Fundamental Role That Nurse Plays in Healthcare Legislature - Essay Example

Nursing Legislation of Affiliation: Nursing Legislation Introduction Nursing is a very noble career and hence requiresappropriate legislative measures and policies that guide on how operations are conducted in the industry. For effective policy and legislative development in the healthcare sector, nurses need to play a substantive role in ensuring that the developments are aligned with their rights and appropriate working terms. The current situation in the healthcare sector has numerous challenges and hence the aspect of change through legislation is a noble idea (Amanda, 2010). Successful policy and legislative development requires players both from the healthcare and outside sectors, such as those in politics, to champion for the development of appropriate legislation to guide the healthcare sector as in its current state, the nurses are not prepared to perform their duties effectively. Based on such a perspective, this paper, therefore, through critical analysis, discusses the fundamental role that nurse plays in healthcare legislature. In the current healthcare sector, nurses work with different policies and pieces of legislation developed by involved government agencies and other essential players in the healthcare sector from the private wing such as the insurance entities, without involving the nurses in the actual process. Nurses are left to work with policies and legislations that ideally never provide for opportunities for them to air their grievances, an aspect that substantively reduces the quality of healthcare services that they provide (Patricia, 2003). Involving nurses, therefore, in the legislative process of developing legislations and policies in the healthcare sector enable the nurses to identify the power base involved in the process and the appropriate actions in the implementation process (Leve, Spenceley and Marion, 2006). Nurses are the best placed individuals in addressing issues pertaining to nursing considering that they are directly involved. Contrast to the earlier nursing theorists that nursing was more to taking care of universal human needs (Amanda, 2010), nursing also has a role to play in the social justice system, providing them with the opportunity to address the various fundamental issues attributed to the social aspects aligned towards the factors that undermine a person’s health. Considering that nurses have never participated in the legislative process of developing policies to cater for such instances, the above aspect has never had any considerations. This points out to the essential role that nurse would play in legislations involving nursing activities and the healthcare sector. Nursing policy is not important at the societal level where implementation occurs but also at the policy level. This has been the common occurrence, which has substantively contributed towards lack of appropriate legislations for the nurses. This aspect has contributed significantly towards the creating discord between what nurses are actually expected to do at the policy development stage and that which the nurses actually do in reality (Leve, Spenceley and Marion, 2006). This aspect calls for the establishment of foundation of nursing advocacy in nursing from within the nursing fraternity and not by those who do not have firsthand experience in what is practical nursing really involves. It is therefore the role of a nurse to get involved in the legislative development of issues and policies pertaining to nursing in ensure that the real issues affecting the nurses are addressed and appropriate resolution mechanisms are provided whenever controversies arise (Meghan-Jane, 2011). In instances where nurses are left out of policy advocacy, it is evident that very crucial elements of substantive are ignored due to lack of significant information to aspects pertaining to nursing. For instance, it is common practice that when policies and legislations are developed pertaining to nursing, the policies are usually only attributed to the nurses without giving any concern to the patients they take care of. This, therefore, requires the participation of a nurse in policy development process. Such a nurse would have to come out of the nursing comfort zones to include policies and laws development that have a direct impact on patients’ better care (Amanda, 2010). Nursing has always been challenged by scarcity of resources in practice, due to improper planning due to inappropriate legislations and policies. Developing policies and legislations on aspects pertaining to nursing require the input of individuals who are able to understand a similar aspect pertaining to some element in healthcare. Nurses, considering that they are in a position of first-hand experience in elements pertaining to healthcare, are able to come up with policies that are both of benefit to the patients and the nurses. Nursing profession evolves in meeting new dynamics of care with every setting (Leve, Spenceley and Marion, 2006), an aspect that requires the professional input of nurses for appropriate decision-making processes. Establishment of a professional nursing body ensures that the policy questions go around specific practice entities, which only nurses would best understand (Patricia, 2003). This, therefore, necessitates the importance and significance role in nursing legislation. It is substantively clear that in the whole setup of the healthcare system, inclusive of all the public, private and the political perspectives are aligned towards a particular direction by the particular policies developed in the healthcare system. Ideally, this is fundamental in providing the appropriate power that the policies require to have to effect proper implementation process (Amanda, 2010). This specifies the role that nurses play in such a perspective, in which they provide the necessary power towards the implementation of the policies and legislations developed. It is evident that in instances in which other bodies other than those involving nurses are left to develop and implement healthcare policies and legislation that are more attributed to the nurses; the implementation process is usually challenged by insufficient power. This is based on the aspect that with the mandate of the implementation are never directly linked to healthcare during a policy’s plan of action phase (Meghan-Jane, 2011). One fundamental stage of the policy making process is that of the evaluation and modification. This is the stage involving the revisiting of the developed policy or legislation for amendment or rewriting of policy to change or modify the already existing circumstances. Amending of already developed policies and legislation in resolving various minor controversies that may arise before actual implementation is initiated (Leve, Spenceley and Marion, 2006). This is a common practice for many policies especially in instances in which the actual implementers of the policy feel it is not in its appropriate state for effective implementation to enable it address the fundamental issues it’s mandated to address (Patricia, 2003). In healthcare sector and more specifically on nursing, it is ideal that nurses get involved in first-hand changes, as they are the direct implementers of the said policies. Considering that they have the practical side of the policy’s effectiveness, they are therefore the most significant and well positioned to make changes in policies, giving them the role of policy and legislative amendment during its evaluation and modification stages. Currently, many nurses have been accused of discourse in their practice. Little is however; known that the major causes of such discord are law and ethics in healthcare, which in most instances are made without proper consultation of the nurses, individuals expected to implement the same. Ideally, it is absurd that nurses are expected to implement things that they know very little about in addition to contrasting to the actual occurrences on the ground during the actual practical implementation . This calls for nurses’ full engagement of nurses in the legislation-making process to accommodate their views on the actual happenings on the ground for debate and decision-making (Amanda, 2010). This provides them with appropriate preparedness strategies for the implementation process in ensuring that the intended purpose is realized. It is of no use developing very effective legislative pieces, which later fail to get implemented as a result of disconnect between the developers and the actual implementers (Leve, Spenceley and Marion, 2006). This provides for the necessity of nurses’ role in policy and legislative development process. References Amanda L. Ebner., 2010. What Nurses Need to Know about Health Care Reform, Nursing Economics/May-June 2010/vol. 28/No.3 Leve Shannon M. Spenceley, Linda Reutter and Marion N. Allen, 2006. The Road Less Traveled: Nursing Advocacy at the Policy Policy Politics Nursing Practice 2006 7: 180 Meghan-Jane Johnstone., 2011. Nursing and Justice as a Basic Human Need, Nursing Philosophy (2011), 12, pp. 34–44 Patricia E, Calderwood, 2003. Toward a Professional Community for Social Justice, Journal of Transformative Education, 2003 1:301 Read More