Public Health Policy Paper

To begin it would be best to understand what a bill is. A bill is a proposal of a law (2). Bills can only emerge in Congress (2). Congress is composed of the House of Representatives and the

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.

Nurses are the first to deal with patients such as, the aging population in the clinical or community setting, so they are well qualified to give expert testimony on health care reform. Before nurses can take a stance and gain a voice in the political arena, they must take on a new hat as an “advocate.” They can start their journey as a patient advocate by joining an association like The American Nurses Association (ANA). Associations like the ANA can mentor nurses venturing into the profession of patient advocacy; in addition to mentoring, the nursing associations can offer legislative days, policy internships, and conduct policy workshops to educate nurses on how to positively affect the legislation and policies at the state or federal level on health care

Energized by the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding most of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the American Nurses Association (ANA) is continuing its wide ranging efforts to ensure that Registered Nurses (RNs) have an even greater role in providing high quality care as implementation of the landmark law progresses. As guiding principles, ANA contends that health care is a basic human right, and that all deserve access to essential health care services. As nurses witness every day, a lack of primary and preventive care can cause people's manageable chronic conditions to spiral, leading to poorer patient outcomes and increased overall health care costs. (Anonymous, 2012). According to Billings and Halstead (2012), nurses are poised to participate in transforming this nation's health care system. Participation requires nurses to possess political advocacy skills so that nursing voice is brought to the policy debates and policy development.

APRNs are able to become politically involved by writing letter to the senators and congressman in support of bills related to access and quality of care, and support preventative health care. Other means of action include voting on matters of health, attending political meetings to learn what health policies are being discussed, and supporting wellness.

Analysis of the Methods Used to Influence Policy Makers or Legislators to Support the Policy

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

After the problem has been spoken about enough by interest groups congressmen will start to represent this issue, effectively getting the issue on the agenda. It could also be put on the agenda by world events, for example if other countries start to concern themselves with this issue. Once the issue is on the agenda, congressmen can propose a bill and, assuming that it gets through committee work and is placed on the calendar, the bill goes to be debated on the floor. Here the issue will be talked about and possibly amended to fit what the congressmen feel is best for the public.

An example, 111th Congress created 73 subcommittees for the Senate and 104 in the for the House to carry out their work (Schmidt et, al 214). Separate standing committees are given an area of the law with policy and power. Almost all the laws measures are viewed by the right Standing Committees( 214). They investigate issues and reshape the legislation. Standing committees, the Judiciary. The policy subject area, science, technology and communication. The H.Con.Res.17- 114th Congress (2015-2016), Supporting the Local Radio Freedom Act. The bill is presently on a concurrent resolution stage. The interesting fact about the goal was that Congress should not declare or impose any new performance fees, tax royalty on local radio stations. Also, not to change the public performance of sound recordings over the air, and business for the type of public performance sound (Congress.gov 2015). The sponsor was Rep. Conway, K. Michael from Texas. The bill introduced to the House on February, 24th 2015. It was a referred to the House Committees on the Judiciary. The action was taken by the House Rep on February, 24, 2015. On March, 17th 2015, the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet. Committee consideration and action carried by the House Judiciary

As nurses we strive to always practice in the best of our ability. One way that that we can further our efforts is to utilize our voice through health-care lobbying. The best approach to health-care lobbying is to first understand the legislative process. Consequently the purpose of this paper is to distinguish the legislative process as well as convey the benefits of health-care lobbying to not only the workers but the patients.

Deterrents of nurse’s participation in policy making include lack of communication, utilization of a top-down implementation model, lack of nurse availability due to nursing shortages in the work place, and viewing the role of nursing as an implementer of policy rather than maker of policy. When policies are made without local nursing input, the policies tend to be viewed as negative or inappropriately carried out due to the policy maker’s lack of knowledge of available resources needed to carry out the policy

Principally, while it is possible to gather lobby groups and attempt to advocate a particular direction, the final stage requires the support of legislators. The article insinuates that is it is critical to identify the district that the legislators represent (Cthealthpolicy, 2015). The district is significant because the legislators will only serve the interests of the district they represent. For instance, representatives from Newton may be more receptive to the mental health reform proposals due to the incident in Newton. Secondly, a legislator is friendly and appreciative of input in regards to various issues. The idea is that they rely on goodwill for reelection and are therefore open to constructive ideas. Besides, legislators are not completely aware of issues that encompass policymaking; this offers advocates a chance to push agendas and

To influence public policy, nurses must act as professionals with the ability and the responsibility to affect the current and future debate over the delivery of health care. This

step in, implement something and make change for the better for the public. There are a

Nurse leaders are aware that today’s health care system has many issues complicating the goal of quality patient care and outcomes for all. Nurse leaders must stay informed and become involved as an advocate influencing changes in policy, laws, and/or regulations that govern the health care system they practice in. At times the advocacy requires a nurse leader to become more involved beyond their immediate level of practice and into the world of politics and policy.