Nurses Role in Influencing the Legislative Process
In a Microsoft Word document of 2-3 pages formatted in APA style, you will answer three questions related to your opportunity as a nurse and an advocate. The first two questions relate to influencing a bill that is traveling through the legislative process. The third question refers you to the social determinants of health and asks you to think specifically on your role as a nurse in influencing social determinants of health.
Answer the following questions:
What parts of the lawmaking process does a nurse have an opportunity to influence the final bill passage?
List at least two ways that this influence can take place. In your opinion, would one way be preferable over the other?
Reviewing the social determinants of health, select one to respond to this question:
What role can nurses play in promoting health status through policy changes directly affecting this social determinant?
Write each question as a new topic area and then follow with a paragraph or two to answer the question. You may find it necessary to search for answers to the questions outside of the assigned reading.
Sample Paper
Nurses Role in Influencing Legislative Process
In healthcare, nurses can advocate for many activities that lead to patients’ excellent health. Nursing advocacy may mean preserving human dignity, encouraging patient equality, and providing freedom from suffering (Loyola Chicago., 2018). As they advocate for influencing the social determinants of health, they can also advocate for bills in legislative processes related to healthcare-based needs.
Parts of Lawmaking Process Nurse Has a Chance to Impact Final Bill Passage
Parts of the law-making process where the nurses can impact are relatively many. First, the nurses may impact the introduction part of a particular bill by requesting Congress members sponsor the bill. Secondly, nurses in the law-making process can impact the hearing stage. They can submit a printed verification to express a view and correspondingly provide background on a specific matter. Nurses also, at this stage, can control how a bill will influence their constituents. Thirdly, nurses at the markup stage may propose changes and amendments to a specific law before it is endorsed.
Ways, the Influence May, Take Place
One way in which nurses can influence the legislative process is through advocacy in the community (Schaeffer & Haebler., 2019). They act as advocates by providing a connection between nursing and lawmakers hence influencing healthcare policies. The second way is via a direct legislative area where the nurses attend the health policymaking process. In my opinion, I would prefer the first way since it encompasses improving thoughts and clarifying the main issues by the nursing community. Therefore, nurse impact will signify the majority’s interest and not one person’s interest similar to that of the legislative area.
Social Determinants of Health
Social health determinants are conditions in an environment where the individuals were born, live, learn, worship, and play and their impact on health (Friedman & Banegas., 2018). Such social determinants involve public-based safety, social norm and attitudes, accessibility of community-based resources, access to healthcare services, literacy, and culture.
A social health determinant as highlighted that affects nurses’ role in impacting the legislative process is social norms and attitude. These are social health determinants that affect the health process of policymaking. Health policy and laws can be useless if they don’t echo the social norms and attitudes of the community. Social norms appear both in the formal law and in the societal prospects. A health policy thus must be formed on the basis it completely conforms to individuals’ attitudes and social norms. Therefore, the nurses’ impact on the legislative process as advocates is essential to guarantee that laws established are within the social norms; hence, social determinants define how nurses will impact specified bills.
Role Nurses Play in Encouraging Health Status via Policy Changes Affecting the
Addressed Social Determinant
Nurses have numerous roles in endorsing health status, like directly changing policy that impacts the norms as a social health determinant. Mainly, nurses’ impact in the health policies must act as the social norms protection. Yet, when nurses advocate for a bill through congress, social norms as health determinants will be positively affected. Generally, social norms define customary behavior. For example, when nurses propose a bill against Female circumcision, part of the community will perceive that this law is in a way positively impacting social norms, whereas others feel like they’ve been offended.
References
Friedman, N. L., & Banegas, M. P. (2018). Toward addressing social determinants of health: a health care system strategy. The Permanente Journal, 22. Doi: 10.7812/TPP/18-095
Loyola Chicago. (2018, July 18). The role of the nurse as a patient advocate. Loyola Chicago ABS. https://absn.luc.edu/blog/role-of-nurse-patient-advocate/
Schaeffer, R., & Haebler, J. (2019). Nurse leaders: extending your policy influence. Nurse Leader, 17(4), 340-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2019.05.010
