Political Action Awareness Paper

Political Action Awareness Paper

Professional nurses are advocates for patient and safety initiatives. Becoming involved in practice changes and sharing stories from personal experiences improves quality of care for patients. Nursing advocacy can take on many roles from the local, state, and federal levels. Nurses can use professional organizations to voice concerns regarding patient care to avoid competing interests from making detrimental health care decisions. This paper will explain how nurses can use professional organizations to stay informed and maintain awareness of political actions in the health care industry.

Professional Organizations

Registered nurses make up the majority of the health care workforce (Oestberg, 2012). Becoming a member of a professional nursing organization or specialty group can provide information on current health care policies. It is important for nurses to align themselves with professional nursing organizations to improve the profession through increased nursing competency and leadership skills (Schroder, 2013). The goal of professional nursing organizations is to support nurses and his or her contribution to health care (Schroder, 2013).

Importance of Maintaining Political Awareness

Being a nurse advocate requires a basic understanding of the government system. A health care policy educational course helps nurses learn how a bill becomes a law. There are many professional nursing organizations that work closely with state representatives to bring nursing issues to the national level. One way to become involved is to gain a good working relationship with elected officials (Oestberg, 2012). Networking with fellow nurses and local representatives helps create a unified voice to bring about positive change in the health care industry.

Conclusion

Change within the health care industry requires involvement of nurses at all political levels. Awareness of current evidence-based practices is important in improving patient care. Working closely with professional nursing organizations improves leadership skills and keeps nurses up-to-date on nursing practices. Advocacy efforts through working with elected political officials help influence nursing policy development and legislation (Matthews, 2012).

References

Matthews, J. (2012). Role of professional organizations in advocating for the nursing profession. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 17(1), 11-13.

Oestberg, F. (2012). Policy and politics: Why nurses should get involved. Nursing 2012, 42(12), 46-49.

Schroder, R. (2013). The value of belonging to a professional nursing organization. AORN, 98(2), 99-101.