Working At The Policy Level

Historically, the nursing practice wasn’t seen as a professional job, but leaders such as Nightingale and Barton paved a path for the nursing practice to continue its growth and become stronger. Simple hand washing provided by Nightingale reduced infections caused by operations while Barton helped to establish the American Red Cross (Pearson, 2015) which to this day continues to provide aid to those in need around the world. Contemporary issues for nursing are typically within the healthcare setting.

“Nurses are more than caregivers in today’s healthcare settings. They are teachers, advocates and pioneers in improving healthcare. They are stepping out of the old model and taking ownership for changes in healthcare. Nurses are developing their own scientific research programs to improve patient care. They are playing a pivotal role in healthcare reform. Nurses are becoming leaders, not followers in healthcare reform.”

Nurses work in situations that are driven by political decisions and are directed by healthcare policies which are political in nature (Des Jardin., nd). Political Activism in Nursing includes Policy, Politics and Power. However, health and nursing are political and nurses should advocate to be political activists (CNA, 2000). Nurses advocating on behalf of clients or allow them to take actions on their problems/ issues. Nurses participates in unions, and workplace committees to influence healthcare reform, workplace violence and collective bargaining. The Canadian Nurses Association is the national professional voice of Registered Nurses in Canada. Lillian Wald, Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton are few of the many political

Nursing is defined in journal articles as protection, promotion, and optimization of health, prevention of illness, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations. Nurses save lives daily and are important members of health care system. They monitor patients, determine what patients need, and provide care. The nursing profession is rich with various contributors in the areas of research, education, and practice, as well as roles. In her book “Ordered to Care” (1987) , Susan Reverby describes nursing as the order in a society that refuses to value caring. However, with the obligation to care, nurses have tried to determine how they would provide care, be it at bedside or at legislative laws, Clara Barton was

From chapter 4, I was able to understand the concept of street–level bureaucrats. Street–level bureaucrats are mediators between policy makers and the clients. They are individuals who shape the policies after the makers have implemented them. Even though they are the “lowest levels of the social welfare system”, they have major control over the application of the policy. Even though the policy might state something, it is put into perspective that street-level workers might alter the policy based on capability (p.87).

In the U.S nursing officially began in the early 1700’s when the first almshouse was opened in Philadelphia. It continues to expand because of the fear from local governments of diseases spreading to the wealthier population. But due to the funding nurses didn’t have proper training. Also, the only roles for the nurse within the hospitals during this period of time was primarily tending the elderly and those with sicknesses, such as the flu and the common cold. The almshouses were rarely equipped to deal with any actual illnesses. However, most nurses spent their time tending to soldier’s wounds within the Civil War, as well as joining the American Red Cross after the war. It wasn’t until the 20th century that actual progress and modernization

policy in question. The current remedies to the Public Policy Process aren’t much, but a present

I agree with your position that it is important for practitioners and service users to pay attention to policy making in human services. True to your word, Issues discussed can affect them as you cited from (McKenzie & Wharf 2010) that “personal matters such as provision of health and social services, income support, housing, and planning for the development of cities and neighbourhoods”. If given the opportunity, practitioners and service users can make useful contribution concerning areas of the policy that need improvement as well as suggesting how the think the implementation can be made, since they are directly affected by the

The healthcare crisis was triggered by the number of uninsured in the United States (U.S.) and got the consumers and legislators to listen to nurses (Marquis & Huston, 2012, p. 289). In this example, nurses can take advantage of the public and legislator’s awareness to fight for the continuation of the Affordable Care Act. The perfect timing to address the issue will have the most participants and a higher chance of resolving the issue. Second way to increase power is the size of the nursing profession. Nursing population in the healthcare workforce is the greatest asset because it generates 2.9 million votes in politics (Marquis & Huston, 2012, p. 289).

The first three chapters of the Introduction to the Policy Process talks about how our society makes policy and how different events in the country’s history can have drastic effects on policy, and how these different kinds of policy’s can have an effect on the American people as well. In this country policy making has been there from the start after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and our separation from Great Britain. The readings mention what policy is and its purpose in our government and the population at large, why policy making is important to study, the elements of the policy making system, the different environments that can affect policy, and the historical and structural contexts of policy making in this country.

Lillian Wald was a pioneer in the field of public health nursing in the early 20th century, generating work that impacted her generation and the entire nursing profession. Her early influences and experiences shaped her into a devoted nurse with innovative and audacious strategies to address pervasive health problems. She was an influential force in the community she served and on the development of the public health agencies in NYC. Nationally, her long-term impact can be seen in areas relating to the professionalization of nursing: the well-being of consumers, nursing research, nursing education, autonomy and specialization, and the establishment of professional organizations. She became known, through her work, as a social reformer, a pacifist, a feminist and a diplomat, but she was always a first and foremost a nurse.

Policy is often considered in terms of a series of directives to be followed or instructions to be carried out; an authoritarian, top-down way of governing conduct; directed ‘at’ and ‘for’ people. But this ignores the importance of persuasion and consent in any successful policy initiative, at least within democratic societies. To be successful – that is, to be accepted and implemented – policy must also work ‘with’ people, appealing to the values, which they hold, and the expectations they have for the future. It must win at least the tacit support of others. Davies (2010) describes the process of policy formulation in terms of ‘negotiation’:

Public Health Nursing (PHN) can be described as affecting many instead of one. The American Public Health Associations Nursing Section defines public health nursing as, “the practice of promoting and protecting the health of populations using knowledge of nursing, social, and public health sciences,” (American Public Health Association, Public Health Nursing Section, 2013). Public health nursing focuses on the client, family, and community (Schaffer, Garcia, & Schoon, 2011). This paper discuses the history of two of the key players in PHN Florence Nightingale and Lillian Wald.

Throughout the history of nursing, nursing has evolved over time due to the impact of many women. These women have made a path that has both encouraged generations to follow in their footsteps, but also allow the best outcomes for them. Sister M. Berenice Beck’s greatest contributions to nursing were the development of the Code of Ethics and becoming the first female PhD and dean of nursing.

The evolution of nursing as a profession had showed through time that it is both an art and science. Before the 19th century, the military and religious orders are the ones who perform the duties of how nurses work today. As time went by, different events throughout history such as wars and epidemics had shaped nursing to its present organization. Nowadays, nursing is pushing further towards the future in improving itself as a profession for better care and service to the community. The objective of this paper is to discuss the historical development of