Political Competence of the Nurse Essay Paper
Define “political competence” and discuss at least one example of how a nurse leader has or could demonstrate political competence at the local, state or national level. The example may be from an organizational perspective or a political challenge.
Political Competence of the Nurse
Political competence is a notion that many do not think aligns with the work of a nurse. However, the nurse being the foremost patient advocate must have political competence as one of the arsenals with which they can effectively fight for the rights of the patients. As a nurse, one is expected to be aware of the political goings-on within their Local County, state, or nation. Political Competence of the Nurse Essay Paper This is mainly because policies are usually shaped by politicians and these policies include those that relate to healthcare and healthcare provision (Milstead & Short, 2019). Matters such as healthcare insurance and compensation for professional negligence or malpractice are legislated and the nurse is expected to be aware of these. The purpose of this paper is to look at political competence on the part of the nurse at the local, state, and national levels.
Political Competence of the Nurse at the Local Level
The local level refers to the home County where local by-laws and regulations affecting healthcare delivery are formulated and enforced. At this level, the political competence the nurse may have is a good working relationship with local representatives and community opinion leaders (Mason et al., 2016). This is because it is these individuals that have an influence on what their communities or the populations that they represent do. A good example is the recent drive to have people get vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus pandemic. We all know that a lot of false information emerged that the vaccines were for instance targeting the Black population to make them sterile and so on. Of course this is not true; but it is also here that the nurse should demonstrate their political competence by working with the opinion leaders and politicians to counter this narrative. In other words, the nurse should be able to also think like a politician and that is how they can be bale to work with them for the benefit of the patients.
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Political Competence of the Nurse at the State Level
At the state level, the nurse has an even bigger role in terms of political competence. State legislators formulate a majority of the policies that relate to healthcare within that state. One example is the practice environment legislation that determines the level of freedom of practice for advanced practice nurses. Some states in the United States as at now give autonomous or full practice authority (FPA) to APRNs. However, a good number of states still restrict or reduce the freedom of practice within them for APRNs (AANP, 2022). This calls for political competence on the part of the nurse in that she should be able to lobby and advocate for a better practice environment with the politicians. This can be done at an individual level but also collectively through professional organizations such as the American Nurses Association or ANA.
To be fully involved, the nurse as an individual can also seek for an elective political post so that they can influence healthcare policy from within the state legislature. Other matters such as health promotion to the community with regard to better healthier diets are also at times quite political in nature. For this, the nurse must have political competence to navigate the field of stakeholders successfully. For instance, it is known that sodas and other sugary sweetened beverages are a major cause of obesity in teenagers especially from poor backgrounds. This is an issue the nurse must use political competence to have addressed. The reason is that the players are huge multinational companies that have great influence on the legislators. Taking them on regarding matters such as the banning of these drinks requires political wit from the nurse (Kennedy, 2016). Political Competence of the Nurse Essay Paper
Political Competence of the Nurse at the National Level
The national level is the highest level at which mega policies are formulated. At this level, the nurse needs to have an elective post within one of the professional organizations such as the ANA. Alternatively, they may vie for a post such as that of a legislator or senator and sit in Congress where they will influence national healthcare policy. This is how they may contribute using political competence to policies such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or ACA 2010 (Kominski et al., 2017).
Conclusion
Political competence for a nurse is an integral part of policy advocacy. Either alone or in conjunction with others the nurse can influence policy at all levels. Instruments such as professional nursing organizations are available for the nurse to make this a real
References
American Association of Nurse Practitioners [AANP] (2022). State practice environment. https://www.aanp.org/advocacy/state/state-practice-environment
Kennedy, M. (June 16, 2016). Philadelphia becomes the 1st major U.S. city to pass a tax on soda. The Two-Way: Breaking News from NPR. http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/16/482359140/philadelphia-becomes-1st-major-u-s-city-to-pass-a-tax-on-soda
Kominski, G.F., Nonzee, N.J. & Sorensen, A. (2017). The Affordable Care Act’s impacts on access to insurance and health care for low-income populations. Annual Review of Public Health, 38. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031816-044555
Mason, D.J., Gardner, D.B., Outlaw, F.H., & O’Grady, E.T. (2016). Policy and politics in nursing and healthcare, 7th ed. Elsevier.
Milstead, J. & Short, N. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide, 6th ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Political Competence of the Nurse Essay Paper
