In healthcare, policy refers to the plans, decisions, and actions taken to achieve specific goals in a society’s healthcare system. A good health policy defines a vision and establishes targets to be achieved in the short-term and the long-term (Milstead & Short, 2017.Pg 116). Formulation of healthcare policy involves different players, among them nurses. The nursing profession is generally the science of human health and care (Williams, Day, Maltby & Mcgarry, 2013. Pg 23). As such, nurses play a crucial role in influencing healthcare policy formulation (Milstead & Short, 2017.Pg 196). Nurses who influence healthcare policy formulation help shape the kind of care provided by our nurses, and also on the amount of resource allocation to support the efficient delivery of health care to the patients.
In influencing healthcare policies, it is important to avoid all instances of bias that could negatively influence policy formulation. Bias refers to the presence of a preference that impairs or interferes with judgment (Milstead & Short, 2017.Pg 215). As a nurse involved in policy formulation, it is important you identify any form of ideological or political bias which has an impact on the formulation of health care policy (Milstead & Short, 2017.Pg 215). Some forms of bias that might have an impact on policy formulation include ideologies and stereotypes on race, gender, age, and financial status and literacy levels of the patients (Williams, Day, Maltby & Mcgarry, 2013. Pg 103). For example, a nurse could be paying more attention to a white patient with a similar health condition to a Mexican patient, but the nurse ignores the Mexican patient probably because he belongs to a minority race (Williams, Day, Maltby & Mcgarry, 2013. Pg 103). A nurse should thus influence the formulation of policies that do not discriminate on either of the mentioned conditions of the patient.
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As a nurse, I have found myself in situations where I have a negative perception towards overweight people. In my opinion, patients with weight-related complications have themselves to blame for not observing healthy eating habits which resulted in them being obese. When influencing policy formulation, this type of bias could hinder me from making an effective judgment on policies addressing the needs of patients with weight-related complications. To address this type of bias, I have engaged in active research on the causes of obesity and ways of reducing the chances of a patient being obese. I also plan on working with different groups of individuals who are suffering from obesity understand how they got into the situation, and also help them control the negative effects of obesity.
References
Milstead, J., & Short, N. (2017). Health Policy and Politics (6th ed., pp. 116, 196 and 215). Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Williams, G., Day, L., Maltby, J., & Mcgarry, J. (2013). Research Methods for Nursing and Healthcare (pp. 23 and 103). London and New York: Routledge.
