Sample Answer for NURS 6050 The Role of the RN APRN in Policy-Making Included After Question
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?
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.
RESOURCES
Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.
Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.
WEEKLY RESOURCES
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.
BY DAY 6 OF WEEK 8
Respond to at least two of your colleagues’* posts by suggesting additional opportunities or recommendations for overcoming the challenges described by your colleagues.
A Sample Answer For the Assignment: NURS 6050 The Role of the RN APRN in Policy-Making
Title: NURS 6050 The Role of the RN APRN in Policy-Making
There are many ways nurses can be involved in policymaking. The first opportunity is to join professional organizations. There are many professional organizations such as the American Nurses Association and the American Academy of Nursing. Professional organizations have an important role in policymaking and advocacy. They can lobby for the formulation of policies that promote patient care and protect the interests of nurses (Morin, 2021). The second opportunity is advocating for policymaking through the organizations they work. Registered nurses are professionals with the skills, capacity and knowledge to influence policymaking. They can ensure that the policies formulated are effective in their workplaces. Nurses should give their opinions and reject any policies that may negatively affect the safety and quality of healthcare services.
Policymaking through the professional organizations’ route has its challenges. Most professional organizations have complex registration processes and high membership costs. Research has shown that nurses may not join professional organizations due to the high membership costs (Gaines, 2019). This challenge of high membership costs can be solved by subsidizing membership fees for new members and fresh graduate nurses to ensure most nurses join these organizations. The workplace route may also present challenges. Poor leadership may not steer the nurses in the right direction to help in policymaking. This can be solved by training nurse leaders to have the right skills and competencies to help guide the nurses in policy formulation. They should be educated on political competencies.
The two strategies to communicate these opportunities are training and good leadership. Training of nurses, will allow them to understand their roles and participate in policymaking to improve patient care. The second strategy is good leadership. Good leaders will guide nurses on the existing opportunities to help in policymaking.
References
Gaines, K. (2019). You should join a nursing organization. Here’s why. Nurse.org. https://nurse.org/articles/benefits-of-nursing-organizations/
Morin, K. H. (2021). Editorial: Contributions of professional nursing organizations. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 77(6).
A Sample Answer 2 For the Assignment: NURS 6050 The Role of the RN APRN in Policy-Making
Title: NURS 6050 The Role of the RN APRN in Policy-Making
Thank you for sharing how nurses can get involved in policymaking and the challenges we may face. I agree that getting involved in a professional organization is a great way for all nurses to become involved in policy. I will personally most likely end up joining at least two professional organizations. I would like to become a member of the American Nurses Association (ANA) and the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA). The ANA is beneficial at a federal and state level by lobbying, representing nurses in federal agencies, and advocating at the state level (American Nurses Association. n.d.). Because my specialty is in psychiatric nursing, I will also join the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA). As a member of the APNA, there is access to continuing education, updated best practices, networking with other professionals, a center for resources, and much more (APNA. n.d.).
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Getting involved in policy making decisions at the organizational level is a great suggestion. This would be especially helpful for a
nurse who plans to continue at their organization for a long time. I have been at my current employer for many years, and intend to stay at this organization once becoming and APRN. Thankfully there is strong leadership at my organization and becoming involved in committees is highly encouraged, and even rewarded. This will not have much impact on a large scale, but is a great way to improve and advance your practice where you work. Thank you for another great week of discussions!
References
American Nurses Association. (n.d.) Member Benefits. Retrieved January 19, 2022 from
American Psychiatric Nurses Association. (n.d.). Why Join? Retrieved January 19, 2022
from https://www.apna.org/membership/why-join/
A Sample Answer 3 For the Assignment: NURS 6050 The Role of the RN APRN in Policy-Making
Title: NURS 6050 The Role of the RN APRN in Policy-Making
As we have discussed before, nurses have the ability to get involved with politics and policy-making by joining a professional nursing organization such as American Nurses Association (ANA) or American Association for Critical Care Nurses (AACN) for RNs and American Association of Nurse Practitioners for APRNs and so many others for every specialty within the nursing profession. RNs and APRNs also have the opportunity to run for office, whether it is for the local board, state legislation or being present at a federal level. “Nurses’ policy influence is nurses’ ability in the influencing decisions and affairs related to health through political knowledge, effective communication, and collaboration with other members of the health team, which results in the improvement of nurses’ job environment and increases patient outcomes” (Arabi et al., 2014).
With presenting new policies there will always be challenges needing to be overcome in order to implement the proposition at hand. One of those challenges seem to be within the first step of introducing the bill to the House of Representatives and Senate for it to be passed on to the appropriate committee. In order to avoid this challenge, getting involved with lobbyists and constituents to obtain endorsements from legislators, influential community leaders and professional associations allows the presenting individuals to go in with support of those who are more familiar with congress (Milstead & Short, 2019). Another challenge may be in the verbiage of the presented policy, which is why it is important that it is “drafted into the proper legislative language” (Milstead & Short, 2019).
Nurses at all levels deserve to know that their voice matters, and their voice can make a difference. The importance of ANA relative to policies needs to be expressed more intensely so nurses can see the hard work being done “behind the scenes” when it comes to policies. “ANA believes that advocacy is a pillar of nursing. Nurses instinctively advocate for their patients, in their workplaces, and in their communities; but legislative and political advocacy is no less important to advancing the profession and patient care” (ANA, n.d.). Another strategy I would implement would be starting a policy making team or suggestion box within my hospital organization so that those who have concerns or suggestions to better the work environment and patient care can truly feel like the propositions they are presenting are being considered instead of feeling like they are falling on the deaf ears of administration. Nurses need to feel that they are appreciated and in order for that to happen, changes need to be made to improve the issues they are presenting.
References
American Nurses Association (ANA). (n.d.). Advocacy. Retrieved September 20, 2018, from https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/advocacy/
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), 315–322.
Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
A Sample Answer 4 For the Assignment: NURS 6050 The Role of the RN APRN in Policy-Making
Title: NURS 6050 The Role of the RN APRN in Policy-Making
When talking about the healthcare professionals, the roles of nurses, either the registered nurses (RNs) or the advanced nurse practitioners APRNs) can not be underrated. Nurses offer a unique, expert perspective on every aspect of the health care system and have an important voice in efforts to improve health (American Nurses Association [ANA], n.d.). Based on this, their involvement in the policy-making process is very paramount. The participation of the nurses in policy-making will facilitate patient care delivery. RNs’ and APRNs’ influence in health policies protects patient safety, increases the quality of care, facilitates their access to the required resources, and promotes quality health care (Arabi et al., 2014).
Nursing organizations promote active participation by nurses in policymaking. For instance, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing emphasizes the role of nursing in the policy. For example, many educational programs incorporate policymaking into their curriculum. The National League for Nursing and the American Nurses Association also expect nurses to address policy as part of their professional role (Burke, 2016a).
How Nurses Can Partake in Policy-Making Process
A few of the numerous ways a nurse can partake in policymaking process are reading through pieces of literature and learning how policy is developed. Also, one should seek out policy areas one wants to influence, search the internet, research, and contact nursing organizations that participate in policy development. Nursing organizations and organizations such as AARP have multiple user-friendly internet sites that provide information about participating in policymaking activities (Burke, 2016b). Another way to become actively involved in policymaking is to meet with both local and state legislatures. Also, nurses can become actively involved in policymaking by becoming a nursing organization member such as American Nurses Association (ANA) or any other nursing professional organization (ANA, n.d.).
Challenges in Policy-Making Process
As there are many opportunities to get involved in the policymaking process, so are some challenges. One of those challenges includes difficulty in getting the ideas/agenda to the floor of the house. To overcome this challenge, one must be sure that he/she is knowledgeable with evidence-based facts regarding the issue before presenting to the policymakers. Involving the media is another way to get one’s agenda to the floor of the house and finally passed into law. Disseminating the information through social media brings the issue to the public’s awareness, which in turn pressurizes the law makers. Social media can support nursing campaigns and help the profession build relationships with key stakeholders to influence policy and political processes (O’Connor & Holloway, 2019).
References
American Nurses Association. (n.d.). Health Policy. Retrieved January 17, 2021 from https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/health-policy/
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), 315–322.
Burke S. (2016). Influence through policy: Nurses have a unique role. Retrieved January 17, 2021 from https://nursingcentered.sigmanursing.org/commentary/more-commentary/Vol42_2_nurses-have-a-unique-role