Legislative Process And Healthcare Lobbying

There are seven basic steps: Introduction, referral or assignment to house or senate committees, considered in house or senate committees, placement of bill on a legislative calendar, considered on the house or senate floor, signed or vetoed by governor, and lastly the bill does or does not become a law.

Nurses have the ability to have their voice received which can aid with change in health care by a number of ways, one of which is to become active within the community and advocate for nursing and advanced care for the public. One way this can be done is to influence legislators by becoming active in supporting health care bills.

The author of this paper is a registered nurse, a graduate student of Maryville University who lives in San Mateo, California with zip code 94403. The author has conducted a search of her state and federal legislators. In this paper, committees of federal representatives and senators are discussed. Main focus is given to the legislators’ involvement in health care policy. The paper also discusses how California Action Coalition implements the recommendations of the Future of Nursing. Additionally, the relevance of selected websites (http://www.hhs.gov, http://www.house,gov, http://www.senate.gov, and http://www.thefutureofnursing.gov) to the author’s current practice and practice in the near future

All of the laws in the United States begin as a bill, which must be approved by the Senate, House of Representatives, and the President. The bill stars as an idea from a representative or a citizen who has an idea and tells their representative about the idea. The representative then decides if the idea is

In order for a bill to be considered, it must first be supported and introduced by a member or the House or Senate. In order to for a nurse to have an issue presented, her or she must first find a representative to sponsor the bill and persuade as many members as possible to agree to cosign it. Lobbying, or advocating for these issues, can be done through face-to-face

For a bill to become a law it takes more than one step and more than one person deciding, it's not as easy as it seems. First, the legislation is introduced, and then you have the committee action, afterwards floor action, conference committee, the president, and then the bill becomes a law. Some bills will never make it through any of these processes but for those who really want their bill to pass, if they fight for it they just might get lucky. This paper will show you that it takes more than one person and is a long process. Through out this paper I will explain how a bill becomes a law so that you will have a better understanding of the process.

As a health care team member who has direct access to patients on the daily bases who better to be a part of the policy making process. Nurses can not only be a voice for themselves to make their job run smoother but they can also be a voice for the patients to help them receive the care they deserve. If nurses fail to take part in this process others will make decisions that affect their practice without any of their input and they will continue to be forced to adapt to the changes that could have negative effects on themselves and their patients. Continuing to increase the number of nurses who are politically intelligent and active will help achieve the desired goal. One effective way to accomplish this is to continuously educate all staff nurses for this vital role. Another way is to pay attention to legislation that is introduced and by contacting elected representatives to voice opinions on your behalf, whether they are positive or negative. Technology makes this process convenient through the use of the Internet and E-mail. In the past the common thought among the nursing community is that there was nothing in their power that they could do as health personnel to change or influence the policies that were being implemented in their hospitals and clinics. I

“Nurses cannot afford to remain in the background or added as an afterthought to the policy and legislative arenas” (Abood, 2007, para. 45). Nurses need to capitalize on our reputation as one of the most trusted professions. With the continuous evolution of the healthcare system, nurses need to work on bringing the patients, communities, and the overall population’s health perspectives into current and future legislative health policies, and

There are constant changes to laws and legislation regarding patient care and safety. The purpose of this report is to inform the reader of recent and upcoming changes to legislation that may affect nursing care of patients. Research by L. Aiken, et al. and A. Tourangeau, support the need for higher education of registered nurses. Their research proves that patient outcomes are improved when registered nurses carry a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Research conducted by J. Needleman, et al., concluded that reducing the nurse-patient ratio resulted in the patient being at less risk for developing hospital-acquired illnesses as well as a reduced risk of

There are constant changes to laws and legislation regarding patient care and safety. The purpose of this report is to inform the reader of recent and upcoming changes to legislation that may affect nursing care of patients. Research by L. Aiken, et al. and A. Tourangeau, support the need for higher education of registered nurses. Their research proves that patient outcomes are improved when registered nurses carry a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Research conducted by J. Needleman, et al., concluded that reducing the nurse-patient ratio resulted in the patient being at less risk for developing hospital-acquired illnesses as well as a reduced risk of inpatient

The health care system is in trouble and according to Abood (2007), in need of immediate change. As a nurse myself, I acknowledge that some legislations compromise the quality of health care delivery by nurses and success rate of patients due to burnout. It is important for me to be an advocator for my fellow nurses and health care providers and to the best of my ability work to amend these legislations. Abood (2007), argued that “successful policy advocacy depends on having the power, the will, the time, and the energy, along with the political skills needed to ‘play the game’ in the legislative arena”. I will discuss the different ways I would persuade a legislator to work towards better nursing laws.

An average nurse can be involved in the political process by being an advocate for the patient through close involvement with the legislator and policymaker. The nurse can advocate on issues in which will result in an improvement of the outcome of the patient’s health. For example, the nurse can speak with the legislator concerning issues with having increased responsibilities with patient care and dealing with nursing shortage. The nursing shortage also brings a concern to the nurse with the new health care reform. The health care reform requires an individual to have insurance or they will have to pay a penalty fee. Most people would rather have insurance versus having to pay for the penalty fee. There may be some individuals in which who did not have insurance and they would put off their current health issues because of the lack of insurance. Now the individual has purchased health insurance as required by the new health care reform and there may be an increase number of people seeking health care treatment at the hospital. The number of patient’s seeking health care treatment increases, but there still remains an issue with staffing shortage. This is also an issue the nurse can present to their legislator or policymaker. “When nurses transition out of their comfort zone of patient care and into the arena of legislative advocacy, they can achieve a better health care system for themselves and their

NP’s see patient’s daily and come to know the patients they treat. This allows them the insight to know how certain bills will affect those in the community. Another way NP’s can influence legislation is by joining organizations, those that lobby on behalf of patients. “NP’s should let legislation know which organizations they are members of and how they work with patients on a daily basis. NP’s can join health policy committees within nursing organizations and work on formulating health policy priorities”, (Chilton, 2015).

The relationship between doctors and nurses affects the nurse's position on health reform. When there is an alter in the practice of medicine due to a new health care policy there can be a change in the relationship between doctors and nurses. Nurses are considered the patient's voice (Buerhaus el al, 2012), therefore, when doctors shift away from their nurses they are shutting off the patient's voice. It is crucial for physicians to build up a collaborative professional relationship with their nurses (Buerhaus el al, 2012). Even though, there are over three million nurses in the U.S. the majority of them are 47 years old. Nurses understand that health reform con does not provide quality of care without an adequate nurse workforce (Buerhaus

Members and experts from many specialty organizations work with ANA lobbyist in the United States. Congress and different state council to advice and convince legislators concerning the requires of nursing and the public regarding healthcare issues and quality care. Some of these activities have involved, and continue to include advocating for greater nursing presence in the current patient protection and affordable care act (March 2010) (ANA,2011a; Gallagher,2010). Goals of political advocacy include greater nurse involvement in providing access to care, influencing the cost and quality of care, identify the scope and authority of practice, and improving the healthcare workforce.