Nurses may lobby Congress on a wide range of policy issues related to healthcare,
Week 8 Section A, group E
Nurses may lobby Congress on a wide range of policy issues related to healthcare, patient care, and nursing practice. However, two critical policy issues that nurses may prioritize are Safe Staffing Ratios and Nursing Workforce Development (Woodforde, 2019). Nurses may advocate for federal legislation mandating safe staffing ratios in hospitals and healthcare facilities. Unsafe staffing levels can compromise patient safety and lead to burnout and high turnover rates among nurses. Strategies for lobbying on this issue may include engaging with congressional representatives, sharing personal experiences and stories, conducting research to support the need for safe staffing ratios, and partnering with other healthcare organizations to increase awareness and support. Nurses may advocate for federal funding to support nursing education and workforce development programs. These programs can help to address the nursing shortage and improve the quality of patient care by ensuring that there are enough trained and qualified nurses to meet the growing demand for healthcare services. Strategies for lobbying on this issue may include building relationships with key policymakers, developing evidence-based arguments to support funding requests, engaging with nursing organizations and other stakeholders, and using social media and other forms of advocacy to raise awareness of the issue among the general public (Elpasiony & Abd-Elmoghith, 2023).
Work place health and safety is very important and has often not been emphasized enough. It is important to note that the backbone of a healthy nation lies within the nurses. When nurses have safe working conditions that prevent them from secondary contaminations, nurses will be healthier thus allowing them to provide better care to the patients. Additionally, ensuring this will not only keep nurses away from work related infections but will also be channeled to their families, co- workers and patients thus improving the general wellness of the society.
Apart from work safety, I believe nurse stuffing is another critical area that necessitates an immediate attention especially from nursing lobbyists. According to Griffiths & Saville et al (2021), adequate nurse staffing results to an increase in nurse’s professional satisfaction and improved patient outcomes. Recently, an economic recession has been felt all over the world and the health care system has not been spared. Cost cutting decisions has resulted to a large number of nursing staff to be laid off. Other groups of recent graduates have been left with no available chances of employment especially in developing countries. ANA should prioritize nurse staffing in the congress as a matter of agency and save our nurses from mental and physical torture.
