Discussion 1) The article I chose was Advanced practice nursing: Shaping health through policy from The Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. It covered methods in great detail that could be taken to enable Nurse Practitioners (NPs) to become successful political advocates.
To advocate for their role, NPs should view engaging in political healthcare policy making as a duty that provides a means of shaping their future rather than something that just affects their role. NPs need to keep in mind their advocacy requires effort, negotiation, and commitment of time. Small wins may pave the long path it may take to get bills past (Kostal-Polson et al., 2015).
When considering becoming a political advocate competence is crucial if NPs want to effectively share their knowledge and experience to policy makers. The article highlighted several ways to do so. First, the NP should relate how the bill can support a legislator’s political interests. This can be done more effectively if the NP has done their homework ahead of time to see what their interests are. Veterans were an example used. Also, things like donating time and money to campaigns to show a similar interest, and by engaging the in social media were examples given (Kostal-Polson et al., 2015).
Surprising to me was the importance of letter writing to connect with legislators. The AANP and other organizations actually have advocacy centers, with prescripted templates covering specific issues which can be developed into letters. These templets cover key message points and call to action that convey a consistent message. The article used the term “One-Pager”. The AANP also had information sheets on how to engage in the media (Kostal-Polson et al., 2015).
Finally, the article summed up the importance of making the issue personal to the NPs practice showing how the issue affects patients and lays out the consequences of what will happen if legislation is not passed for/against the issue at hand (Kostal-Polson et al., 2015).
Overall, I would say the article was a helpful tool and interesting instruction guide that I will reference in the future.
References
Kostal Polston et al. (2015). Advance practice nursing: Shaping health through policy. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. doi: 10.1002/2327-6924.12192
Discussion2) The article that I chose that was the most interesting to me is an article by Goodman, T. (2014), and titled The Future of Nursing: An Opportunity for Advocacy. This article surprised me because when I think of the word advocacy, I think of advocating for patients or advocating for an area that relates directly to patient care. This article however points out that nurses need to advocate for themselves as well. Goodman (2014) demonstrates that since the Affordable Care Act, opportunities for nursing advocacy are abundant. She states that the IOM Report:The Future of Nursing opens the door for the nurses need to advocate for higher levels of education and then continue to fight for the ability to practice to the full extent of the nurse capabilities (Goodman, 2014). Goodman (2014) also makes an argument that reinforces the need for nurses to be involved in legislations and to be on committees with multi-disciplinary teams. “Nurses and APRNs need to be in leadership positions that they will be able to advocate for the profession of nursing and emphasize the effect that nurses can have on improving the health of individuals” (Goodman, 2014, p.133).
The information in this article is not necessarily something that I did not know. However, the information was presented in a way that made me realize that advocacy exists in more areas. Advocacy can impact the entire profession of nurses and APRN’s, not just the patients and the healthcare industry.
Reference
Goodman, T. (2014). The Future of Nursing: An Opportunity for Advocacy. AORN Journal, 99(6), 668-671. doi:10.1016/j.aorn.2014.03.004
Link to article:
http://proxy.library.maryville.edu/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.proxy.library.maryville.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=2012596293&site=eds-live
Please respond to these two discussions, with citations. There should be two separate responses, meaning you respond to the first discussion and give your citation then go to discussion 2 and give your response. Please use first person
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