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[email protected]Healthcare Policy and Advocacy: The Potential Impact of Nurses Holding Elected Office
Introduction
The nursing profession unanimously agrees that professional and ethical standards obligate registered nurses to participate in political affairs. However, nurses remain significantly underrepresented in politics. As elected members, nurses can influence significant policy discussions through their knowledge and unique expertise to enhance the overall population health. This paper highlights the importance of nurses running for office and the required resources, providing an example of a nurse who is an elected official.
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Healthcare Policy and Analysis of a Global Initiative That Impacts the Nursing Profession
What it takes to run for elected office
Pitsker (2019) outlines the necessary requirements to run for office, particularly for first time candidates. Essentially, resources such as programs and boot camps are key strategies for setting up campaigns, garnering voters, fund-raising and building a strong team of supporters and volunteers (Pitsker, 2019). Also, new candidates can immensely benefit from affiliation to political parties as they provide the necessary training and resources needed for a successful campaign. Notably, the candidate should create a budget for everything from staffing to advertising and materials involved before making their candidacy public to avoid financial inconveniences. It is essential that the candidate familiarizes with the finance laws in their state before engaging in fund-raising and political donation. Lastly, the candidate should have knowledge of what it takes to win by analyzing demographics and voter participation history (Pitsker, 2019). They can retrieve this information from the local board of elections. This information spares the candidate from unnecessary spending of time and resources on voters who are unlikely to turn out for elections.
An elected official that is a nurse
Cori Bush was born and grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. She is the first black woman and nurse to be voted in 2020 to serve Missouri’s 1st Congressional district (American Nurses Association (ANA), n.d.). The ANA (n.d.) documents that she was sworn in on January 3, 2021. She graduated in 2008 with a nursing degree from Lutheran University of Nursing. Over the following decade, she was a devout community member serving as a nurse, childcare worker, community organizer and ordained pastor. Her political career came to life in Missouri in 2014, during the civil unrest of Ferguson. She was involved here as a triage nurse and an organizer. As an advocate, she is a Nonviolence 365 Ambassador for the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change. Her advocacy has earned her recognition and awards such as the Hershel Walker Peace and Justice Awards, the Emmitt Till Legacy Foundation, and the Jefferson City NAACP (ANA, n.d.).
The importance of running for office
Nurses have the skills and knowledge that uniquely qualify them to participate in the political sphere. One of the efforts of addressing the sustainable development goal of good health and well being is encouraging nurses to take up such spaces and use them to advocate appropriately (Gordon, 2021). Achieving universal health coverage is one of the targets contributing towards good health and wellbeing (United Nations (UN), n.d). As elected members, nurses initiate policy discussions and advocate for “access to quality healthcare services, financial risk protection, and access to effective, safe, quality and affordable essential medication and vaccines for all” (UN, n.d). Dawes (2020) argues that nurses have the first-hand experience of the effect of policy changes concerning housing, environment, education, social programs, economy and public transport on their clients. Despite seeing the negative impacts of public policy daily, most nurses fail to acknowledge their ability to influence positive change in the political sphere.
References
American Nurses Association. (n.d.). Nurses serving in congress Links to an external an external site.. https://www.kiplinger.com/article/business/t043-c000-s002–
Dawes, D. E. (2020). The political determinants of health. Johns Hopkins
Gordon, K. (2021). “Is There A Nurse In The House? Or The Senate? Barriers And Facilitators To Pursuing Elected Office” (2021). Yale School of Nursing Digital Theses. 1114. https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysndt/1114 how-to-run-for-local-office.html
Pitsker, K. (2019, November 26). How to run for local office. Kiplinger Links to serving-in-congress/site.. https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/advocacy/federal/nurses-
United Nations. (n.d.). Sustainable development goals: 17 goals to transform our
University Press.
world Links to an external site.. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/
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