pertinent issues affecting the nursing profession

The purpose of this essay was to highlight current concerns affecting the nursing profession, such as nurse-patient staffing ratios and a lack of advocacy. The essay was separated into two sections: professional initiatives to strengthen my position as a registered nurse and a legislative information sheet.

Professional Initiatives

Upon consideration of the challenges confronting the nursing profession, particularly nurse-patient ratios and a lack of advocacy, I intend to implement the following actions to address these issues. Initially, I would pursue a master’s degree in nursing. My pursuit of further education would be influenced by the notion that greater education would allow me to appreciate the issues that nurses of various levels of education face. Besides, further training will broaden my expert power (Abood, 2007) on matters relating to nursing. I would then join the local chapter of the American Nursing Association and encourage other nurses to do the same. Given that most nurses in my state work in healthcare facilities with higher nurse-patient ratios and higher workloads, I would request all nurses to register at the local ANA chapter and avail themselves for bimonthly meetings (there is strength in numbers) (Abood, 2007). The main agenda of the meetings would be to discuss issues affecting nurses at their places of work. I would also use the sessions to request the nurses to elect me as the chairperson of the local chapter of ANA. I would then use my position to seek an audience with the state senator, governor, and other political players in a position of influence (Abood, 2007). I would use my political networks to advocate for the welfare of nurses.

Lobbying for Change

I would also lobby the state senator and members of Congress to take up the issues affecting the nurses to the national level because they have the power to effect meaningful changes in the federal health policy. My desire to network with the political establishment is because the healthcare policy is intertwined with politics (Abood, 2007). Besides, to ensure that challenges facing the nursing profession are given priority in the legislative process, the nursing association would initiate a public sensitization campaign across the state.

Legislator Information Sheet

Introduction

Dear Senator, I prepared the information sheet below to provide you with the necessary facts on the issues affecting nurses and how they relate to your constituents. Therefore, addressing these issues would be a win-win situation for you and your constituents who would have a better healthcare experience and consequently be willing to vote you back into office once your current term expires.

Facts

First, I would like to inform you that there is an acute shortage of nurses in my state. Therefore, my healthcare facility is not able to adhere to the recommended nurse-patient ratio of 1:2 in the ICU and 1:4 in specialty care sections, thus resulting in lower chances of patient recovery and higher mortality (The Department for Professional Employees, 2016).

I would also like to inform you that a significant proportion of permanent nurses are leaving the profession due to low job satisfaction, low pay compared to temporary nurses, and musculoskeletal disorders caused by longer working hours (The Department for Professional Employees, 2016).

The need to implement nurse-staff ratios is informed by the commendable success of the program in the state of California, as documented in a study undertaken by Linda et al. (2010). It was observed that hospitals in California recorded lower patient mortality, better rates of recovery, and higher job satisfaction among nurses compared to other states (Aiken et al., 2010).

Besides, from an economic perspective, maintaining the recommended nurse-staffing ratios would enable the US government to save about $6 billion annually in medical expenses (The Department for Professional Employees, 2016).

Conclusion

The present essay presented an information sheet that would be used to advocate for better nurse-staff ratios among the members of Congress and senators. Besides, a theoretical approach to be employed in advocating for better working conditions in healthcare facilities was presented. It was noted that better nurse-patient ratios would reduce mortality and enhance job satisfaction among nurses.

References

Abood, S. (2007). Influencing Health Care in the Legislative Arena. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 12(1).

Aiken, L. H., Sloane, D. M., Cimiotti, J. P., Clarke, S. P., Flynn, L., Seago, J. A., Smith, H. L. (2010). Implications of the California nurse staffing mandate for other states: Nursing and home care. Health Services Research, 45(4), 904–921.

The Department for Professional Employees. (2016). Safe-Staffing Ratios: Benefiting Nurses And Patients.