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1. Reasons Nurses Don’t Engage in Lobbying Efforts

As registered nurses it is important to be involved in developing and changing public policy and make our voices heard. Engaging in public policy is a moral and professional obligation of nurses because these choices impact their patients. Authors (Shariff, 2014) state that “Nurses’ involvement in health policy development ensures that health care is safe, of a high quality, accessible and affordable.” For example, many nurses do not get involved in policy and politics because they lack the education, or awareness of the impact it can make. In addition, other obstacles that limit the involvement of nursing professionals participating in public policies could be time and resources. Additionally, stated in (Shariff, 2014) “Numerous factors influence nurses’ ability to be politically active in influencing health policy development, such as finding the needed time and possessing relevant knowledge and interest about how political issues affect health care and the nursing profession.” I believe that if an individual is not politically involved prior to their nursing degree, then their belief systems of being inactive in serving in public policymaking and lobbying maintain the same while they are licensed nurses.

Actions nurses can take to encourage themselves and their peers to get involved

There are many ways nurses can encourage themselves and their peers to get involved in politics and lobbying for specific issues such as healthcare policy changes. For example, some of these activities include voting, campaigning, attending rallies, volunteering, and contacting elected officials, working on local problems and issues. According to the author (Andres, 2021) “Nurses may lack knowledge of the political process and have a limited understanding of how to leverage powerholders and thought leaders. Access to policymakers may be limited. All these skills are necessary to impact the development and ultimate passage of health legislation. If nurses consider becoming involved in the political process to advocate for policy, an absence of understanding about elected officials and their respective positions on health care may be a hindrance.” As a nurse, we must advocate for health care problems and demand a change by lobbying for the causes we believe in. To lobby is to direct their effort to those in positions of power to create policies that benefit their patients. I believe by providing educational seminars to nurses about how their voices can count and can be heard is critical to get nurses to engage in lobbying for change. In addition, we can use social media to voice our activism by creating hashtags and broadcasting our professional opinions to the public.

2. What are the reasons many nurses do not actively engage in lobbying efforts?

Being politically active can be a daunting task. It can get frustrating and scary to fight for something you believe in, especially when the risk of being rejected is so high. Nurses do have a moral and professional obligation to be engaged in politics and lobbying when it comes to their patients, but a nurse can sometimes be discouraged to fight because it will seem like they have little power compared to those in the political world. This creates a lack of confidence among nurses, so they choose to stay silent instead of speaking out. Nursing did start off with a high effort to influence health policy beginning with Florence Nightingale. But this has changed over the years and nurses are viewed as having little influence and considered low on the food chain as compared to a doctor, even though nurses are just as important. Other factors that can prevent a nurse from lobbying might include the lack of time and relevant knowledge or even an interest about how political issues affect healthcare.

What actions can nurses take to encourage themselves and their peers to get involved politically and lobby for specific issues such as healthcare policy changes? Provide a detailed example.

An article titled “Speaking Truth to Power: Implications for Nursing’s Values And Voice” explains how important it is to stand up for patient rights in a system that has threatened so many issues in healthcare. They use the phrase “speaking truth to power” that was developed by the Quakers in the mid-1950s that has come to mean “speaking out to those in authority” (Nickitas, 2017). This to me is a very valuable phrase for a nurse to go by because we do have a voice that matters (Nickitas, 2017). Nurses interact very closely with patients and their families and accompany them in all sectors of health care for a long period of time making them the most knowledgeable with each patient. This knowledge allows them to advocate for patients and contribute to improving healthcare. As advocates and leaders, nurses must use their knowledge and voice to influence policy and decision making processes by creating face-to-face meetings with decision makers. This can also get fellow nurses involved and get voices heard. Face-to-face meetings can sometimes take a long time to arrange but with persistence it is worth it. Each member of the nursing team who will be at this meeting can have a part that creates a cohesive presentation and gets the point across which makes a huge impact.