Discourse Development – It’s All About Who You Know
Topic:
Nursing is the largest profession in healthcare, which should lend nursing to have the greatest impact in healthcare policy. What do you think prevents nurses from using their power to influence healthcare?
To get real-life insight on the topic mentioned above, I interviewed advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) through teleconference video call, the call was not recorded on the interviewee’s request, notes were taken, and her information is provided below
Interviewee – Dr. Erum Jiva – DNP, ARNP-BC, CLS
Dr. Erum Jiva initiated first lipid clinic in Ocala, FL. It is the only medical practice in the Ocala devoted exclusively to cholesterol disorders. Dr. Jiva is certified by the Accreditation Council for Clinical Lipidology (ACCL). she is active member of National Lipid Association, American Society of Preventive Cardiology, Preventive Cardiovascular Nurse Association and American Association of Nurse Practitioners.
The reason for selecting Dr. Jiva for this interview is that she has been an APRN for the last five years. She also had experience as a nursing faculty for almost seven years. Working as a self-employed APRN at her practice, she has experience guiding policies for her workplace and care as a whole.
Introduction:
As the largest healthcare profession worldwide, it is essential that nursing significantly impacts healthcare policy more than other healthcare professions. Advance practice registered nurses (APRNs) and registered nurses (RNs) should, therefore, use evidence-based knowledge to influence global healthcare policies (Abbasinia et al., 2020).
Policy Implication:
The primary role of a nurse involves giving care to the patients both during treatment and post-treatment periods. Hence, active participation in healthcare practice and delivery policy development at all government levels is needed. Nursing professionals should desist from receiving and adopting policies that are not pertinent to the issues affecting the healthcare sector. For instance, the local, state, and federal governments of the United States can improve their performance in the healthcare sector by involving RNs and APRNs in the policymaking process. However, the road to participation in policymaking at the government levels requires active participation in politics. Through the lobby groups such as professional nursing organizations at various government levels, nurses can present their opinions to the relevant policymaking bodies (E. Jiva, personal communication, June 26, 2022; Gerber, 2018). Apart from lobby groups, nursing professionals can actively participate in politics by assuming elective and appointive decision-making positions and help address healthcare issues at various levels of government (E. Jiva, personal communication, June 26, 2022).
In as much as nurses have the opportunity to represent the will of the patients in the policymaking chambers globally, few tend to contribute to the course actively. Factors such as inadequate opportunity awareness and limited healthcare policy education can cause inadequate participation of nurses in the healthcare policy and delivery decision-making (E. Jiva, personal communication, June 26, 2022; Godsey et al., 2020). Politics is an expensive venture that requires significant resources. The Healthcare sector is the least rewarding in the global economy. The situation makes it challenging for nursing professionals considering politics to pursue their dreams. They lack sufficient resources to participate in politics actively. Again, the community is not willing to provide the nursing professionals with sufficient financial resources to run for political offices. Lack of active political participation ensures that registered nurses and other nursing professionals do not present their opinions to the policymaking organs. Limited healthcare policy education is another factor that causes a lack of participation in the healthcare sector (E. Jiva, personal communication, June 26, 2022; Hajizadeh et al., 2021). Most registered nurses (RNs) lack awareness of the need for evidence-based policymaking in the sector due to the gaps in the nursing training curriculum. The nursing education program should include healthcare policy education to encourage the nursing students to develop an interest in politics (E. Jiva, personal communication, June 26, 2022)
Conclusion:
In response to the challenges mentioned above, nursing professionals can wisely use the legitimate power of politics by exhibiting increased creativity and energy towards advocating for patients’ rights and privileges. Therefore, investors and governments should provide nursing professionals with competitive remunerations and packages that allow for evidence-based practice and quality improvement in the healthcare sector. Furthermore, the healthcare work environment should also provide the nursing professionals with the necessary resources and financial support to actively participate in politics relating to healthcare policies (Safari et al., 2020). Finally, nursing professionals should encourage teamwork and collaboration at all levels through their lobby groups (E. Jiva, personal communication, June 26, 2022).
Follow-Up Question:
We just faced possibly the most significant pandemic of our lifetime; what challenges did you face while working as a healthcare provider, and what policies do you think should be changed to navigate better future pandemics we might meet?
References
Abbasinia, M., Ahmadi, F., & Kazemnejad, A. (2020). Patient advocacy in nursing: A concept analysis. Nursing Ethics, 27(1), 141-151. https://doi.org/10.1177/0969733019832950
Gerber, L. (2018). Understanding the nurse’s role as a patient advocate. Nursing, 48(4), 55-58. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NURSE.0000531007.02224.65
Godsey, J. A., Houghton, D. M., & Hayes, T. (2020). Registered nurse perceptions of factors contributing to the inconsistent brand image of the nursing profession. Nursing Outlook, 68(6), 808-821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2020.06.005
Hajizadeh, A., Zamanzadeh, V., Kakemam, E., Bahreini, R., & Khodayari-Zarnaq, R. (2021). Factors influencing nurses participation in the health policy-making process: A systematic review. BMC Nursing, 20(1), 128. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-021-00648-6
Safari, M. B., Bahadori, M., & Alimohammadzadeh, K. (2020). The related factors of nurses’ participation and perceived benefits and barriers in health policy making. The Journal of Nursing Research, 28(4), e103. https://doi.org/10.1097/jnr.0000000000000385
