy-review. They may feel inadequately prepared or educated in participating and may even have other challenges arise when other team members are uninterested in participating. Insufficient data collection would also cause issues to arise when trying to implement change. When any change challenges can and should be anticipated at some point. Milstead and Short (2019) states that some challenges can be eliminated or reduced by appointing a leader that is responsible for discovering resources and collecting data.
A nursing leader can be a positive role model by actively participating in policy review and encouraging other nurses to make a difference through word of mouth or providing education to empower other nurses. Nurses comprise a huge part of the healthcare system and we play an important role, as most of our time is spent with patients we know and understand the specific needs of our patient population. For this reason, RNs and APRNs play a crucial role in advocacy and policy-review.
References
Levine, Mary & Ellen MSN, RN. (2020). When new nurses talk, nursing organizations listen. Nursing, 50, 53-57. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NURSE.0000604720.20331.54
Echevarria, I. (2018). Make connections by joining a professional nursing organization. Nursing, 48, 35-38. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NURSE.0000547721.84857.cb
Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.