PLEASE KINDLY RESPOND TO STEPHANIE’S POST BELOW. Substantive responses pose new ideas, ask questions, and/or add to the discussion topic in a meaningful and constructive way.
STEPHANIE’S POST:
The four spheres of political action in nursing are workplace/force, government, association and community (Mason, Gardner, Outlaw, OGrady, 2016). The overall goal of political action in nursing is to provide safe patient care, improve the health of communities, and reduce healthcare costs (Mason et al., 2016). Nurses hold a valuable position in policy-making because we are a trusted profession in the healthcare system. Each sphere influences one another. If change happens in one sphere, it directly affects the others. For example, to improve political competency and action in nurses, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) examined nursing academia to see if the curriculum in BSN, MSN and DNP programs supported policy-making competence and education, and made changes where needed (Anderson, Waddell, Brennan, Burnett, Anderson, & Short, 2020). This is an example of policy change on the association level. Evaluating and improving nursing academia to include policy education, affects workplace/workforce, government, and community spheres. Nurses are more willing to participate in policy change in their practice when they have the proper education and resources.
In my practice as Nurse Clinician for the LVAD team, I have participated in implementing nursing policies. For example, Covid-19 has been a struggle for all healthcare professionals and communities. Healthcare policies need to be created to address the global pandemic in hospitals and institutions. The LVAD team created a policy to ensure safety to the LVAD patient when being admitted to the hospital. The policy focused on ways to minimize and avoid Covid-19 exposure. The policy was than shared and adopted by other LVAD centers in the city area. This is an example of how policy-making and change in the workplace sphere can directly impact the community.
Ethical considerations must always be instituted when developing policies and implementing change. The goal is to improve the overall health of individuals and advocate for our patients and beliefs. The advanced practice nurse, knowledgeable in policy-making skills, can feel confident to participate in policy reform on all the spheres of political action, by using patient-centered care and making sure the patient is treated well with dignity and respect.
References
Anderson, A. L., Waddell, A., Brennan, P., Burnett, C., Anderson, C., & Short, N. M. (2020). Advancing health policy education in nursing: American Association of Colleges of Nursing Faculty Policy Think Tank. Journal of Professional Nursing, 36(3), 100105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2019.09.002
Mason, D. J., Gardner, D. B., Outlaw, F. H., & O’Grady, E. T. (Eds). (2016). Policy & politics in nursing and healthcare (7th ed.). http://online.vitalsource.com
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