This descriptive, cross-sectional study design included a survey of nurses. We requested that participants read the consent form, and sign if they agreed to take part in the study. nursingworld.org/NurseLegislatorDirectory.aspx. Lack of awareness, inadequate skills, and little opportunity for involvement are just a few factors. The nursing profession's potential impact on policy and politics. He is currently a Senior Nursing Tutor with the Ghana Ministry of Health and the General Secretary of Nurse Educators’ Group, Ghana. They bring more energy, more ideas, and more ingenuity to the nursing profession. Questionnaires were marked as entered to avoid duplicate entries. That company now has LPNs making those so-called nurse advocacy calls asking only one question: has anything changed since the last call? Patients are literally dying and no one seem to care at all as long as those insurance companies executive officers continue making 25 -75 MILLION DOLLARS each year. Keywords: Most participants were in their 30s (Mean age = 30.84, Median = 30.00). Thank You. Title X: The Nation's Program for Affordable Birth Control and These activities included voting; campaigning; attending rallies; volunteering; contacting elected officials; working with others on local problems or issues; and being a member of nursing or non-nursing organizations that take stands on political issues. For nurses to advocate effectively for the profession and their clients, to be able to address the social determinants of health and to influence policy formulation at all levels, they must be active in the political process beyond voting. Politics can affect the role of a nurse and impact the career incredibly. How has nursing changed and what does the future hold? Nurse leaders can use their sphere of influence to shape policy within their organization and encourage nursing staff's health policy involvement. Data Collection InstrumentThe instrument for data collection included two main sections, one designed to capture data on the demographic characteristics of participants and one designed to assess their level of political participation. He worked as a clinical nurse for four years at the Tamale Teaching Hospital before beginning his teaching career, which has included teaching at the Nursing and Midwifery Training College, Kpembe, for four years, and also at the Midwifery Training College, Gushegu. Nurses must be seen and heard in health policy debates. The emotional and physical demands of caring for others place another burden on nurses. He is a Fellow of both the West African College of Nurses and the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives and a Member of the Sigma Theta Tau International. The contribution of nurses to health policy and advocacy requires Epub 2008 May 30. At the state and federal level, nurses can get involved in policy and politics by joining a professional nursing organization. http://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/5064/, Boswell, C., Cannon, S., & Miller, J. In-text: (Kalb, Costello and Guiod, 2019) Your Bibliography: Kalb, R., Costello, K. and Guiod, L., 2019. We are the largest medical profession, so we can do it. Additionally, the city is host to three major hospitals and two educational facilities from which the study participants were drawn. His duties at the University for Development Studies include coordinating and supervising student research. Local, state and national elections have real-life consequences on issues that we care about, and no matter where a nurse or healthcare provider falls on the political spectrum, being an informed citizen is prudent and wise. In a study about the political participation of registered nurses in the US, Vandenhouten et al. Professor Akwasi Kumi-Kyereme has been involved in various research projects and has published extensively in his major areas of research interest, namely sexual and reproductive health; social dimensions of health (including HIV, AIDS, and Tuberculosis); and healthcare financing. Based on this typology, the authors classified citizens into six different groups on the basis of the types of political activities they undertook. With the use of health policy examples, the implications for nursing are explained and ideas on how policy is implemented in practice set out. Nursing: Immunity and the Environment Course is organized by Hawaii Nurses Continuing Education (HNCE) and will be held on Nov 04, 2020. Yet, studies have shown that nurse participation in political activities remains low. (2016). Retrieved from: https://www.americannursetoday.com/from-apathy-to-political-activism/, Lathrop, B. I am happy to see an employee of Tampa General Hospital shine. The Shortell Leadership Scale showed a similar effect, with a potential impact, for both scales, of up to a 53% decrease in the odds of intending to leave. These previous nursing leadership positions have motivated him to study the political behavior of nurses. Legislation Affecting Nurses You Need to Know | BillTrack50 Nurses can undertake internships with elected officials to personally work on matters affecting healthcare. (2019). Nursing Engagement in Policy Development and Advocacy American Nurse Today, 2(8). They bring more vitality, ideas, and ingenuity to the nursing profession. Thanks to their frontline role, nurses offer a unique, expert perspective on every aspect of the health care system, and have a key voice in ongoing efforts to improve public health.As the lead organization representing the interests of the nation's 4 million . Nurs Res Pract. Demonstrate implementation in the appropriate arena or area of practice Include a plan for sustainability (e.g. 2021-22 Proposed Federal Policy Changes Related to Nursing Families and friends of nurses need to encourage political activism. The fact that nurses generally do register to vote, and do vote in many elections, suggests that nurses may not be generally apathetic towards politics as has been suggested, but rather may limit the extent of their participation. RCCG Pastor Adeboye is dragging lots to c CHILDRENS DAY is one dedicated to celebrate childhood, it is On this day that tribute is paid to all children in the world. He is the current Convocation Representative (Professorial) on the University of Cape Coast Council and a member of a number of professional associations. 'Why do politics and policies affect us as nurses and humans?' Inuencing politics and policies that improve A Closer Look. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was used to collect data from 225 registered nurses in three hospitals and two nursing training schools in Tamale, Ghana, using a structured questionnaire. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 3(2), 97107. When we healthcare professionals take our role as patient advocates seriously, we can be greatly disturbed by political machinations that appear determined to undermine public health, hobble patient safety, blatantly ignore the medical evidence base or otherwise thwart what we as healers attempt to do every time we earnestly show up for work. Nurse Participation in Political Activities: Level and Practices of Mr. Afizu Alhassan holds a Master of Nursing Degree from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University for Development Studies, also in Ghana. The views and opinions expressed by Perspectives contributors are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or recommendations of the American Nurses Association, the Editorial Advisory Board members, or the Publisher, Editors and staff of American Nurse Journal. 2016. And if you thought your Nurse Practice Act was free of politics, think again. 5. Cheryl L Mee, MSN, MBA, RN, FAAN Executive Editorial Director. Nurses can obtain formal training in politics, become involved in city councils and committees, or even run for local office. Additionally, studies show that nurses are not given sufficient support to generate the evidence needed to influence healthcare policy. In spite of the overwhelming agreement that it is important for nurses to know about politics, and that politics should be a matter of concern to nurses, only 0.4% of the respondents were found to be concerned and knew much about political issues. Br J Community Nurs. Influencing healthcare in the legislative arena. Get your free access to the exclusive newsletter of, https://www.emedevents.com/online-cme-courses/webcasts/oxygen-therapy-what-you-need-to-know-to-get-it-right-for-your-patients, https://www.emedevents.com/online-cme-courses/others/nursing-immunity-and-the-environment-oahu, https://www.emedevents.com/c/medical-conferences-2019/aesthetic-medicine-training-step-1-by-american-board-of-aesthetic-medicine-abam-mar-01-03-2019, https://www.emedevents.com/c/medical-conferences-2019/palm-springs-oasis-in-the-desert-2019-encore-symposium, https://www.emedevents.com/c/medical-conferences-2019/palm-springs-encore-cpc-review-2019, https://www.emedevents.com/c/medical-conferences-2019/taste-of-new-orleans-2019-encore-symposium, https://www.emedevents.com/c/medical-conferences-2019/survival-skills-for-today-s-gynecologist-2019, https://www.emedevents.com/c/medical-conferences-2019/maternal-fetal-imaging-2019-1, https://www.emedevents.com/c/medical-conferences-2019/complex-cardiovascular-catheter-therapeutics-advanced-endovascular-and-coronary-intervention-global-summit-2019, Hurricane Ians Impact: Working the Frontline Before and After a Natural Disaster, Palliative Care May Reduce Pain Disparities in Sickle Cell Disease, Choosing Genetic Testing: The Science and Patient Experience, Recognizing stroke symptoms via telephone triage, An integrative approach to healing the overworked, weary, or traumatized nurse, Nurses and doctors as diplomats in the COVID culture wars, Osteoporosis awareness: Be the patients advocate, Its never too late: Tales from a second-career nurse, Realizing Our Potential as Psych NPs When Treating the Adult Schizophrenia Community, Journal Peer Review. In fact, it is the moral and professional obligation of nurses to be engaged in legislation that impacts their patients. Such healthcare company executives Health policy, politics, and partisanship. It could also lead to more scholarship opportunities for those interested in pursuing a nursing-STEM career. Nursing has become one of the largest professions in the world, and as such, nurses have the potential to influence policy and politics on a global scale. :10.1177/152715440200300203, International Foundation for Electoral Systems. The personal costs of this reform could . The researcher then collected the completed surveys, which generally had been left with the charge nurse. A health policy resource guide for nurses. All rights reserved. Policy & Politics in Nursing and Health Care - E-Book Journal of Professional Nursing 32(3). Factors influencing nurses participation in the health policy-making Independent Samples T-test for Gender, Practice Area, and Political Participation, Practice area and political participation. Nurses have the requisite education, experience, and legacy that will enable them to lead the world in addressing the social determinants of health, factors that have a dramatic impact on the health of populations (Lathrop, 2013). Oestberg, Fredrik MSN, RN Getting involved in policy and politics, Nursing Critical Care: May 2013 - Volume 8 - Issue 3 - p . American Nurse. Thank You. However, despite this high membership in GRNMA, only a few of them showed an active interest in the activities of that association. Int J Nurs Stud. This webinar discusses evaluation and testing requirements for Long Term Oxygen Therapy (LTOT) treatment and guidelines. In sum, healthcare is undoubtedly political, and what you do in response to the issues you care about means something. The details, including your email address/mobile number, may be used to keep you informed about future products and services. As such, Nurses have the potentials to profoundly influence politics COMMUNIQUE OF THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA STUDENT NURSES AND MIDWIVES HELD ON THE 28TH-30TH NEW YEARS ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA STUDENT NURSES AND MIDWIVES (NANSNM) . Challenges, Extent of Involvement, and the Impact of Nurses Epub 2009 Feb 27. As a healthcare professional it is essential that you stay up to date with what is happening in Washington, as decisions made at governmental level impact upon the very way that we practice our professions. Studies exploring the political behavior of nurses in Ghana are virtually non-existent.