Role of the Professional Nurse in Health Policy
Role of the Professional Nurse in Health Policy
The provision of adequate health care is a fundamental human right. Individuals and
communities alike benefit from the spread of basic health practices and disease-prevention
initiatives across the globe, regardless of their cultural background. Health policy encompasses
all of these activities to accomplish a shared goal (Huang et al., 2020). There are several health
policies established in the healthcare system and the advantages that these policies bring to the
general population are pretty noticeable. Professional nurses’ contributions to healthcare policy
are also addressed, with examples of what registered nurses and other healthcare practitioners
must perform to comply with healthcare rules. Professional nurses in the healthcare setting must
work closely and trustingly together to help develop and implement health plans and programs.
This paper will provide an overview of the role of the professional nurse in health policy and will
also highlight several examples of healthcare policies. Role of the Professional Nurse in Health Policy
Healthcare policy
General principles and aims that influence how health care is offered to the public are
health policy. In the hospital or clinical setting, national or state health care policy can be
refined. Health policy choices made at the national level equally affect patients and medical
practitioners. Policymaking, implementation, and evaluation are directly influenced by nurses
and nurse practitioners working in their fields. It’s critical to have a firm grasp of the current state
of the healthcare system, including how it’s funded and how many people it serves.
A vision for the future that serves as a basis for formulating objectives and points of
reference for the near and medium term defines the WHO’s approach to health policy. A health
policy is aspirational, which implies that it is designed to show healthcare workers what they
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should be aiming to accomplish. Health policy establishes roles and responsibilities for various
stakeholders, such as medical professionals, nurses, and other support workers. It also helps
build consensus among the numerous stakeholders in a community or a healthcare system
(Huang et al., 2020). Policy changes in the healthcare industry have the potential to bring about
the real-world application of ideas that have been tested in many scenarios over the years.
Concepts and ideas that, in general, contribute to the improvement and enhancement of
healthcare services may be made easier to apply with the help of the policies. Non-health policies
may nonetheless have an impact on the overall well-being of employees. One should be mindful
of the desired effects on health while formulating human resources policy which includes laws
on working hours, vacation time, flexible scheduling, job structure, and supervisory style, to
name a few. Role of the Professional Nurse in Health Policy
There are different examples of healthcare policies, which include the following:
Food Safety Policy: Individual health and the health of society as a whole are directly
impacted by food safety regulations. Public health officials must adopt laws to ensure that only
food safe to consume is made available to the public, as a foodborne illness is a significant cause
of concern.
Tobacco Use: Several public health officials have adopted policies and initiatives to fight
and overcome the effects of tobacco, such as illness and deaths realized from tobacco use. These
tactics include the provision of smoking areas and designated points of tobacco use. This helps to
prevent the effects of smoking from reaching non-tobacco users. Besides, the increment in
tobacco price is also a policy adopted to reduce tobacco use.
HIV: Educating the public on HIV prevention, living with the virus, treatment choices, and
eliminating stigma are critical functions of public health policy. There has been an increase in the
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availability of HIV testing, contraceptive methods, and treatment across a wide variety of
countries.
Alcohol: Alcohol abuse is a leading cause of car accidents, violent crime, sexual assault,
and other health problems. Measures taken by the government are essential in the fight against
alcoholism and its harmful effects on individuals who drink it. There is a wide range of policies
regarding the consumption and purchase of alcohol, but the most common example is the age
limit.
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Role of the healthcare nurses in health policy
If you’re a nurse in any healthcare environment, you’re accountable for designing strategies
and policies that support both health intervention and prevention in the community. Nurses and
other healthcare providers must consider more than simply physical health while providing care
to their patients (Huang et al., 2020). These kinds of implementations show how healthcare
knowledge and concepts are put into practice in the real world; effective and deserved outcomes
are frequently the product of implementations. Role of the Professional Nurse in Health Policy
Nurse practitioners have a significant impact on health policy. To better patient outcomes,
the role of nurse practitioners in the health care system and organizations is crucial. It is often the
job of nurse practitioners who work at the front lines of patient care to translate large-scale health
policies and procedures into individual patient encounters. Because they spend so much time
talking to patients and getting to know their needs, nurse practitioners play a vital role in setting
health policy (Huang et al., 2020). Consequently, nurse practitioners are well-versed in what is
and isn’t working in the medical field today. In this way, legislators may be able to adjust
healthcare policies based on their findings.
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Several professional nurses have been cited in the past. They have highlighted the
enormous role that nurses play in creating policies, notably in the areas of women, babies,
schoolchildren, and environmental health. According to the American Association of Colleges of
Nursing, health policy education was essential for Master’s degree students in nursing some
years ago, and they were accurate. Additionally, nowadays, bachelor’s degree programs in
nursing include courses on policy. When formulating and implementing health policies, nurse’s
input is essential and requires intervention (Huang et al., 2020). Nurses should be educated in all
facets of the healthcare system, not only in inpatient care. Nurses throughout the world have
realized that just following orders is no longer an option. A new generation of health
policymakers is emerging, with nurses poised to step forward. Let’s look at several health care
companies that have realized the importance of nursing leaders in the decision-making process;
better patient care may be achieved by giving nurses and patients more of a say in decisionmaking.
According to the American Nurses Association, nurse professionals typically play an
essential role in transmitting health policy to the nursing team members who report to them and
holding those nurses accountable for reaching stated objectives and expectations (Ellenbecker et
al., 2017). Several health policy methods and situations demand the engagement of nurses to be
successful. Professionals in healthcare must first and foremost demonstrate their dedication to
healthcare policy by developing the most efficient means of implementing it. A professional
nurse’s first and primary duty is to compile and evaluate every piece of healthcare policy. As a
result of their investigation, they highlight all of the policy’s weaknesses and prospective
concerns. Health policies are assessed by professional nurses, who utilize their abilities, Role of the Professional Nurse in Health Policy
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expertise, and professionalism to uncover any defects that can compromise healthcare delivery’s
intended functioning and aims.
In addition, professional nurses are involved in evaluating and selecting the most
significant opportunities that will help improve the relevant health policy. Experienced nurses
may play several critical roles in enhancing and improving a policy by using the options
recognized by professional nurses to implement the policy effectively (Ellenbecker et al., 2017).
As advisers, professional nurses meet with high-ranking politicians and administrators to advise
on the clinical methods and means to be used throughout the policy formation and development
processes. There are several reasons for this, but one is that nurses have a critical role in the
creation of new policies and the execution of existing ones.
Action plan for nurses’ involvement in health policy
Identified
issues
Required
action
Persons in
charge
Deadline Measurement
of
performance
How to
measure
The primary
need for
editing and
making
significant
changes in
the
healthcare
policy
regarding
different
issues faced
in the
healthcare
environment
Development
of new policy
and review of
the present
policy
regarding the
issues
mentioned.
Senior nurses
and charge
nurses.
One week
after
commencing.
How do
patients react
to the policy
Did the
issues get
eradicated?
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In the action plan to involve nurses in health policy, the respective professionals are
involved and included in the planning for the reviews and creation of new approaches in the
healthcare environment. Doing so will enable the complete intervention and participation of
professional nurses. The main issues and areas that need change are identified in the health
policy. Professional nurses are tasked with various jobs, such as reviewing and identifying
aspects that require change and consideration regarding the respective environment (Ellenbecker
et al., 2017). Afterward, the professional nurses are asked to provide their views and the
individual edits that should be done to the health policy and contribute to the provision of the
central aspect to be included in the composition of new significant health policies in the
healthcare environment. Role of the Professional Nurse in Health Policy
Conclusion
In conclusion, health policies are viewed as crucial components in the implementation and
supply of high-quality health services and the construction of good healthcare settings.
Professionals such as nurses have an essential role in advancing the understanding and
appreciation of health policy (Huang et al., 2020). It is possible to observe such aspects of a
patient’s health when caring for chronically unwell patients. In their employment, practice nurses
may find themselves in circumstances where they must deviate from established protocols. Their
primary role is to ensure that health policies are developed, integrated, and implemented in the
most cost-effective and time-effective manner possible.
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References
Ellenbecker, C. H., Fawcett, J., Jones, E. J., Mahoney, D., Rowlands, B., & Waddell, A. (2017).
A staged approach to educating nurses in health policy. Policy, Politics, & Nursing
Practice, 18(1), 44-56.
Toofany, S. (2005). Nurses and health policy. Nursing Management, 12(3).
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).
Huang, L. H., Chen, C. M., Chen, S. F., & Wang, H. H. (2020). Roles of nurses and National
Nurses Associations in combating COVID‐19: Taiwan experience. International nursing
review, 67(3), 318-322.
Lewinski, A. A., & Simmons, L. A. (2018). Nurse knowledge and engagement in health
policymaking: Findings from a pilot study. The Journal of Continuing Education in
Nursing, 49(9), 407-415.
Cusack, E., Killoury, F., & Nugent, L. E. (2017). The professional psychiatric/mental health
nurse: skills, competencies and supports required to adopt recovery‐orientated policy in
practice. Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing, 24(2-3), 93-104. Role of the Professional Nurse in Health Policy
