Action Campaign - Free Paper Example

Introduction

Nurses play a critical role in influencing the health policies by advocating quality health care services, patient safety, and efficient service delivery of care by facilitating the access of the required opportunities and resources (Arabi et al., 2014). This essay thus aims to analyze the political strategies, power, and skills demonstrated by the ICU, IMCU, and ED nurses in the given case study.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Strategies

The nurses used several political strategies to influence the decision to replace telemetry heart monitors. The nurses formed a coalition after the meeting to create more reliable support systems to influence the decision. In contrast, the overall decision of whether or not to purchase the cheaper or the more expensive telemetry monitors lies in the management and the financial officer, having a strong support team would influence the decision of the administration (Cullerton et al., 2018).

Another strategy used was conducting a SWOT analysis to compare the strengths and weaknesses of the two monitors. A SWOT analysis is a robust political-strategic process used to paint a clear picture of the organization’s purpose (vision) and objectives (mission) (Schroder, 2012). The nurses used SWOT analysis that examined in-depth the strengths and overall opportunities of the expensive monitors. The nurses also created a chart to compare the two telemetry models.

Lastly, the nurses used situational analysis to gain the support of other department representatives, such as the bio-med representative. Situational analysis is a political strategy used by most politicians to present or successfully advocate for change based on the “needs” or “weaknesses” of the targeted public. In this case, the nurses used the knowledge that the bio-med representative’s mother was in the ICU and could benefit from the expensive model.

Abilities to Influence

Based on the case study presented, the nurses demonstrated several political abilities to influence the clinical decision. For instance, the nurses’ coalition and collaboration with other healthcare disciplines formed a more robust political foundation to influence the decisions and affairs related to health through political knowledge, effective communication, and collaboration with other members of the health team. The nurses’ coalition was able to convince the other department representatives to support their reform to have a more expensive model over the proposed cheap one. The nurses also used the knowledge that the mother of the Bio-med representative, the mission of the organization, and the vision of the facility from various disciplines perspectives to gather more supporting data to influence the decisions, which would result in the improvement of nurses’ job environment and increases patient outcomes (Arabi, et al., 2014). Thus, it demonstrated a dynamic political process situated on a spectrum and is accompanied by nurses’ competency knowledge, advocacy, and power and also their ability to change.

Conclusion

The nurses’ coalition and collaboration with other healthcare disciplines formed a more robust political foundation to influence the decisions and affairs related to health through political knowledge, effective communication, and collaboration with other members of the health team. The nurses’ coalition was able to convince the other department representatives to support their reform to have a more expensive model over the proposed cheap one. While the nursing department as a unit is relatively week when it comes to policy issues, having the support of more critical healthcare providers such as the surgeons and bio-med representatives support their perspective towards policy change would create a more reliable support system to push through their proposal. The coalition also gave the nurses a more substantial unit to successfully drive for the difference.

References

Arabi, A., Rafii, F., Cheraghi, M. A., & Ghiyasvandian, S. (2014). Nurses’ policy influence: A concept analysis. Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research, 19(3), 315-322. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4061635/

Cullerton, K., Donnet, T., Lee, A., & Gallegos, D. (2018). Effective advocacy strategies for influencing government nutrition policy: a conceptual model. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition, 15(83). doi: 10.1186/s12966-018-0716-y

Schroder, P. (2012). Political Strategies. (A. Malhotra, Trans.) Retrieved from
https://www.lymec.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Politische-StrategienEnd_2012-de-en-FINAL.pdf