Introduction
Nurses play a critical role in policy formulation, implementation and changing healthcare policies. Healthcare providers advocate for effective and practical policy changes to foster the quality of care delivery, the care environment patients’ safety and satisfaction (Scott. S & Scott. P, 2021). Nurses’ role in policy change and advocacy can be at departmental, institutional, state and state levels. Nurses push for policy changes for multiple reasons, including improvement of the care delivery process, enhancing the patients’ safety and satisfaction, advocating for their rights and pushing for strategic changes at institutional, departmental, state and federal levels. This paper will outline my role as a bedside nurse toward institutional policy change and advocacy.
A policy/practice change that I wish to advocate for
A policy in my current organization that I wish to advocate for its change is the workplace health and safety policy. This policy primarily deals with the safety and health of the healthcare providers in the care environment, including us, the bedside nurses, advanced practice nurses, physicians and other critical medical practitioners (Scott. S & Scott. P, 2021). The current policy does not effectively and comprehensively cover the health and safety needs of the healthcare workforce, thus a need to review the policy and effect its change. The current organizational policy on the same leaves the healthcare providers, more specifically the nurse, at a greater risk of infections, psychological exhaustion and physical hazards at the workplace. It is pertinent that the organizational policy on workforce health and safety is reviewed to include the provision of apparent health and safety guidelines, adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and a consideration of the workforce’s health and safety concerning emotional and psychological exhaustion, fatigue and burnout.
Process of making the policy change
Anders (2021) prescribes a nine-step framework for planned policy change. Core components of the framework include the precipitator, critical point, assessing, planning, detailing, monitoring, adopting, implementing and evaluating. Under the first two steps, the precipitator and the crucial point, I will identify and document the core causes of a need for the change of workplace safety and health policies and the magnitude of their urgency. The third step will be assessing, whereby I will determine whether to proceed with advocacy for the policy change. During the planning stage, I will engage other parties at the healthcare organization in defining core terms in workforce safety and health policy and setting up objectives for the policy change. Detailing will entail defining concepts, determining approaches and the relevant stakeholders to the policy change at an institutional and state level. The next step in pushing for the policy change will be monitoring, whereby my efforts will be focused on assessing critical factors in the policy change push and advocacy to assess the validity of the endeavour. Adopting and implementing the policy change will be the next step and will constitute the actual effecting of the policy change to be followed by an assessment of its viability and efficacy.
To effect the policy change at a state level, I will utilize the Health Policy Toolkit as prescribed by Kostas-Polston et al. (2014); the core steps that I will follow are developing an ask, arranging meetings, serving on an advisory board and writing about the need for a change in the workplace safety and health policy.
Differences between bedside and an advanced practice nurse approach to the policy change
An advanced practice nurse is far more experienced in policy-making and changing processes than a bedside nurse (Scott. S & Scott. P, 2021). Regarding this concept, there will be a considerable difference in how the two healthcare providers advocate for a policy change. A nurse at an advanced practice level will have a more effortless and swifter policy change engagement as they will benefit from previous experience and policy-making skills. On the other hand, a bedside nurse needs more policy-making skills and is thus reliant on other parties to advocate for the policy change.
Barriers to nurses’ participation in policy change
Nurses are faced with multiple barriers to their participation in policy change. A significant barrier to nurses’ involvement in policy changes is insufficient experience concerning the working of policies formulation, implementation and advocacy (Chiu et al.,2021). Most bedside and advanced practice nurses, at their initial stages of practice, need to gain core policy-making skills, thus hindering them from participating in policy changes. The other critical barrier to nurse participation in policy change is understaffing in the nursing practice; this factor limits the nurses’ time that can be utilized in policy change advocacy. To address the lack of experience as a barrier to nurses’ participation in policy change, it is pertinent that healthcare organizations and nursing schools accord aspiring nurses a chance to sharpen their policy-making skills through mentorship and involvement. To address understaffing as a barrier to nurses’ participation in policy change, healthcare organizations must equip their facilities with adequate healthcare personnel to allow them time to participate in other related nursing functions.
Personal thoughts on policy change involvement
The knowledge and experiences gained in this course have impacted my perception concerning nurses’ participation in policy changes. Nurses should participate as both advocates and pushers for policy changes they deem relevant in care delivery at the local and state levels owing to the critical part they play in healthcare provision (Chiu et al.,2021). I have never been involved in policy change due to a lack of experience and relevant skills in policy formulation, advocacy and change. As outlined previously, a lack of policy-making experience and skills is a significant barrier to nurses’ participation in policy change.
Conclusion
Conclusively, nurses at all levels are critical in policy change and advocacy. Notably, at my organization, a critical policy change is needed pertaining to workplace safety and health, which significantly affects the nursing staff and the other healthcare providers at the facility. Understaffing and a lack of experience are core barriers to nurses’ participation in policy change. The nine-step framework for planned policy change and the health policy toolkit will be instrumental in effecting the policy change.
References
Anders, R. L. (2021, January). Engaging nurses in health policy in the era of COVID‐19. In Nursing forum (Vol. 56, No. 1, pp. 89–94).
Chiu, P., Cummings, G. G., Thorne, S., & Schick-Makaroff, K. (2021). Policy advocacy and nursing organizations: A scoping review. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 22(4), 276-296.
Kostas‐Polston, E. A., Thanavaro, J., Arvidson, C., Taub, L. F. M., & FAANP Health Policy Work Group. (2015). Advanced practice nursing: Shaping health through policy. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 27(1), 11–20.
Scott, S. M., & Scott, P. A. (2021). Nursing, advocacy and public policy. Nursing ethics, 28(5), 723-733.
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