Essay Sample on Role of the Professional Nurse in Health Policy

Nursing influences the health care policy through the daily tasks in the delivery of healthcare. Health care policy is essential as they set a general plan of action used in guiding the desired outcomes and help in decision making (Burke, 2016). Professional nurses advocate for the patients by protecting legal, human rights, and patient's medical. Nurses support the patients and answer their questions regarding the procedure, treatment, and other aspects of health care. Nurses are not tied only to their specified roles but also influence current and future health delivery systems. Registered nurses spend a lot of time with the patients, so they are aware of their specific needs. They, therefore, play an active role in the development and implementation of healthcare policy.

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One of the roles of professional nurses in policy is advocacy (Burke, 2016). Nurses have a history of advocacy for the common good. Advocacy in nursing was commenced by Florence Nightingale, who advocated for better conditions for the patients during the Crimean war. She also advocated for the education of the nurses. Nightingale influenced policymakers, physicians, governments, and philanthropists. Nurses advocate for a better outcome for individuals, communities, and societies. They have the power to promote change. They stand up and address concerns of the disadvantaged people and policymaking with other parties in creating policies that will improve the quality of health of the people.

One of the areas that nurses participate in policymaking to improve is in palliative care. Palliative approaches help patients with life-limiting illnesses access healthcare that is responsive and tailored to meet their needs (Burke, 2016). Nurses are knowledgeable about palliative care, and they work with policymakers to ensure that there is specialized medical care whose focus is on relieving the symptoms of life-limiting diseases. The goal of palliative care policies is to improve the quality of life of the patients and their families.

Professional nurses participate in policy review by influencing practice standards to promote quality care. Policy reviewing helps in ensuring that the policies are consistent and effective. Healthcare is a regulated industry hence the necessity of reviewing the procedures. Policy review is significant as it helps improve or replace old policies that may fail to comply with new laws and regulations or the needs. In healthcare, there are health problems that may arise, making it necessary to review the existing policies.

Nurses are involved in policy evaluation, assessment, diagnosis, planning, and implementation. They evaluate the healthcare policy to make necessary decisions as well as education (Abel-Smith, 2018). Evaluation is important as it supports an outcome-oriented approach. The purpose of policy evaluation is to understand the worth, merit, and the utility of a policy. Nurses are involved in evaluating the policy from the beginning, where they ensure that the content articulates the policy's objectives. They are also involved in the implementation process to ensure that the components that promote maximum benefits are emphasized. They also participate in evaluating the impact of the policy. In this step, the nurses participate in establishing whether the policy produced the intended purpose. If, for example, the policy's purpose is to reduce the injury, the evaluation of the policy's impact will be to establish whether the policy reduced the number of injuries or the severity.

During the process of policy evaluation, there are challenges that the nurses face. However, management applies interventions to make sure that the process succeeds. One of the challenges that professional nurses face during the evaluation process is the lack of resources (Abel-Smith, 2018). The nurses deal with this challenge by working together with the finance department so that they can allocate funds for the evaluation process. The second potential challenge of policy evaluation is the lack of familiarity with the evaluation methods. This is mitigated by ensuring that the nurses are knowledgeable on the policy implementation process and their role in every stage, with professional nurses; however, the process is effective as they are skilled and experienced. Additionally, policy evaluation is prone to rapid policy implementation, which is mitigated by creating a timeline for policy implementation.

Nurses have to influence healthcare policies being made because they have knowledge and experience of the challenges ailing the healthcare system. The participation of nurses in planning makes policymakers with no healthcare knowledge to know the needs that need to be solved first (Patton et al., 2018). The nurses' participation is meant to policymaking policy to ensure the policies provide a framework that deals with the challenges that make it difficult for them to treat the patients. The policymaking should be based on the quality of healthcare and how healthcare services get delivered. The action plan embraced is determined by the type of ppolicymakingthe healthcare system faces.

A nursing leadership action plan is an example of an action plan that nurses can use to increase involvement in policymaking on matters concerning healthcare. The action plan will make the leaders play the role of intermediary between the nurses, patients, and legislators during policy development (Patton et al., 2018). Communication, including feedback from the patients, is key to ensure that the policies made reflect the needs of healthcare. The Nursing leadership action plan will increase nurse involvement, the representation will give the nurses the chance to be represented, and the views and concerns addressed. The Nursing leadership action plan will streamline the flow of information among all the stakeholders involved in policy development.

The goal of the action plan that uses nurse leaders to represent the nurses' interests and concerns is to ensure that the views and concerns of the nurses are addressed by policies developed. Policies need to address the challenges the healthcare faces; therefore, involving nurse leadership will propose solutions to the challenges based on experiences and expertise (Patton et al., 2018). Involving professionals in polity making ensures that policies addressed the challenges experienced in healthcare in the right way.

The Nursing leadership action plan will focus on addressing the challenges that do not require much resources and time first, then more complicated challenges to follow. The Nursing leadership action plan will be effective because the policymakers will address the root cause of the problem in healthcare through policies. Resources have to be budgeted to facilitate the implementation of the action plan (Patton et al., 2018). Nurses will be involved more in implementing the action plan that contains their recommendations of how they would like the problems facing healthcare to be solved. Nurses are involved in all activities that concern healthcare provision; hence they will participate in implementing the action plan.

The Nursing leadership action plan will also include evaluating the effectiveness of the existing policies, and whether they achieved the purpose they were meant to achieve. The policy audit helps guide the policymakers to avoid the challenges that come up during the implementation of the policies (Patton et al., 2018). The Nursing leadership action plan will incorporate the changes that need to be embraced to ensure the new policies solve the purpose they were meant to address. The audit ensures that the action plan will correct errors that were not solved by the existing policies. Professional health policipolicymakingey solve old and emerging challenges that make the nurses unable to deliver their services.

The Nursing leadership action plan will increase policymaking engagement in policy development through representation by their leaders; nurse leaders interact with the nurses daily; hence they understand the policymakingy face as they provide healthcare services to patients (Patton et apolicymakinginges, through their representatives, will influence more in policy-making as opposed to iPolicymakingingibutions. The nurses' engagement in policymaking is key because the nurses have to lobby other colleagues involved in policy development. Policymaking requires people to influence their colleagues on matters they want to be considered.

In conclusion, professional nurses play a significant role in health policy development where they provide opinions and the required information in policy development. Nurses use the Nursing leadership action plan to implement the policies that have been developed to assist the nurses in their work (Patton et al., 2018). The nurses' involvement plays a role in policy development where the involvement ensures the policies address challenges experienced in healthcare. The policies improve healthcare by giving guidelines on how the challenges need to be solved.