NURS 6050 The Role of the RN/APRN in Policy-Making ESSAY

NURS 6050 The Role of the RN/APRN in Policy-Making

NURS 6050 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?
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.
NURS 6050 The Role of the RN/APRN in Policy-MakingBy 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.
Click on the Reply button below to reveal the textbox for entering your message. Then click on the Submit button to post your message.
*Note: Throughout this program, your fellow students are referred to as colleagues.
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2 months ago
Faisal Aboul-enein Walden Instructor Manager
RE: Discussion – Week 8- focus points
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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.

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2 months ago
Pilar Turner
RE: Discussion – Week 8- focus points: Main Post
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The nursing profession has undeniable strength in numbers; however in order for our powerful presence to inform policy-making we must accept political presence as a cornerstone of nursing culture and discipline. Health care policy indeed has been a large variable in the nursing science and discipline from the time Florence Nightingale made nursing and advocacy one in the same. Furthermore, I believe some might argue that the term advocating can be swapped out with policy-making in various discussions with no changes in the end result of the conversation. Can you imagine the health care reform and policy-making efforts of Florence Nightingale in modern time? Nightingale-care doesn’t have the same ring as Obama-care, but surely it would be impactful.
In an age of credentialism, technology, and scientific advancements, how does an RN or APRN follow in the footsteps of Nightingale to advocate for patients with policy-making involvement? In the nineteenth century, workhouse infirmaries were established in England to house the aged, infirm, and the occasional lunatic was allowed to stay for no longer than a fortnight (Rivett, 2021). Nursing care in workhouses was provided by untrained or “pauper” nurses, who were workhouse inmates themselves. Nightingale believed in the institution of professional nursing services, and the nursing services provided in the workhouses did not align with her vision or drive. Nightingale teamed up with philanthropist William Rathbone in a project that would provide a workhouse in Liverpool with a trained nursing staff and a nursing leader, Agnes Jones (McDonald, 2001). Nightingale and Rathbone believed that if care provided in workhouses by trained nursing professionals yielded improved patient outcomes, authorities would be forced to extend the practice standard to all workhouses. Unfortunately, immediate reform did not result from Nightingale and Rathbone’s project. Consequentially, legislation associated with workhouses would not take place until healthcare costs of communicable diseases began to drastically have a negative impact on England’s economy (McDonald, 2001). Imagine the impact Nightingale could have on modern healthcare reform with the support of a board of nursing, professional nursing organizations, and the use of social media.
The nursing profession in itself is a significant health care resource, and we make up more than 50% of the national health workforce in many countries (Jokiniemi et al., 2020). Professional nursing organizations like the American Nurse Association (ANA) and the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) offers RN’s and APRN’s opportunities to be involved in policy-making via fellowships, health care policy forums and conferences. APRN’s and APRN students can get involved in their local chapter of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) to become involved and stay up to date on APRN practice authority and prescriptive authority legislation. RN’s and APRN’s can also become involved in their states board of nursing to influence policy-making as well. The downside of these opportunities is unfortunately time and money. Fellowships and BON applications involve collecting references, nominations, personal statements, and of course there are always fees, not to mention the time you are committing if selected. Becoming a member of a professional nursing organization has several benefits; however, the cost can be a deterrent. Annual ANA memberships can range from $200.00 to over $500.00, and despite the scholarly benefits, I would like more bang for my buck. I would rather spend $1500.00 for an annual ANA membership with two guaranteed conferences,… I would take one out of town conference.
Circling back to the influence nurses can have on policy-making by sheer numbers alone, the social media platform has the reach to command policy change if used correctly. President Trump can attest to the power of the Twitter; however, one study researched the power of the Twitter to engage nursing students in health care policy. According to the American Association of Colleges if Nursing (AACN) and Gazza (2019), baccalaureate-prepared nurses have a professional responsibility to engage in the political process of creating and influencing health care policy. Nurses are needed to serve on boards where they can improve health care practices and outcomes, but nurse educators face the challenge of engaging students in health care policy education when students are otherwise engaged in “more exciting” undergraduate courses like anatomy and physiology or pharmacology. Thus, Gazza (2019) decided to take an innovative step to engage student in health care policy education by using a teaching medium the students are overly familiar with, the Twitter. In this study, students were required to create a Twitter account and follow the instructor. Although students could contribute tweets of their own, it was not a graded assignment. Over the seven week course, the instructor would post and reports relevant tweets related to weekly course material. The instructor would also follow stakeholders and political members and parties to augment course material. The major two themes that emerged from the study were (1) staying up to date and (2) opening my eyes (Gazza, 2019). Students found that the use of social media provided ease of access to real time health care policy agendas, debates, and pending legislation (Gazza, 2019). Student also reported feeling more involved and like actual participants in health policy via disseminations of re-tweets.
The ANA advocates for nursing have a seat at the table for all healthcare discussions. We have the numbers, but our contributions in the policy-making arena do not reflect our presence. We have learned thus far in the course that political funding from interest group, stakeholders, and professional organizations carries a lot of weight in the policy-making arena. I believe nursing professional organizations and state board of nursing leaders need action plans for bringing in more members. Leadership in these nursing organizations needs to brainstorm on how to improve nurse engagement and increases memberships for professional nursing organizations.
References
American Academy of Nursing. Fellowships. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
https://www.aannet.org/about/fellows
Gazza, E. A. (2019). Using Twitter to Engage Online RN-to-BSN Students in Health Care Policy. Journal of
Nursing Education, 58(2), 107–109. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.3928/01484834-20190122-08
Jokiniemi, K., Suutarla, A., Meretoja, R., Kotila, J., Axelin, A., Flinkman, M., Heikkinen, K., & Fagerström,
L. (2020). Evidence‐informed policymaking: Modelling nurses’ career pathway from registered
nurse to advanced practice nurse. International Journal of Nursing Practice (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.), 26(1), N.PAG. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1111/ijn.12777
McDonald, L. (2001). Florence Nightingale and the early origins of evidence-based nursing. Evidence-
Based Nursing, 4(3), 68–69. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1136/ebn.4.3.68
Rivett, Geoffrey. “The Poor Law Infirmaries”. NHS History. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/health-and-social-care-explained/the-history-of-the-nhs

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2 months ago
Irikefe Ojevwe
RE: Discussion – Week 8- focus points: Main Post
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Hello Pilar,
This is insightful. RNs, and APRNs are always given opportunities to participate in decision-making. For most healthcare institutions, the contribution of registered nurses and advanced registered nurses is significant given the knowledge and experiences they possess in the provision of different healthcare services (Gazza, 2019). Nurses are needed to serve on boards where they can improve health care practices and outcomes. Both RNs and APRNs have different platforms where they can express their ideas and participate in the policy-making processes (Moore et al., 2020). One of these platforms is the professional nursing organization, where they can contribute significantly to improving the healthcare process. Research and education are some other platforms where nurses can participate to ensure improvement in different healthcare processes. Unlike RN nurses, APRN has advanced roles that make them considered in the decision-making processes (Kooienga & Wilkinson, 2017). First, they have advanced knowledge and experiences, which allow them to participate as nurse advocates and in administrative positions. The ANA advocates for nursing have a seat at the table for all healthcare discussions.
References
Gazza, E. A. (2019). Using Twitter to Engage Online RN-to-BSN Students in Health Care Policy. Journal of Nursing Education, 58(2), 107–109. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.3928/01484834-20190122-08
Kooienga, S., & Wilkinson, J. (2017, January). RN prescribing: an expanded role for nursing. In Nursing forum (Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 3-11). https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12159
Moore, A., Parks, K., & Mello, I. (2020). Transitioning from RN to APRN. Nursing made Incredibly Easy, 18(2), 51-54. https://journals.lww.com/nursingmadeincrediblyeasy/Citation/2020/03000/Transitioning_from_RN_to_APRN.9.aspx

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2 months ago
Solange Yongbang
RE: Discussion – Week 8- focus points: Main Post
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Hello Pilar, thank you for the information you shared in your discussion. Through policy making nurses can and should influence practice standards and processes to assure the quality of health care. Nurses who influence policy, also impact resource allocation to support delivery of health care (Phillips, 2003).
Nurses should be provided with resources to get involved in political campaigns, writing letters to editors, engaging with politicians and carrying out lobbying activities.
Reference
Phillips, R. (2003). Health Care Policy: The Nurse’s Crucial Role. American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing. https://www.aaacn.org/volunteer/teams/legislative/health-care-policy-nurses-crucial-role

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2 months ago
Faisal Aboul-enein Walden Instructor Manager
RE: Discussion – Week 8
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Keep in mind the historical roots of how and why APN roles began.
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2 months ago
Irikefe Ojevwe
RE: Discussion – Week 8
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Nurses should be a component of the policy review process to enhance their careers, care delivery, and better their organizations’ ability to offer primary care interventions. Imperatively, the first opportunity for nurse to be part of the policymaking is through participation in meetings to discuss policy matters. Through these fora, RNs and APRNs can influence other stakeholders to understanding healthcare issues better and existing challenges so that they can develop frameworks to address any shortcomings or improve on better practiced for quality care delivery (Joel, 2017). Through the meetings, nurses can offer insights on what should be done to reduce cost of healthcare among other issues. The second opportunity is through being members of professional organizations like the American Nurses Association. These entities collect data and disseminate it through giving information and knowledge to their members to improve policies and patient outcomes (Milstead & Short, 2019). Professional organizations give nurses the opportunity to review policies and apply evidence-based practice research to inform of the best practice interventions to enhance care delivery.
Challenges in these opportunities include the limited time that may constraint nurses from going for professional meetings and conferences to horn new trends and nursing skills. Secondly, joining professional associations like the ANA poses challenges to nurses and one among these is the availability of diverse opinions that one may not agree with and find not compatible to their perspective (Schaeffer & Haebler, 2019). Evaluation of health policies may also encounter limited resource allocation. More fundamentally, lack of knowledge on the use of EBP among nurses may hinder its effectiveness.
Strategies to communicate better and advocate for policy reviews are important. These include deployment of research on health policy to help determine ways to improve care. Nurses can also use available resources to ensure that they are effective in their communication and interactions with other stakeholders (Milstead & Short, 2019). Training and education can also help them understand policies much better and disseminate knowledge to stakeholders.
References
Joel, L. A. (2017). Advanced Practice Nursing: Essentials for Role Development. F.A. Davis.
Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.).
Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Schaeffer, R., & Haebler, J. (2019). Nurse Leaders: Extending your policy influence. Nurse
Leader, 17(4), 340-343. doi 10.1016/j.mnl.2019.05.010

NURS 6050 The Role of the RN/APRN in Policy-Making ESSAY

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