Nurses as caregivers have a more significant role to play in ensuring the delivery of quality care to patients and their recovery. Nurses play a more substantial part in not only managing their health, by observing, monitoring, and recording pertinent information that aid in the patient recovery process, but they also serve a critical role of boosting their mental and emotional strengths. As such, nurses can be described as significant influencers in the nursing practice, and there are various ways they can achieve this mission. According to Cathy Catrambone, an associate professor at the Department of Adult Health and Gerontological Nursing at the College of Nursing, nurses can influence nursing outcomes in four main areas: philanthropy, policy, advocacy, and lifelong learning. I will discuss in this paper how I currently sway or change the nursing outcomes through policy and philanthropy.
Firstly, as mentioned above, I believe I have a more prominent role to play in ensuring patient outcomes are desirable. I believe achieving this goal requires more than just taking care of patients in healthcare settings or hospitals. As such, I have recently resorted to influencing policymaking processes to positively impact the entire healthcare delivery system because I think policies dictate all healthcare decisions. Policies integrate and define required standards necessary for the provision of care as well as rules needed for that particular care to take place. For example, the Affordable Care Act, commonly termed as Obamacare, was a policy enacted in 2011 by the former president Obama's administration. The policy offers subsidies to impoverished and low-income families by stating who is eligible to receive the aid and who does not.
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As an active member dedicated to ensuring effective and useful policies are formulated that reflect the needs of the patients, I am part of the broader community of nurses that actively root for the changes in the nursing training programs to include courses that offer evidence-based practice. I have particularly voiced my take on why the government and Department of Health need to create policies that compel higher learning institutions to teach EVB programs starting from the baccalaureate to the Advanced Practice level. As a Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) member, I continually participate in advancing policies that shape both regional and local healthcare. In particular, I continuously forward my policy opinions and contributions through STTI’s Global Advisory Panel on the Future of Nursing (GAPFON), which are usually considered with viewpoints of other stakeholders to create policies that promote healthcare.
Besides policy, I am also actively influencing various nursing outcomes through philanthropy. This is because I believe showing compassion to patients and their families as well as fellow nurses through charitable and generous acts encourages not only collaboration among health workers but also promotes quick patient recovery. The main agenda is to make the lives of others better through gifts, donations, and aid (Van de Pasch, 2016). One way I have managed to change the lives of others is by volunteering during evenings, weekends, and holidays. I always visit and encourage the mentally challenged, children with disabilities, patients in the critical care unit, and other people in need. During my visits, I buy fruits, books, and other goodies just to put a smile on the faces of these patients. I also sometimes offer free counseling sessions to patients as well as nursing care services when necessary.
In summary, I can contend that nurses have a significant role to play in ensuring patients receive quality care promptly. Among the many ways, nurses can influence healthcare, participating in policy making and philanthropic activities interest me most. I understand that policies can positively impact the kind of training nurses receive, the type of laws that govern care services, and many other things. I also appreciate the role philanthropy plays in improving the healthcare sector, including quick patient recovery.
References
Burke, S. A. (2016 June 2). Influence through policy: Nurses have a unique role. Reflections on Nursing Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.reflectionsonnursingleadership.org/commentary/more-commentary/Vol42_2_nurses-have-a-unique-role
Van de Pasch, T. (2016 July 7). Influence through philanthropy: What philanthropy looks like. Reflections on Nursing Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.reflectionsonnursingleadership.org/commentary/more-commentary/Vol42_3_influence-through-philanthropy-what-philanthropy-looks-like
