Nursing Leadership
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Political Competence in Nursing
Political competence defines the perspectives, values, and skills required for constructive political involvement within the professional role of a nurse. Political competence is necessary within the nursing profession to enable nurses to intervene in a culturally diverse community and broad environmental determinants or socioeconomics of health. Nurses should also have political competence to incorporate nursing values with policy discussions. Nurses need to be politically competent to protect the profession from negative and unhealthy policies that may be channeled through changes in public policy and politics (Benton et al., 2017). Nursing and health reforms, in general, have become highly polarized along partisan and political lines hence the need for political competency among nurses so that they can become politically skillful and politically involved in the reforms. In the health sector, nurses comprise of the largest workforce and therefore have a powerful position of serving communities and patients through leveraging their unique position and numbers to influence policies in the health sector. Nurses are the professionals who are closest to patients and are always the first-hand witness to the inequalities and inadequacies within the health sector and can also give their input in the discussion relating to health care delivery. Nurses’ opinions in health policy debates must be heard and seen because they have the necessary experience, legacy, and education that can address factors that impact the population’s health.
A nurse leader can demonstrate political competence by giving expertise and advice on the ways to craft legislation that can improve the lives of nurses and patients. Nurse leaders should rise above their political inclination to ensure their patients get the medication they need and that the law does not discriminate against any type of patient (Melo et al. 2020). Politically competent nurse leaders are in a better position to understand health care issues and how the law can sometimes work against a patient type.
Patient Care Issue
According to Carlesi et al. (2017), patient safety is a patient care issue at the local level, which, through nursing leadership, has resulted in policy change at the national level. According to the researchers, nurse workload is a major concern in the issue of patient safety. The objective of passing legislation at the national level is to prevent errors, harms, and risks that can take place at the local level resulting in injuries and even death of patients. The patient care issue of safety is important in making patients have trust and confidence in the local health care systems. Nursing leadership is cognizant of the fact that patient safety necessitates changes in the levels of the healthcare system, such as policy and accreditation. Reports to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) have necessitated federal actions that have improved patient safety at the local level. Nursing leadership has complimented patient safety to workplace safety because by ensuring the passage of legislation that protects nurses in health care facilities. Such protection usually comes in the form of a hygienic environment.
Patient safety as a patient care issue has resulted in national policies that promote adequate staffing and outline the mechanisms that can enhance interdisciplinary collaboration among health care workers. Keeping Patients Safe are 18 recommendations by nursing leadership to the IOM that describe the actions of governmental policymakers, healthcare organizations, and labor organizations to ensure patient safety in the healthcare delivery system (Sharpe, 2018). Even though the eighteen recommendations are not directed to any individual nurse, they are often used to leverage the protection of patient’s safety. Nursing leaders have addressed issues relating to patient safety, such as hydration, inadequate nursing care, and misdiagnosis.
References
Benton, D. C., Al Maaitah, R., & Gharaibeh, M. (2017). An integrative review of pursing policy and political competence. International Nursing Review, 64(1), 135-145.
Carlesi, K. C., Padilha, K. G., Toffoletto, M. C., Henriquez-Roldán, C., & Juan, M. A. C. (2017). Patient safety incidents and nursing workload. Revista latino-americana de enfermagem, 25.
Melo, W. S. D., Oliveira, P. J. F. D., Monteiro, F. P. M., Santos, F. C. D. A., Silva, M. J. N. D., Calderon, C. J., … & Simão, A. A. C. (2017). Guide of attributes of the nurse’s political competence: a methodological study. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 70(3), 526-534.
Sharpe, V. A. (Ed.). (2018). Accountability: patient safety and policy reform. Georgetown University Press.