Challenges Possessed By the Opportunity Identified & How to Overcome Them

While policy-making sounds like a straightforward contribution by nurses, the process is faced with diverse challenges. One challenge is overcrowding their work schedule, denying them the chance and time to participate in forums to give their views and experience the care delivery process. According to Heuel et al., (2022), the shortage in nurses has negatively impacted the work schedule, with available nurses working for a longer time and missing opportunities to give their views in policy-making exercises. Secondly, there has been a traditional perception of nurses as influencers of patient care and their experience views, and contention should be limited to serving patients (Demir et al., 2022). This limitation for nurses’ role hinders their acceptance as equal players in the healthcare industry, derailing their input in policy-making.

Addressing the challenges increases nurses’ advocacy role in developing policies that would improve the overall nursing and healthcare practice. One approach is through the provision of a flexible work schedule. This would give nurses time to deliver patient care and participate in policy influencing programs such as board meetings and group work, among others. Additionally, healthcare organizations should engage in nurse workforce training through the nurse association nurse representatives to ensure they understand their impact and role in policy making. Nurse training empowers them to actively participate in giving feedback and recommendations based on their experiences in addressing patient needs. Role of RNs and APRNs in Policy Making Discussion Paper

Strategies for Advocacy and Opportunities

RNs and APRNs remain critical stakeholders in the healthcare industry. Their active participation is key to effective change management regarding participation in the policy-making process (Barzegar Safari et al., 2020). Different approaches can be adopted to advocate and communicate the existence of nurses as agents of policy formulation. One is increasing the number and time RNs and APRNs participate in the change process. As part of the change management team, nurses actively advocate for better healthcare delivery, improve the work environment and focus on addressing patient needs. This would put nurses in the policy-making process, motivating them to remain active. Another strategy that would effectively communicate the RNs and APRNs’ opportunity in policy making is by inducting them into healthcare organizations’ training and seminars. By being part of the educational seminars, nurses can provide information regarding their experience in care delivery hence providing critical information to policy makers. Members from regional, national and local policy formulation can participate to highlight nurses’ opportunities getting them active in the policy process. Role of RNs and APRNs in Policy Making Discussion Paper

References

Barzegar Safari, M., Bahadori, M., & Alimohammadzadeh, K. (2020). The related factors of nurses’ participation and perceived benefits and barriers in health policy making. The Journal of Nursing Research, 28(4), 1-8. doi: 10.1097/jnr.0000000000000385