LAVC Nurses Political Activism Discussion

Nurses can be an integral part of designing public policy as political leaders. As a registered nurse, you have a professional commitment to improve health care. However, many nurses are not politically active and do not lobby for important aspects of their profession.

What are the reasons many nurses do not actively engage in lobbying efforts?

What actions can nurses take to encourage themselves and their peers to get involved politically and lobby for specific issues such as healthcare policy changes? Provide a detailed example.

• 2 peer responses: 

Response 1: Hello Everyone,

*What are the reasons many nurses do not actively engage in lobbying efforts?

According to research, many nurses are not actively engaged because of a lack of confidence and awareness (Jurns, 2019). Nurses are more likely to advocate if they have confident speaking skills, understand their organizations’ daily policy activity, and understand how policy is created (Jurns, 2019). Other barriers include lack of support and time management.

*What actions can nurses take to encourage themselves and their peers to get involved politically and lobby for specific issues, such as healthcare policy changes? Provide a detailed example.

During my public health course, I learned that nurses can get involved by joining a committee council or a national nursing organization to voice their opinions. For example, the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) members testify before Congress & FDA and advocate for resources, cancer policy priorities, position statements, and coalitions (How nurses can shape health policy, 2021). Other ways we can get involved are by learning who makes the policies and how they’re made, investigating which legislators support policies that you agree with, writing to your legislator about issues impacting patient care, and informing colleagues about opportunities to influence policy change (How nurses can shape health policy, 2021).

References

Jurns, C., (September 6, 2019) “Policy Advocacy Motivators and Barriers: Research Results and Applications” OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. 24, No. 3. https://onlinedegree.uncw.edu/articles/nursing/how… 

Response 2: Hello class,

What are the reasons many nurses do not actively engage in lobbying efforts?

There are many reasons why nurses do not actively engage in lobbying efforts due to lack of political knowledge, inadequate public speaking skills, and a disinterest in politics. I think nurses are content with helping their patients at the bedside. Also, I think that there is a lack of ambition in nurses wanting to become leaders in the political process. Many nurses would rather stay at the hospital and provide care for their patients than to enter the political realm and proactively advocate healthcare policy changes and legislation.

What actions can nurses take to encourage themselves and their peers to get involved politically and lobby for specific issues such as healthcare policy changes?

One action that nurses can take to get involved politically is to join professional associations. The American Nurses Advocacy Institute (ANAI) is an association which provides mentorship and strengthens a nurse’s competence in understanding the advocacy process, managing a political environmental scan, bill analysis, and preparing and delivering speeches (Huston, C.J., 2023). I believe that joining a professional association like the ANAI is an important step to getting involved politically because it gives the nurse a foundation to begin to understand what their strengths and weaknesses are, the issues that they care deeply about, and provides them with a roadmap on how to achieve the goals they want to accomplish. Another action that will help nurses lobby for specific issues is collaboration with other nursing organizations (Huston, C.J., 2023). Collaborating with other nursing organizations would enhance the power of the nursing profession, and being united will portray the alliances as powerful and capable of succeeding in lobbying efforts.

References:

Huston, C. J. (2023). The Nursing Profession’s Historic Struggle to Increase Its Power Base. In Professional issues in nursing: Challenges and opportunities(Sixth, pp. 348–349). essay, Wolters Kluwer.