Political Action Awareness Health care is an economical as well as social driven phenomenon of a society. There are numerous vested interests and attempts from interested parties to claim ground in the industry. Not only have groups of professionals been deeply challenged by the complexity of the industry, but also the effect of changes within its governance is felt locally. Numerous attempts such as the introduction of an internal (quasi) market within the NHS and the creation of a central tenet where health is presumed to run as a business have been implemented. Despite these attempts, the basic philosophy of health has not changed, and these measures have been viewed as an inside erosion of the core principles of caring that attracted many professionals to health care initially. Given the values of policy-makers and senior managers of the quasi-market, health care workers found that their practices were molded into a culture that presented them with legislative and ethical challenges. Ethical issues such as promotion of narrow policies, inadequate qualified staff to provide health care and the obligation to follow poorly outlined strategies (Finkelman & Kenner, 2013, 245).

Therefore, it is the health professionals’ responses to these issues that will set the scene and write the script for better services in the health care sector of the economy. Despite the presence of collaboration in the various health disciplines, and the shift of balance of power from a medical supremacy to a mutual viewpoint, none of the professionals involved in health care have ownership in the care service they offer. Public health services are owned by funding from the government, and thus professionals involved in the service have no effective voice.

Political and professional courage is a necessity amongst managers and nursing leaders so as to steer nursing towards eradicating people’s dualism to individual against collective health and improve social health services. Activist nurses, with an informed vision, can play a significant role in improving the level of discourse in the society. Managers or leading nurses need to outline the conditions for work so that nurses have the responsibility and rights to act as political individuals in national and local arenas. Nurses ought to have a system that moves from being away from people’s daily experience to one that offers resources to policy-makers and the community. For excellent policy making to occur, leading nurses as interpreters and advocates of science must feel sanctioned to support their health care policies (Institute of Medicine, 2010, 1).

Conclusion

The experiences of various nurses practicing in the present world of health care have prompted them into taking advocacy roles in order to impact change on policies, regulations and laws that govern the health care system. The present health care system with countless policies, regulations and laws imposed by the government, institutions, and private insurers, challenges both patients and nurses who are caught between cost and access to quality health care. As nurses intermingle with their patients, they realize how futile the system of health care is in offering quality services. Nurses deal with issues such as patient’s safety, access to services, and health disparities as their daily chores. Nurses have the objective to deal with these issues and other concerns affecting their workplace or continue to be victimized by the present challenges in health care systems. Nurses have the responsibility to be politically aware and involved in policy developments, whether at a national or organizational level. Nurses can play a significant role in persuading their elected leaders to advocate for changes that improve the entire health care system. It is the right time for nurses to be actively involved with the various societal issues that need to be addressed to ensure well-being and good health of the present and future populations residing the globe (Nurse Activism, 2012, 1).

References

Finkelman, A. W., & Kenner, C. (2013). Professional nursing concepts: Competencies for quality leadership. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Nurse Activism. (2012). Take Political Action! Retrieved from http://nurse-activism.com/politics.html

Institute of Medicine. (2010). The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Retrieved from http://www.rwjf.org/en/research-publications/find-rwjf-research/2010/10/the-future-of-nursing.