Advocacy is essential to advancing health care. But it doesn’t just magically happen.
As nurses, we advocate for our patients every day. Leveraging our instincts and training, we “see around corners” to identify problems before they occur and to take definitive action. Why is it, then, that so few nurses apply that skillset and those instincts to advocate for policies that affect us, our profession and ultimately our patients?
I am a strong believer in the power of advocacy to effect change. But it doesn’t work if it doesn’t happen. Case in point, when I became a chief nursing officer (CNO) four years ago, I participated in the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) Nurse Executive Fellowship for new CNOs. One of our assignments was to participate in the annual AONL Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C. Fresh out of training, I met with the legislative health policy aide (a key influencer) of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives who told me that in her four years in her role, she had never been approached by a nurse. While doctors, she said, were in every week.
This representative’s district encompasses much of Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world. Nurses comprise the largest component of the healthcare workforce. And yet the representative’s office had not once been approached by a nurse.
I realized right then and there that only nurses can advocate for nurses and the nursing profession. And it’s time to marshal our forces.
Last month, I participated in my fourth AONL Advocacy Day, joining forces with 230 other nursing leaders from around the country, including 10 from Texas, to advocate for policies that impact our nursing profession and health care systems. Armed with talking points, we met with legislators from the U.S. House and Senate to discuss crucial issues like workforce development, protecting our healthcare teammates from violence, and supporting nurse staffing with modern solutions that meet the needs of modern healthcare.
Our top two priorities were advocating for two bills, both of which are strongly supported by AONL:
Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees (SAVE Act) (S.3770 / H.R.7961)
Since I began my nursing career 17 years ago, workplace violence in health care has escalated to unprecedented levels. Texas leads in violent incidents against healthcare workers, with 80% of nurses reporting unsafe work conditions due to abuse from patients, families and visitors. Our nurses are urgently calling for change, warning that without it, the nursing shortage will worsen as many choose safety over service.
The SAVE Act aims to protect hospital personnel from violence and to uphold quality patient care. Specifically, the bill establishes a new criminal offense for knowingly assaulting or intimidating hospital personnel during the performance of their official duties in a manner that interferes with their performance of the duties or limits their ability to perform the duties.
Future Advancement of Academic Nursing Act (FAAN Act) (S.3770 / H.R.7266)
The FAAN Act aims to enhance nursing education by investing in schools, expanding clinical opportunities and promoting workforce diversity. This bill authorizes the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to award grants to nursing schools to increase capacity to respond to public health emergencies and pandemics and otherwise enhance nursing education programs.
In awarding these grants, HRSA shall prioritize historically Black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions, schools that are located in medically underserved communities and schools in areas with shortages of health professionals.
These two bills are included in ANOL’s 2024 nursing leadership advocacy priorities.
So, what can we, as nurse leaders and nurses ourselves, do? The short answer is do something. I liken jumping into advocacy to an ice bath. You know you need to do it for your sprained ankle, but it’s hard to take the plunge. Initially, advocating can be challenging and awkward, but when you’re done, you feel better. You feel like you’ve made a difference, at a macro level.
Here are six things you can do, right now, to make a difference:
- Educate yourself on the issues. Before diving in, know what you are advocating. If you’re not already a member of our state and national professional organizations, such as the Texas Nurses Association or AONL, join, educate yourself and participate. Don’t forget specialty organizations like the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and the National Association of Orthopedic Nurses.
- Check-in with your government affairs team. It’s important to know your hospital or healthcare system’s stand on policies, including pending legislation. If you elect to advocate to legislators, your government affairs professionals can guide you as to how to appropriately represent yourself.
- Think of health care when you vote. Before jumping into advocacy four years ago, when voting, I looked at the candidates’ platforms primarily from the perspective of a mom. I considered their stances on education, gun control and the like. Now I make sure I understand a candidate’s platform through the health care lens as well. So, in effect, I make voting decisions wearing both my personal and professional hats.
- Make yourself known as a constituent. If you don’t know who your local, state, and federal representatives are, find out (see list below). Then send them an email thanking them for their service, introducing yourself as a nurse, and offering to serve as a resource to them on nursing issues. Stay in touch on issues affecting nursing.
- Support your candidates and representatives. Use your social media network to raise awareness of them and their positions to help spread the word.
- Be the squeaky wheel. Policy that affects nursing should not be something that happens to us. We’re not being excluded from the policymaking table, but to have a voice, we have to show up. As Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm said, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” Be as confident and determined about advocating for nursing as you are advocating for your patients. Illustrate your points by sharing stories from your actual experiences. Don’t be afraid to make it personal.
These are just a few ideas to get you started. For a more comprehensive list, I suggest you read this excellent article, “Built for Advocacy,” written by former North Carolina Senator Gale Adcock, MSN, FNP-BC. I think she sums up our mandate pretty succinctly when she says, “Thirty-five years in the trenches as a grassroots advocate and legislator have convinced me of 2 things: nursing must be present and vocal at health care policy tables, and it is on us to get there.”
Don’t forget to take along a folding chair, just in case.
Resources:
- S. House of Representatives
- S. Senators for Texas
- Texas House of Representatives
- Texas Senate
- Harris County Elected Officials
By Leah Blackwell, MSN, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and member of American Organization for Nursing Leadership’s Nurse Leaders in Advocacy