A lobbyist refers to an individual who advocates and communicates particular views to government officials with the intent to influence policy at local, state, and federal levels. Lobbyists persuade lawmakers to establish and at the same time, support particular policies regarding healthcare issues. On the other hand, an advocate refers to a person who offers direct and tailored services to patients and their families as they traverse the health care system (Politics: A Dirty word, n.d.). In addition, the individuals also engage health promotional activities alongside championing health care access in the broader public (Walker et al., 2015). Advocacy refers to the act of a stakeholder articulating their views on issues that affect their lives and those of others to the local, state as well as national level. For instance, during the annual Nurse Advocacy Day in April 2010, nurses met and engaged with their lawmakers on the issues that affect nursing and healthcare in general (Politics: A Dirty word, n.d.). Lobbying, on the other hand, refers to activities directly supporting or opposing particular legislation. Advocacy involves promoting a cause, while lobbying refers to a specific type of advocacy (Cohen, & Marshall 2017). Both lobbying and advocacy promote health care activities and include a series of events. In addition, both lobbying and advocacy aim to promote the public good by enhancing access to healthcare. Moreover, the two activities are essential since they increase awareness regarding issues of public importance. States and national governments have had to address the problems raised by advocates and lobbyists. It is necessary to indicate that both lobbying and advocacy use similar media strategies in advancing their agenda. Most importantly, both activities always seek to inform policy changes. The World Health Organization defines nursing excellence as the ability by a professional nurse to provide patient advocacy in all health care aspects, implement the nursing process as well as best practices while giving individualized attention to all the patients in their care. Moreover, nursing excellence needs continuing education, compassion, practice, peer review, and evidence-based outcomes. Medicine seeks to cure while nursing cares for individuals, thus fostering wellness.
References
Cohen, B. E., & Marshall, S. G. (2017). Does public health advocacy seek to redress health inequities? A scoping review. Health & social care in the community , 25 (2), 309-328.
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Politics: A Dirty word. (n.d.). OHIO UNIVERSITY: College of Health Sciences and Professions
Walker, D. K., Barton-Burke, M., Saria, M. G., Gosselin, T., Ireland, A., Norton, V., & Newton, S. (2015). Everyday advocates: nursing advocacy is a full-time job. AJN The American Journal of Nursing , 115 (8), 66-70.
