Health Policy Brief: Inclusion of Nurses to Health Reform
Problem
The American government at all the levels – regional, state, and national – should include nurses in health reforms (particularly in the ACA reform) due to their significant impact in patient care. Nursing is the biggest medical profession globally with the United States alone having approximately four million of them (Brokaw, 2016). Nurses need to be politically active as this offers them an avenue to advocate for patients. This act is critical for nurses as it is one of their core value is social justice (Katz, 2007). Therefore, when nurses engage in political activity, they transform discreet events by raising them to societal attitudes. Because of their high numbers, they end up helping thousands of individuals. In addition, they represent their interests that other stakeholders may not be aware of, which include their concerns and solutions to them. For instance, nurses declare that the ACA program burns them out, and in turn, they are unable to perform their roles effectively (Thew, 2017).
Multiple reasons exist for limited nursing involvement in politics and policy. They include insufficient skills, lack of awareness or empowerment, and little opportunity for participation (which is the case in the undergoing ACA reform).
Policy Options
Two main policy options can be implemented to promote the participation of nurses in political matters. They are educating and empowering the nurses, and creating acts that demand nurses to be in the reform meetings.
Educating and empowering Nurses
Educational facilities ought to educate nursing students on the importance of participating in policy development. It should be done in both bachelor and doctorate levels, and the educational program will in the process empower the nurses. Various approaches can be used like the faculty acting like role models and blatantly depicting to them that getting involved with politics is their civic and professional obligation.
Inclusion of Nurses in Politics Act
Acts should be made that demand an exact number of nurses to participate in the reform changes. On the other hand, the law can be incorporated to existing acts, like the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which support the intervention of nurses in health reforms (Arabi et al., 2014).
Supporting Evidence
Several studies substantiate the benefits of collaborative policy work. A research carried out by the president of the Singapore Nurses Association, and the leader of the Irish Nurses Midwives Organization (Burke, 2016) shows that allowing the nurses to partake in political activities considerably bridges disparities in clinical practices. The report notes that health policy decision-making processes require the nurse professions, as they eventually improve patient outcomes. However, there should be an effective and robust structure for the change to happen. In another research (Arabi et al., 2014), nurses’ involvement protects patient safety and proliferates care quality. Besides, primary care groups believed that their consultations have been effective after involving the nurses.
Impacts
The benefits associated with including nurses in political reforms are limitless. Nonetheless, the main one is the improvement of patient outcome. For instance, nurses have identified the significant setback in the ACA program and an easy practicable solution for it. The limitation of ACA is that it has increased the patient flow and pushed a considerable number of nurses to ambulatory care. Therefore, the nurses time for taking care of acute-suffering patients has dramatically reduced. In managing the issue, the nurses recommend the Trump administration to increase its support for the nurse faculty advancement. The nurses overall suggest minor changes to the ACA rather than entirely changing it (Thew, 2017).
This case points out that not including nurses in reforms, notably the ACA one, will not show substantial issues that affect the delivery of quality care and will lead to much changes that are not needed.
References
Arabi, A., Rafii, F., Cheraghi, M. A., & Ghiyasvandian, S. (2014). Nurses’ policy influence: A concept analysis. Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research, 19(3), 315.
Brokaw, J. J. (2016, September 22). American Nurse Today official Journal of the American Nurses Association (ANA). American Nurse. https://www.myamericannurse.com/nursing-professions-potential-impact-policy-politics/
Burke, S. (2016). Influence through policy: Nurses have a unique role. Reflections on Nursing Leadership.
Katz, J. R. (2007). A Career in Nursing: Is it Right for Me?. Mosby Elsevier.
Thew, J. (2017, February 1). Nurses missing from healthcare reform talks. HealthLeaders Media. https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/nursing/nurses-missing-healthcare-reform-talks