Discussion 2: The Role of the RN/APRN in Policy-Making
Word cloud generators have become popular tools for meetings and team-building events. Groups or teams are asked to use these applications to input words they feel best describe their team or their role. A “word cloud” is generated by the application that makes prominent the most-used terms, offering an image of the common thinking among participants of that role.

What types of words would you use to build a nursing word cloud? Empathetic, organized, hard-working, or advocate would all certainly apply. Would you add policy-maker to your list? Do you think it would be a very prominent component of the word cloud?  The Role of the RN/ APRN in Policy Making Essay Paper

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. When nurses influence the politics that improve the delivery of healthcare, they are ultimately advocating for their patients. Hence, policy-making has become an increasingly popular term among nurses as they recognize a moral and professional obligation to be engaged in healthcare legislation.

To Prepare:

Revisit the Congress.gov website provided in the Resources and consider the role of RNs and APRNs in policy-making.
Reflect on potential opportunities that may exist for RNs and APRNs to participate in the policy-making process.
By Day 3 of Week 8
Post an explanation of at least two opportunities that exist for RNs and APRNs to actively participate in policy-making. Explain some of the challenges that these opportunities may present and describe how you might overcome these challenges. Finally, recommend two strategies you might make to better advocate for or communicate the existence of these opportunities to participate in policy-making. Be specific and provide examples.

Required Readings
Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Chapter 5, “Public Policy Design” (pp. 87–95 only)
Chapter 8, “The Impact of EHRs, Big Data, and Evidence-Informed Practice” (pp. 137–146)
Chapter 9, “Interprofessional Practice” (pp. 152–160 only)
Chapter 10, “Overview: The Economics and Finance of Health Care” (pp. 183–191 only)
American Nurses Association (ANA). (n.d.). Advocacy. Retrieved September 20, 2018, from https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/advocacy/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (n.d.). Step by step: Evaluating violence and injury prevention policies: Brief 4: Evaluating policy implementation. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/injury/pdfs/policy/Brief%204-a.pdf

Congress.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2018, from https://www.congress.gov/

Klein, K. J., & Sorra, J. S. (1996). The challenge of innovation implementation. Academy of Management Review, 21(4), 1055–1080.

Sacristán, J., & Dilla, T. D. (2015). No big data without small data: Learning health care systems begin and end with the individual patient. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, 21(6), 1014–1017.  The Role of the RN/ APRN in Policy Making Essay Paper

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Tummers, L., & Bekkers, V. (2014). Policy implementation, street level bureaucracy, and the importance of discretion. Public Management Review, 16(4), 527–547.

The Role of the RN/ APRN in Policy Making

Nurses including the advanced practice registered nurses are the de facto patient advocates and as such are called upon to always engage in the politics of healthcare (Milstead & Short, 2019). This requires nurses to engage legislators and other law makers as these are the people who are tasked with formulating healthcare policy. A number of opportunities exist for nurses to engage in healthcare policy making and formulation. The purpose of this paper is to point out just two of these.

Two Opportunities for RNs and APRNs in Policy Making

The United States has one of the most expensive healthcare systems in the developed world (Sultz & Kroth, 2018). This means that only those that can afford the high insurance costs can access quality healthcare in the country. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 can only cover a limited number of the poor. Also, prescription drug costs are out of the reach of many. This is an opportunity for the nurses to start a movement targeting legislators to drop the cost of healthcare (O’Rourke et al., 2017). This way they will help the marginalized communities.

The other opportunity is in running for political elective office as a nurse. This is an opportunity many nurse are not aware of and as such need to be educated about (Ellenbecker et al., 2017). Because the nurses are the ones with the knowledge about healthcare and the challenges faced by the patients, they are the best people to push through legislative agenda in the House that will favor patients.

Some of the challenges brought about by these opportunities are lack of public and professional awareness and the lack of resources to mount a political campaign for office. To overcome these, the nurses can team up with colleagues in professional organizations to for a united voice that cannot be ignored. Two strategies for communicating the existence of these opportunities to nurses are publication in professional journals and podium presentations.

Conclusion

Policy participation for nurses is part and parcel of their roles. A nurse is a patient advocate and as such they must do everything to ensure that legislation that is passed about healthcare favors patients. The only way to do this is to engage with politicians and even to run for public office.

References

Ellenbecker, C.H., Fawcett, J., Jones, E.J., Mahoney, D., Rowlands, B., Waddell, A. (2017). A staged approach to educating nurses in health policy. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/1527154417709254

Milstead, J. & Short, N. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide, 6^th ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

O’Rourke, N.C., Crawford, S.L., Morris, N.S., & Pulcini, J. (2017). Political efficacy and participation of nurse practitioners. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 18(3), 135–148. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527154417728514

Sultz, H.A., & Kroth, P.J. (2018). Sultz and Young’s health care USA: Understanding its organization and delivery, 9^th ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

The Role of the RN/ APRN in Policy Making Essay Paper