Reply to Shauna M
Your post is focused on the APRNs’ barriers caused by the federal and state policy restrictions that limit their independence hence their participation in legislative processes. However, as you suggest, other than federal and state policies, the organizations employing APRNs also contribute significantly to creating these barriers. Nsiah et al. (2019) studied the APRNs obstacles to participation in legislative processes at the organization level. The study found retaliation from the organization, ineffective communication, collaborative co-workers, fear of past negative advocacy outcomes, and too many bureaucracies, to be the key barriers. Like you imply, the only way nurses can overcome these barriers is if they all join hands, take advantage of their huge number, and raise their voices to influence policy changes that will ensure they remain protected even as they participate in legislative processes.
References
Nsiah, C., Siakwa, M., & Ninnoni, J. (2019). Barriers to practising patient advocacy in healthcare settings. Nursing Open, 7(2), 650-659. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.436
Reply to Christina T
Your post highlights a critical nurses’ barrier to participation in legislation processes which is often overlooked, the politics behind policy reforms. Some institutions perceive legislations as unsupportive to their interests, thus prevent their APRNs from engaging in the process. Such challenging environments pose a great ethical challenge to APRNs where they weigh in between patient advocacy and institutional rules. Weberg et al. (2019) suggest that nurse leaders have the moral obligation of always making the right decision that includes serving as strong patient advocates. One way to achieve this is to view policy as something that nurses can shape and develop rather than stay on the outside. As such, to overcome such institutional barriers, APRNs must take the bold step of engaging the political process, contributing effectively in health policy decision making, and work cohesively as a profession.
References
Weberg, D., Mangold, K., Malloch, K., & Porter-O’Grady, T. (2019). Leadership in nursing practice: Changing the landscape of health care (3rd ed.). Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Topic 4 DQ 2
Reply to Marta K
You attribute the lack of sufficient nursing representation in health policy decision-making table to the education system that offers very little on healthcare legislation. I would add that this is one of the signs showing how nursing is a young profession and discipline. Nursing has endured a long struggle for professional equity due to its historical affiliation to the female gender. According to Weberg et al. (2019), the nursing profession only started receiving significant progressive changes in the late 19th century after Florence Nightingale made a significant impact on nursing British soldiers. Nightingale believed that nursing if embedded in strong scientific principles and knowledge, could become an honorable profession in healthcare. Before Nightingale, the profession was just a subservient function to medicine performed by women. No one cared to codify or formalize the domain. As such, nursing is still developing, and with time, its representation in healthcare policy discussions will grow.
References
Weberg, D., Mangold, K., Malloch, K., & Porter-O’Grady, T. (2019). Leadership in nursing practice: Changing the landscape of health care (3rd ed.). Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Reply to Afua F
I can’t entirely agree with your argument that America is still struggling with its patriarchal past, and this is why nurses are not adequately represented in policy decisions. America has made significant steps in improving nursing. Nurses today can purse up to doctoral degrees. More men are in the workforce. The discipline is highly specialized. This shows that the profession has gained equity. However, I would agree that America’s patriarchal past is the reason why representation is still low. Pompilio (2020) argues that the perception that nursing is a feminine role made it very challenging for it to be regarded as an impactful profession. As masculine disciplines such as medicine developed in terms of the body of knowledge, nursing was stagnant until the late 19th century, when Florence Nightingale came into the picture. Therefore, it took longer compared nursing to achieve professional equity. This explains why nurses’ representation in policy decisions is considerably low. However, nurses now perceive policy as something they can shape and develop.
References
Pompilio, E. (2020, January 14). Gender role in nursing. Elite Learning: https://www.elitecme.com/resource-center/nursing/gender-roles-in-nursing#:~:text=Nursing%20should%20focus%20on%20gender,person%20and%20not%20their%20gender.