Discussion: NURS 5050 Health Policy Advocacy
Discussion: NURS 5050 Health Policy Advocacy
Question
NURS6050/NRSE6050/NURS5050 Policy and Advocacy for Improving Population
Health
Week 5 Discussion
Professional Nursing
and State-Level Regulations
Boards of Nursing
(BONs) exist in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam,
the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands. Similar entities may also
exist for different regions. The mission of BONs is the protection of the
public through the regulation of nursing practice. BONs put into practice
state/region regulations for nurses that, among other things, lay out the
requirements for licensure and define the scope of nursing practice in that
state/region.
It can be a valuable
exercise to compare regulations among various state/regional boards of nursing.
Doing so can help share insights that could be useful should there be future
changes in a state/region. In addition, nurses may find the need to be licensed
in multiple states or regions.
Health policy advocacy means channeling this sense of outrage about
inadequately conceived laws, policies, and regulations or about the absence of
a law when the need for one is clear.
Advocates let policymakers know what they, as citizens and constituents,
believe elected officials should do.
Health policy advocacy can be easy, and it can make a difference in the
outcome of our nation’s policy decisions. It doesn’t require any new skills, it
just involves applying skills you already have, such as communication and
building relationships, in a new context.
Advocacy and health policy have important implications for what we do every
day. Unless we communicate with lawmakers about key issues, laws and
regulations will be created and enacted without the benefit of our expertise
and unique perspectives. Nurse are a powerful and well-respected
constituency; our active involvement in health policy issues helps
policymakers take action on key issues, such as the nursing shortage.
Engaging nurses in health policy advocacy is essential to ensuring that
nursing and NANN’s priorities are received and addressed by policymakers.
We can and must become involved in health policy advocacy. The following
sections of this Health Policy & Advocacy Toolkit provide the tools needed to
become effective health policy advocates at the national, state, and local level.
To Prepare:
Review the Resources
and reflect on the mission of state/regional boards of nursing as the
protection of the public through the regulation of nursing practice.
Consider how key
regulations may impact nursing practice.
Review key regulations
for nursing practice of your state’s/region’s board of nursing and those of at
least one other state/region and select at least two APRN regulations to focus
on for this Discussion.
