A professional nurse can be described as any registered nurse who holds a basic Bachelor of Science in nursing degree. This kind of nurse has additional knowledge that supersedes that of a midwife, nurse aide or any other support staff that ease the burden of the nurse. The professional nurse plays a vital role in maintaining the treatment plan put in place by the doctor (Salmond,& Echevarria, 2017). The nurse also carries out some administrative duties like record keeping and patient reviews. This is in addition to the basic tasks such as dispensing medication and regularly taking and updating the patients' vital signs. Professional nurses are also important contributors to the formation and improvement of policy.
The nurse is the main communication tool between the patient and the other functions of the health care process. The professional nurse collects direct feedback from the patient on all aspects of the treatment process (Edmonson et al., 2017). The professional also makes mental notes of all the issues that are of concern to the nursing staff that they work with (Salmond,& Echevarria, 2017). This includes complaints and issues that may be brought to their attention by other support staff in this setting. The nurse is therefore able to keep the communication channels open between all the relevant parties. This is an important role in the dissemination of information that is relevant to the policy.
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Evaluating the urgency of needs is also done best by the professional nurse. A nurse will be able to determine which needs are not fulfilled across the board. An example of such issues that may arise is a recurrent duplication of patient information (Edmonson et al., 2017). This may be due to a lack of unique identification features, poor record keeping, faulty electronic backup and many others. The nurse can apply their education and experience to this situation. They will then use their professional judgment to decide whether the gap can be filled by a change in policy. A policy change can include a mandatory daily record update or restriction of access to the information data base for unauthorized persons.
Resource allocation can also be influenced because of the input of the professional nurse. Resource allocation is determined by the importance of each itemized expenditure. A professional nurse can point out the poor quality of health care they provide by relating it to the lack of resources they face (Edmonson et al., 2017). An example is a facility which has a surplus of patients but they experience a limitation of health care workers. The facility may be willing and able to procure more staff but they may be limited by the policy procedures for hiring. A professional nurse can advocate for their case by presenting the patient to workers ratio. This can then be compared to the standards put in place by the World Health Organization and other bodies. Such a move may trigger a policy change to accommodate more flexible hiring procedures.
Apart from influencing policy changes at an organizational level, nurses can also make a difference in the regional and national policies on health care. This move is most effective when it is done as collaboration between nurse leaders (Edmonson et al., 2017). The nurses sit together with other professionals under their charge and they determine what the most pressing issues are. According to Premji and Hatfield (2016), the leaders then come together to present the findings to advocacy bodies and other leaders. Such forums exist in bodies such as the conferences and journals that are organised and funded by the American Nurses Association.
Once issues are raised by a large majority of the members, the body can present its findings to government agencies and other community partners that influence healthcare. This way, policy change can be done on a global level. Sustainable changes were made in the United States following such interventions. Edmonson et al (2017) was able to demonstrate one such venture that related reproductive health to maternal health outcomes. The nurses input was able to change national policies to guarantee better outcomes for the mother and new born child.
The role of a professional nurse in health policy can also be examined from the role of collaboration with other health care professionals. Nurses have a position of authority that they can exercise in observing how the organisation operates. This makes them influential to every member of society (Premji & Hatfield, 2016). The authors further point out that the nurse can observe inconsistencies in service delivery such as the time it takes a patient to be served at the casualty and at the pharmacy (Premji & Hatfield, 2016). While policy may not be able to determine the time or urgency between one patient's medical condition of another, it can determine the speed of service delivery in other areas. For example, an in patient buzzing for a nurse should be attended to in record time (Edmonson et al., 2017). However, delays in queues and in processing of results or verification documents must be made efficient through policy. The nurse can facilitate this discussion by initiating such discussions with the relevant leaders in each unit.
The most important role a nurse can play in policy is to apply their literacy in the matter. Nurses who are well versed on the language used in the policy documents are the best placed in implementing, influencing or determining the changes that can be made (Premji & Hatfield, 2016). The nurse is also the advocate and teacher of others nurses and patients in the expectations and rights that the policy has for them. The literacy level of the nurse will make it easier for the organization to receive genuine feedback that will lead to a more sustainable approach for future guidelines (Salmond & Echevarria, 2017). Additionally, literacy gives the nurse the understanding necessary to relate some theoretical guidelines to clinical practice. The role of the nurse as an educator is vital as it keeps communication open and feedback is relevant to the policy.
Action plan
The following action plan can be used to implement the role of the nurse and increase their involvement in policy making. The plan will be implemented in four major steps. The first is identification of the tasks needed to influence policy (Edmonson et al., 2017). Some of these tasks include setting up a communication framework, establishing a monthly or biannual needs assessment mechanism, relating resources allocation to output, determining at what level policy change is needed, creating collaboration between other health workers and promoting literacy (Salmond & Echevarria, 2017). Once the tasks are identified, they can then be prioritized in terms of urgency and ease of implementation (Edmonson et al., 2017). For this step to work, nurses should be allowed to submit their findings and recommendations to policy makers and to the relevant leaders. The tasks must be listed in terms of their objectives, standards of measurement and the responsibilities of each player.
The second step is to examine each of the tasks in details. This will require a detailed description of the basic moves that make the event successful. An important aspect of this step is the inclusion of the ways in which this move may affect the day to day operations of the nurse. An example is the collection of feedback from patients which may require an additional five minutes during service delivery. Other implications include the financial commitment on the part of an institution (Premji & Hatfield, 2016). This may occur in the restructuring of resource allocation. When this has been done, the tasks can be broken down into segments that can be delegated to the nurses. Each nurse will have their specific role to play as they proceed with their ordinary tasks (Salmond, & Echevarria, 2017). For example, a basic registered nurse can collect feedback from the support staff, while the nursing leaders can put together formal recommendations and suggestions to front to the hospital administration. The head of nursing can then present regional concerns to state health agencies or to nursing bodies like ANA.
The third step is to run a pilot study of the plan. This study will determine the effectiveness of the plan and bright out any aspects that need some fine tuning. An example is avoiding a resource allocation to certain materials by changing the supplier and getting someone more cost effective. Such a move can free up more resources for use in other wanting areas (Premji & Hatfield, 2016). The fourth and final step is implementing the action plan while including the changes that have been necessitated by the pilot study. This plan will be easier to monitor and implement if it is given some structure and time allocation. Making it a part of the schedule will give it the relevance and support that it needs.
The role of a professional nurse in policy making includes formulation, implementation, review and even abolition of the guidelines used. A nurse must exercise their role through influence and an application of their literacy and skill (Salmond & Echevarria, 2017). Creating awareness on the policy us one good step. An action plan that details the actual measures expected from each nurse is the one that yields the most influence (Premji & Hatfield, 2016). Involvement can be increased by holding regular consultation on an interdisciplinary level. The nurses can also compare their experiences in order to determine the extent of the issues they encounter. In conclusion, nurses play a critical role in the existence and execution of policy.
References
Premji, S. S., & Hatfield, J. (2016). Call to action for nurses/nursing. BioMed research international, 2016.
Edmonson, C., McCarthy, C., Trent-Adams, S., McCain, C., & Marshall, J. (2017). Emerging global health issues: A nurse's role. Online journal of issues in nursing, 22 (1).
Salmond, S. W., & Echevarria, M. (2017). Healthcare transformation and changing roles for nursing. Orthopedic nursing, 36 (1), 12.
