The principal duty of the nurse is to the patient, and this duty extends beyond clinical care, into ensuring the betterment of the patient’s holistic health. The attainment of the patient’s holistic health may not be possible without the right resources and circumstances, part of which includes laws. In the US, laws on a federal level are passed by the bicameral Congress while at the state level, they are passed by the legislature (Anderson, 2014). A nurse has an obligation and also a capability to influence the passing of the legislation that favors the holistic health of patients, both at the state and the federal level.
Lawmaking begins with the development of policy at the executive level, then moves to the legislation of the policies at the parliamentary level. Under the US federal constitution, the executive level of government is responsible for the development of policy. The policy can be in the form of executive orders which become effective as soon as they are signed by the president. It can also be in the form of bills that are then introduced to the two houses of Congress to be passed as laws (Anderson, 2014). At the state level, policies are developed by the office of the governor, once again in the form of executive orders or through bills to state parliaments. The process of policymaking can be influenced by nurses. Similarly, most policies become laws as and when they are enacted by respective legislatures. In the USA, legislatures include the Senate and the House of Representatives, who together form Congress at the federal level, and the state legislative bodies which vary depending in state constitutions (Anderson, 2014). The legislative level also provides an important avenue for a nurse to influence the kinds of laws that will be made.
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Nurses can influence these processes by making financial contributions to professional or allied interest groups. The groups will use the money to hire professional lobbyists who will push for the right policies and laws. Another approach that a nurse can use to influence laws is by voting. Policymaking is driven by presidents and governors while legislation is done by Senators and Representatives (Anderson, 2014). All these positions regularly come up for elections and nurses can influence who holds which position by voting. The most preferable way for nurses to influence legislation is through contributions towards professional lobbying. This avenue is superior because there is already in place an effective infrastructure to influence legislation under the ANA Department of Government Affairs (GOVA) (ANA, 2018). GOVA provides a unified, thus powerful voice for nurses to compete with the other powerful interest groups to further the agendas that are relevant to the profession.
Nurses can use their influence over policy and legislative processes to play a role in the area of availability of universal primary health for all. Nurses have a duty to take care of all patients in spite of their social status, but this obligation is sometimes interfered with by institutional policies, leading to ethical dilemmas, for example, in end of life care (Vallerand, 2018). The right laws can result in a single-payer health insurance system, thus curing the dilemma. Nurses can raise a relevant and effective voice for change in these areas.
The duty of the nurse to the patient is not complete until the patient attains an ideal holistic health status. To achieve this, the nurse has to go beyond offering clinical services to patients and ensure that the right policies, laws, and regulations have been put in place within the health and allied sectors. In this regard, nurses can join together and influence policymakers and legislatures through their interest groups such as GOVA. The nurse can also make individual efforts to influence legislation and policymaking through voting for the right leaders.
References
ANA. (2018). Federal issues. Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/advocacy/federal/
Anderson, J. E. (2014). Public Policymaking . Boston, Massachusetts: Cengage Learning
Vallerand, A. H. (2018). Pain-related disparities: Are they something nurses should care about? https://www.painmanagementnursing.org/article/S1524-9042(17)30630-6/fulltext
