NURS 6003 Discussion 2: The Role Of The RN/APRN In Policy-Making

NURS 6003 Discussion 2: The Role of the RN/APRN in Policy-Making

NURS 6003 Discussion 2: The Role of the RN/APRN in Policy-Making

RE: Discussion – Week 8 Attachment

The Role of the RN/APRN in Policymaking
Main Post
There are many essential pillars of nursing. Political and legislative advocacy is another pillar that extends beyond advocating in the workplaces and communities to advancing the profession and patient care at large (American Nurses Association, n.d.). Nurses work in various of different settings and identify the needs to advocate for resources for the underserved populations. Registered Nurses (RNs) and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) have many opportunities in their workplaces to advocate for change. For example: concerns brought up by RNs on the unit to their APRN i.e., Nurse Educator, who actively participates in making organizational policies. Another example for RNs and APRNs to get involved in through is their professional nursing organization. RNs and APRNs in Ontario can join the Registered Nurses’ of Association of Ontario (RNAO) and volunteer to become part of the Policy and Political Action team to advocate for a topic of your interest (RNAO, n.d.).
If a RN/APRN is passionate about advocating for a certain issue, they must do their research and be informed regarding the topic. For instance: Cathy Crowe is an expert Toronto street nurse who does extensive advocacy work for the population experiencing homelessness. One skill that she mentioned is much needed to fight for social justice is ‘skilled manipulation’ – meaning having knowledge in areas from politics to economics. She expressed her frustration as the nursing school did not prepare her to do policy work (Cathy Crowe, 2019). I think nursing school have made some progress where now a nursing policy course is added to the curriculum, but I feel it needs to add more like teaching how to write a policy brief, or how to get an issue on the policy-maker’s agenda. This may pose some challenges that Cathy also faced was not getting attention of the policy makers at once. One has to be careful to work within their scope of practice and follow guidelines of their respective boards of nursing. To overcome this challenge, I recommend that RN/APRN build relationship with high influence individuals and organizations interested in the same topic and then bring forward to the policy makers.
The COVID-19 pandemic has really shone light upon the works of frontline workers including nurses. An example is when Prime Minister Boris Johnson was discharged from the hospital after recovering from COVID-19, he saw the work of nurses that took care of him. It is unfortunate that it takes a pandemic for the public to realize the importance of healthcare workers and the role they play. Nurses are crucial at for decision-making at state and federal levels (Fedele, 2020). Nurses see the disparities that exist in hospitals, communities, clinics etc. and are knowledgeable of the patient outcomes as a result of those disparities. There is an urgent need for them to advocate for better patient outcomes at a state/federal level.
References
American Nurses Association (ANA). (n.d.). Advocacy. https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/advocacy/
Cathy Crowe. (2019, October 14). Confessions of Toronto street nurse Cathy Crowe: Sometimes you have to break rules to get action. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2019/10/14/confessions-of-toronto-street-nurse-cathy-crowe-sometimes-you-have-to-break-rules-to-get-action.html
Fedele, R. (2020). The impact of a global pandemic on the international year of the nurse and midwife. Australian Nursing & Midwifery Journal, 27(1), 18-20.
Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO). (n.d.). Policy & Political Action. https://rnao.ca/policy

Word cloud generators have become popular tools for meetings and team-building events. Groups or teams are asked to use these applications to input words they feel best describe their team or their role. A “word cloud” is generated by the application that makes prominent the most-used terms, offering an image of the common thinking among participants of that role.
What types of words would you use to build a nursing word cloud? Empathetic, organized, hard-working, or advocate would all certainly apply. Would you add policy-maker to your list? Do you think it would be a very prominent component of the word cloud?
Nursing has become one of the largest professions in the world, and as such, nurses have the potential to influence policy and politics on a global scale. When nurses influence the politics that improve the delivery of healthcare, they are ultimately advocating for their patients. Hence, policy-making has become an increasingly popular term among nurses as they recognize a moral and professional obligation to be engaged in healthcare legislation.
To Prepare:

Revisit the Congress.gov website provided in the Resources and consider the role of RNs and APRNs in policy-making.
Reflect on potential opportunities that may exist for RNs and APRNs to participate in the policy-making process.

By Day 3 of Week 8
Post an explanation of at least two opportunities that exist for RNs and APRNs to actively participate in policy-making. Explain some of the challenges that these opportunities may present and describe how you might overcome these challenges. Finally, recommend two strategies you might make to better advocate for or communicate the existence of these opportunities to participate in policy-making. Be specific and provide examples.

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By Day 6 of Week 8
Respond to at least two of your colleagues’* posts by suggesting additional opportunities or recommendations for overcoming the challenges described by your colleagues.
*Note: Throughout this program, your fellow students are referred to as colleagues.
Submission and Grading Information
Grading Criteria
To access your rubric:
Week 8 Discussion Rubric

Post by Day 3 and Respond by Day 6 of Week 8
To participate in this Discussion:
Week 8 Discussion
Rubric Detail
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Content
Name: NURS_6050_Module04_Week08_Discussion_Rubric
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Excellent Good Fair Poor
Main Posting
Points Range: 45 (45%) – 50 (50%)
Answers all parts of the discussion question(s) expectations with reflective critical analysis and synthesis of knowledge gained from the course readings for the module and current credible sources.
Supported by at least three current, credible sources.
Written clearly and concisely with no grammatical or spelling errors and fully adheres to current APA manual writing rules and style.
Points Range: 40 (40%) – 44 (44%)
Responds to the discussion question(s) and is reflective with critical analysis and synthesis of knowledge gained from the course readings for the module.
At least 75% of post has exceptional depth and breadth.
Supported by at least three credible sources.
Written clearly and concisely with one or no grammatical or spelling errors and fully adheres to current APA manual writing rules and style.
Points Range: 35 (35%) – 39 (39%)
Responds to some of the discussion question(s).
One or two criteria are not addressed or are superficially addressed.
Is somewhat lacking reflection and critical analysis and synthesis.
Somewhat represents knowledge gained from the course readings for the module.
Post is cited with two credible sources.
Written somewhat concisely; may contain more than two spelling or grammatical errors.
Contains some APA formatting errors.
Points Range: 0 (0%) – 34 (34%)
Does not respond to the discussion question(s) adequately.
Lacks depth or superficially addresses criteria.
Lacks reflection and critical analysis and synthesis.
Does not represent knowledge gained from the course readings for the module.
Contains only one or no credible sources.
Not written clearly or concisely.
Contains more than two spelling or grammatical errors.
Does not adhere to current APA manual writing rules and style.
Main Post: Timeliness
Points Range: 10 (10%) – 10 (10%)
Posts main post by day 3.
Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
Does not post by day 3.
First Response
Points Range: 17 (17%) – 18 (18%)
Response exhibits synthesis, critical thinking, and application to practice settings.
Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues.
Responses to faculty questions are fully answered, if posed.
Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by at least two scholarly sources.
Demonstrates synthesis and understanding of learning objectives.
Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.
Points Range: 15 (15%) – 16 (16%)
Response exhibits critical thinking and application to practice settings.
Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues.
Responses to faculty questions are answered, if posed.
Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by two or more credible sources.
Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.
Points Range: 13 (13%) – 14 (14%)
Response is on topic and may have some depth.
Responses posted in the discussion may lack effective professional communication.
Responses to faculty questions are somewhat answered, if posed.
Response may lack clear, concise opinions and ideas, and a few or no credible sources are cited.
Points Range: 0 (0%) – 12 (12%)
Response may not be on topic and lacks depth.
Responses posted in the discussion lack effective professional communication.
Responses to faculty questions are missing.
No credible sources are cited.
Second Response
Points Range: 16 (16%) – 17 (17%)
Response exhibits synthesis, critical thinking, and application to practice settings.
Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues.
Responses to faculty questions are fully answered, if posed.
Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by at least two scholarly sources.
Demonstrates synthesis and understanding of learning objectives.
Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.
Points Range: 14 (14%) – 15 (15%)
Response exhibits critical thinking and application to practice settings.
Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues.
Responses to faculty questions are answered, if posed.
Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by two or more credible sources.
Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.
Points Range: 12 (12%) – 13 (13%)
Response is on topic and may have some depth.
Responses posted in the discussion may lack effective professional communication.
Responses to faculty questions are somewhat answered, if posed.
Response may lack clear, concise opinions and ideas, and a few or no credible sources are cited.
Points Range: 0 (0%) – 11 (11%)
Response may not be on topic and lacks depth.
Responses posted in the discussion lack effective professional communication.
Responses to faculty questions are missing.
No credible sources are cited.
Participation
Points Range: 5 (5%) – 5 (5%)
Meets requirements for participation by posting on three different days.
Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
Does not meet requirements for participation by posting on 3 different days.
Total Points: 100
Name: NURS_6050_Module04_Week08_Discussion_Rubric