Nursing and public policy: a tool for excellence in education, practice, and research

Occupational health nursing and political action

BACKGROUND

Occupational health and safety are central elements of work. Throughout its history as a speciality, occupational health nursing (OHN) has been expanding the development of academic competencies and the improvement of clinical skills.

SOURCES OF EVIDENCE

The literature highlights that OHN is more involved in the application of policies with a public health perspective focused on the well-being of the worker than in their design and development. REFLECTIONS FROM A SOCIO-OCCUPATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVE OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH NURSING: From this premise, the current reality contributes to establishing priorities for action, generates consensus as a discipline, induces self-criticism and favours development as a profession. The article points out the strategies that favour political participation in companies, the factors that limit public representation and some of the benefits of establishing this type of initiative in organisations.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY

The OHN is a key agent of change in the design and development of health policies in the workplace. From a panoramic view of how health strategies can influence companies, and the care of the working population, political awareness and civic participation in its different aspects are part of the commitment to this nursing speciality.

Exploration of knowledge, attitudes, and perceived benefits towards nurse managers' participation in the health policy-making process: a qualitative thematic analysis study

Background

Participation of nurse managers in policy-making could help policy-makers to propose relevant and effective policies and support other policy actors involved with these processes.

Objective

This study aimed at exploring the attitudes and perceived benefits of nurse managers' participation in the health policy-making process.

Methods

In this descriptive qualitative research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 nurse managers, government officials, and faculty members. Recruitment was based on purposive sampling from different regions across Iran. A thematic analysis was performed in MAXQDA (version 2012).

Results

After analysis of the qualitative data, four themes and 13 sub-themes emerged. The themes were feelings about nurse managers' participation, advantages of nurse managers' participation, problems due to the non-participation of nurse managers, and recommendations for improvement of the policy-making process.

Conclusion

The outcomes provided new insights into the perceived benefits of and attitudes towards nurse managers' participation in health policy making in the Iranian setting. It is crucial to strengthen the capacity for nurse managers' participation in health policy making to develop effective healthcare policies.

How and why nurses became involved in politics or political action, and the outcomes or impacts of this involvement

BACKGROUND

Nurses' political engagement is needed for societal advancements.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to explain why and how nurses became politically active, and what they achieved.

METHODS

Qualitative, constant-comparative data analysis was used for this study. After 10 elected or politically-active Canadian nurses were interviewed, data saturation was confirmed.

FINDINGS

All were motivated by early life events to realize the importance of social justice and good government. Their nursing education and work equipped them to be capable of engaging in political spheres. All had developed knowledge of relevance for political purposes; in addition to confidence, communication skills, and other abilities to be effective politically. All highlighted the importance of being encouraged and assisted to engage politically. Positive micro-, meso-, and macro-level benefits of this involvement were identified.

CONCLUSIONS

More nurses should be inspired and helped to become active politically. It is critically important for nurses to inform and advance public policy, through direct political activities.

Factors influencing nurses participation in the health policy-making process: a systematic review

Background

Nurses as the majority of the health care workforce help in the health systems strengthening. Nurses’ involvement in health policy making is clear; however, still few are involved in policy-making processes, even in the clinical context. The aim of the present systematic review was to identify factors influencing nurses participation in the health policy-making process.

Methods

The present systematic review was designed on studies conducted between 2000 and 2019. Four online databases including PubMed, EMBASE, SCOPUS and Science Direct were searched using comprehensive terms. Study selection, quality assessment, data extraction, and data analysis were independently done by two reviewers. Inclusion criteria included published studies in English language and between 2000 to 2019, participants such as nurses and the healthcare managers, mentioned influential factors, types of participants were included nurses and the healthcare managers, study designs and methods clearly defined. The methodological quality of included article was appraised using the checklists of CASP and MMAT. Finally the data were analyzed using content analysis.

Results

After quality assessment, 11 studies, according to inclusion criteria, were retrieved. Nine studies had a good, 2 a medium, and non-articles was poor methodological quality. Three main themes include nursing-related factors (4 sub- themes), management and organizational factors (8 sub-themes) and creating a positive work environment (3 sub-themes) identified as affecting factors on nurses participation in health policy.

Conclusion

Nurses can utilize this finding to develop empowering programs to play efficient roles and increase their participation in health policy making. Also, the extracted factors in this review can place nurses in suitable position and make them potential agents in changing the ways of policy-making. Further studies are required to survey the relation between these factors and nursing participation in health policy making.

Modifiable Factors that Support Political Participation by Nurses

Political participation is an opportunity for individuals to give their time and energy in such a way that it benefits others and advances relevant agendas. Political participation is a key issue for nurses because they are familiar with clinical issues that directly impact health care policies instituted at the local, state, and federal levels. Collectively, nurses also represent the largest number of health care providers in the United States and are among the most trusted health professionals. However, there are many obstacles that prevent nurses from taking a more active role in politics, creating a gap in how nurses pursue and respond to political participation, or civic engagement. The purpose of this exploratory review is to identify modifiable factors that support political participation among nurses. A review of the extant literature revealed three primary factors that promote civic engagement among nurses: (a) integration of political education in the nursing curriculum; (b) value of active psychological engagement, including a personal interest in political knowledge and information; and (c) value of collective influence such as membership in professional organizations.

Priority setting and policy advocacy by nursing associations: a scoping review and implications using a socio-ecological whole systems lens

OBJECTIVE

We undertook an interpretative scoping review to examine organizational priority setting and policy advocacy and the factors that influence nursing associations' cross-sector public policy choices and actions.

METHOD

Evidence was drawn from research, narrative, and theoretical sources that described priority setting and policy advocacy undertaken by non-governmental, non-profit, and nursing associations. Text was extracted from selected papers, imported into NVivo 8, coded, and analyzed using a descriptive-analytical narrative method.

RESULTS

Many internal and external factors are shown to shape organizations' policy choices and actions including governance and governance structures, membership arrangements, legislative, professional, and jurisdictional mandates, perceived credibility, and external system disruptions.

CONCLUSIONS

Internal and external factors are identified in the literature as critical to how organizations succeed or fail to set achievable priorities and advance their advocacy goals. Case comparisons and longitudinal research are needed to understand nursing associations' policy choices and actions for cross-sector public policy given their complex organizational structures and dynamic professional-legal-social-economic-political-ecological environments. A socio-ecological systems perspective can inform the development of theoretical frameworks and research to understand leverage points and blockages to guide nursing associations' public policy choices and actions at varying points in time.