why are nurses reluctant to get involved in politics
The .gov means its official. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was used to collect data from 225 registered nurses in three hospitals and two nursing training schools in Tamale, Ghana, using a structured questionnaire. eCollection 2014. Nurse; Nursing; Political action; Politics; Research. Published On: September 11, 2020. policy work can be done by nurses at many levels, taking advantage of nursing organizations, https://bmcnurs.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12912-021-00648-6, https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/15/business/uk-nurses-strike-thursday-nhs-gbr-intl/index.html, https://nursing.jhu.edu/news-events/news/news/policy-honors-program, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. As such, nurses have the potential to profoundly influence policy and politics on a global scale. The details, including your email address/mobile number, may be used to keep you informed about future products and services. PLoS One. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the During his time at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, he was deputy secretary for the local chapter of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association. I found this article to be an interesting read as to why many nurses are not involved in politics and to learn of the ways that nurse can become involved in politics. 2014 Jul 10;13:20. doi: 10.1186/1472-6955-13-20. However, nurses need support in order to effect change. Policy and politics: why nurses should get involved. But without a seat at the table, legislators inexperienced in healthcare are making health-related decisions. The results of the independent t-test showed that the mean score on political participation for males was statistically significantly higher (15.81) compared to females (14.20), (t (223) = 2.525, p = .012). Background characteristics of participants were described using frequencies, percentages, and means. Nursing Research and Practice, 2016, 18. The purpose of this study was to explain why and how nurses became politically active, and what they achieved. Int Nurs Rev. As Oestberg states, As nurses, we need to think of policy as something we can influence, not just something that happens to us.. Zohreh Vanaki Whether youre looking to get your pre-licensure degree or taking the next step in your career, the hi I agree this is a huge problem due to lack of knowledge on politics and the effects it has on speaking up for what is right in healthcare for a better outcome. (2011) and Avolio (2014) respectively were registered members of a professional nursing organization. Opiate Crisis and Healthcare Reform in America: A Review for Nurses, Healthcare Transformation: A Bibliometric Analysis of a Global Endeavor, The State of Play: Healthcare Reform in 2017, Nurses Advancing Telehealth Services in the Era of Healthcare Reform, Policy Advocacy Motivators and Barriers: Research Results and Applications, Nurse Policy Entrepreneurship in a Rural Community: A Multiple Streams Framework Approach. Nursing. 2. Survival includes individual involvement within communities. As such, they are witnesses to inadequacies and inequalities within the healthcare delivery system and have first-hand knowledge that can lend expertise to discussions on health policies. He has also served on numerous university boards and committees. Nursing: Immunity and the Environment Course is organized by Hawaii Nurses Continuing Education (HNCE) and will be held on Nov 04, 2020. Disclaimer. Note: The values in this table represent multiple responses from participants. Or the Senate? Policy and politics: why nurses should get involved. Examples of questions asked on the PAI include, I am registered to vote, I belong to a professional nurses organization, and I have provided testimony at a public hearing on an issue related to health." Law 5. Previous studies about nurse participation in political activities have also reported high voter turn-outs among the nursing population (Ahoya, Abhichartibuttra, & Wichaikhum, 2016; Avolio, 2014). Perhaps they will even bring more political activism. Independent samples t-test was used to test the association between gender, area of practice, and political participation. As the largest medical profession in the world, nurses should be leading the way in redesigning the healthcare system. Modification of nursing education for upgrading nurses' participation: a thematic analysis. These groups include (a) the inactive, who do virtually nothing or very little, (b) the voting specialist, who vote regularly but do nothing else, (c) the parochial participant, who contact officials in relation to specific problems but are otherwise inactive, (d) the communalist, who intermittently engage in political action on broad social issues but are not highly involved, (e) the campaigner, who are highly involved in campaigns of various kinds, and finally (f) the complete activist, who participate in all kinds of activities. Findings: After all, healthcare legislation ultimately affects us all. Political involvement in nursing--politics, ethics, and strategic action. AORN J. :10.1177/1527154413490566, Kelly, K. (2007). A related finding was observed in participants' academic qualifications, with 56.9% having a diploma in nursing as their highest academic qualification. The .gov means its official. This study has demonstrated that, while nurses may not get involved in political activities that require greater effort and sacrifice (known as high-intensity participation), they are highly involved when it comes to low-intensity forms of political participation such as registering to vote and voting in elections. He serves as a faculty member of the Department of Paediatric Nursing Division of the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives and a member of a select committee on the Accelerated Fellowship programme of the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives. Key Words: Political participation, Political Astuteness Inventory, political activities, politics, policy, nurses, Ghana. The town is located 600 kilometers north of Accra, the capital of Ghana. Accessibility Nurses have a valuable hands-on perspective on patient care, staffing ratios, and how the healthcare system affects patients' lives. The nursing professions potential impact on policy and politics, are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or recommendations of the American Nurses Association, the Editorial Advisory Board members, or the Publisher, Editors and staff of. The majority of respondents (91.1%) were registered members of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA), but only a few took part in meetings and programs of the association. A primary goal was to grow the number of nurses with baccalaureate degrees. Hi.Good information.There are some conferences happening in which medical specialty would be Nursing and here is one of those conferences. I think it is wonderful we now have nurses in political offices. Additionally, the two training schools did not have institutional review boards, but their academic boards reviewed the proposal and gave verbal approval to conduct the study. These findings reflect the general characteristics of the target population and the nursing population in Ghana as a whole, where the majority of nurses have a diploma as their highest qualification, and only a few nurses have masters degrees or doctoral degrees. Tag: why are nurses reluctant to get involved in politics. When nurses were asked how important it is for nurses to know about political issues, 80% said it was very important. With the chronically ill population with more than one comorbid condition 4.8 minutes was not even enough time to cover teaching medications much less disease education, memory decline/impairment, mobility issues, fall risks, nutrition, ADLs, or any of the other critical keys. thanks for your stress in this domain. From apathy to political activism. BMC Nursing, 13(1), 1. : 10.1186/1472-6955-13-20, Vandenhouten, C. L., Malakar, C. L., Kubsch, S., Block, D. E., & Gallagher-Lepak, S. (2011). Tung FL, Yan VC, Tai WL, Chen JH, Chung JW, Wong TK. Kunaviktikul, W. (2014). This article reports findings from a survey of registered nurses in three hospitals and two nursing training schools in Tamale, Ghana. MeSH More than 80% of the inhabitants are Dagdombas. OB/GYN Conference Survival Skills for Todays Gynecologist is organized by World Class CME and will be held from Apr 12 14, 2019 at The Westin New York at Times Square, New York, USA. Nurses must be seen and heard in health policy debates. Before He is currently a Senior Nursing Tutor with the Ghana Ministry of Health and the General Secretary of Nurse Educators Group, Ghana. Power invariably fills any vacuum. Nurses must be seen and heard in health policy debates. I eventually simply refused to do it as did thousands of other RNs. This finding also supports the assertion of Boswell, Cannon, and Miller (2005) who described nurses apathy towards political participation as a pandemic. The nurses deemed 'a lack of time to undertake research' to be an excuse. Lack of sufficient political knowledge and awareness. Nurses can undertake internships with elected officials to personally work on matters affecting healthcare. For close to four decades, many nursing scholars have called for the profession to develop a cadre of politically active nurses in order to compete for scarce resources (Cramer, 2002). However, despite this high membership in GRNMA, only a few of them showed an active interest in the activities of that association. Marquis and Huston define politics as the art of using legitimate power wisely. The nursing profession has significant power to profoundly impact healthcare policy on a global scale. (2016). Some nurses might believe they don't have the time or energy to devote to political advocacy, while others might believe they don't have the skills or background necessary to be successful advocates. In fact, it is the moral and professional obligation of nurses to be engaged in legislation that impacts their patients. Tamale is located in the Northern region of Ghana, in the Kingdom of Dagbong. How and why nurses became involved in politics or political action, and the outcomes or impacts of this involvement Nurs Outlook. Nurs Res Pract. Citation: Alhassan, A., Kumi-Kyereme, A., Wombeogo, M., Fuseini, A.-G., (February 22, 2019) "Nurse Participation in Political Activities: Level and Practices of Registered Nurses in Tamale, Ghana" OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing Vol. Studies exploring the political behavior of nurses in Ghana are virtually non-existent. Political participation of registered nurses. 8600 Rockville Pike https://www.emedevents.com/c/medical-conferences-2019/palm-springs-encore-cpc-review-2019. Support measures for the next of kin who has experienced the unexpected loss of a family member to HIV/AIDS. As Witnesses to Inequity, Nurses Can Be Powerful Advocates. All aspects of nursing practice are regulated by politics and affected by changes in public policy. Glob J Health Sci. Whitehead (2010) argues that influencing health policy through political involvement amounts to population-level health promotion. More than 1,200 nurses and nurse champions from every state, Washington D.C. and a dozen countries, gathered online Feb. 24 to honor nurses' contributions during the pandemic, recognize 10 years of nursing progress by the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action and others, and . He has supervised numerous research projects at the undergraduate, post-graduate, and doctoral levels, and provided supervisory guidance for the study reported in this article, from the conceptual stages to its very final stages. I am glad to read some nursing schools are including how to have a voice in changing policies in politics involving health care. All of these findings clearly indicate that nurses are generally very interested in voting as a political activity. Table 5. Most residents of Tamale are Muslims, as reflected by the multitude of mosques in Tamale, and most notably, the Central Mosque. 4 Min Read. only a small number of the nurses were found to be politically astute. Unauthorized use of these marks is strictly prohibited. It is critically important for nurses to inform and advance public policy, through direct political activities. He is a health development consultant who has had significant experience in health and sustainable livelihoods surveys and programming, at Ghana's regional and national levels. I persevered through nursing school, despite the 20-hour days with clinical rounds in the early morning, lectures in the afternoon and care plans & papers until early morning hours. In spite of these calls for nurses to be politically active, studies continue to report low levels of political participation among nurses (Ahoya, Abhichartibuttra, & Wichaikhum, 2016; Avolio, 2014; ORourke et al., 2017; Vandenhouten et al., 2011). NurseJournal.org is an advertising-supported site. This situation is not peculiar to Ghana. Yet, studies have shown that nurse participation in political activities remains low. Another barrier is the limited formal health care policy education in nursing. Nursing apathy toward participation in the political process is pandemic. When nurses influence the politics that improve the delivery of healthcare, they are ultimately advocating for their patients. education you need could be more affordable than you think. Although nurses constitute the largest segment of the health care workforce in the United States, their participation in all levels of health policy advocacy remains low. Curr Health Sci J. Positive micro-, meso-, and macro-level benefits of this involvement were identified. CRNA Continuing Education Symposium and CRNA Anesthesia Seminars for Nurse Anesthetists.Palm Springs Oasis in the Desert 2019 Encore Symposium is organized by Encore Symposium and will be held from Feb 18 21, 2019 at Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa, Palm Springs, California,USA. Scholars have presented various reasons as to why the call for nurses to be politically active is ethical and the right thing to do. The majority of participants (63.6%) were in the junior ranks, holding ranks of Staff Nurse or Senior Staff Nurse. There are numerous reasons as to why most nurses are reluctant in being politically involved.The most common ones are as follows. Hi, Determining if nurses are involved in political action or politics: A scoping literature review. American Nurses Association. These organizations often have lobbyists that bring nursing issues to Capitol Hill. Nurses have been somewhat reluctant to do this in the past. Mr. Afizu Alhassan holds a Master of Nursing Degree from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University for Development Studies, also in Ghana. National Library of Medicine Unauthorized use of these marks is strictly prohibited. BMC Nurs. Among the reasons why nurses sought to be involved in politics or political action, nurses highlighted the injustices and grievances they experienced as a consequence of feeling early-life gender discrimination, racism, and faith or culture differences. Since Ghanaian nurses are generally more interested in just voting, and also since they register with professional nursing organizations but do not actively participate in the activities of these organizations, it may be appropriate to say that these nurses fall within the category of voting specialists. Her work has been featured on psycho Nurse-to-patient ratios vary by state. :10.1177/152715440200300203, International Foundation for Electoral Systems. Afizu Alhassan, MN, BSN, RNEmail: [email protected]. Purpose: It can, therefore, be concluded that nurses are not generally apathetic towards political activities, yet they are limited in the extent to which they participate. Health reform has become largely polarized along political and partisan lines (Keepnews, 2012). Yamane, T. (1967). (2017). (2013). Additionally, participants were asked whether they have ever actively supported a candidate for election as an Assemblyman or a Member of Parliament (e.g., by campaigning or wearing party souvenirs). Another barrier is the limited formal health care policy education in nursing. The results of these tests are presented in Table 4. These previous nursing leadership positions have motivated him to study the political behavior of nurses. Background Characteristics of RespondentsOnly a minute percentage were in the highest category of political participation. And nurses can even run for state office there are two nurses currently serving in the Florida State Legislature. The characteristics of this sample are presented in Table 1. She has published and lectured throughout her career. The sample size was 272 nurses, calculated using the Yamane formula (Yamane, 1967). PMC As there are few politically-active nurses now (Salvage & White, 2019; Santilln-Garca, 2020; Wilson et al., 2020), understanding why some nurses engaged in politics and public policy advocacy would help to find ways to increase the involvement of nurses in political spheres. Epub 2011 Nov 22. [Concept Development of Political Competence for Nurses]. Level of Nurses Political Participation, Slightly aware of the implications of political activity for nursing, Politically Astute and Asset to the Profession. The target audience for this medical event is OB-GYN physicians. Power, trust, and Science of Unitary Human Beings influence political leadership: a celebration of Barrett's power theory. Nurses must have a seat at the decision-making table to ensure that policy decisions, made by legislatures without healthcare experience, are patient and staff-centered. ; John D. Scott, MD, MSc, FIDSA, Judy Gregg, DNP, RN; Julie Miller, MSN, RN ; Kathleen F. Tennant, PhD, APN, RN, Nurse Participation in Political Activities, Substance Use Disorders and Related Concerns, The 200th Birthday of Florence Nightingale, Speroni on Professional Pathways in Nursing", Parast and colleagues on Healthcare and Quality, Gaul, Higbee, Taylor, Ensign, Monson & Price on Nursing Education and Crisis in Competency, Parast and Heshka on Past, Present, and Future, Fogg-Martin on Calling Nursing Informatics Leaders", Jean-Gilles on An Historical View of Nursing and Polio, Pattishall on Informatics: Protect Yourself and the Nursing Profession from Predatory Journals, ORourke, Crawford, Morris, & Pulcini, 2017, Vandenhouten, Malakar, Kubsch, Block, & Gallagher-Lepak, 2011, Ahoya, Abhichartibuttra, & Wichaikhum, 2016, International Foundation for Electoral Systems, 2019, http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/geography/tamale.php, http://www.electionguide.org/countries/id/83/, https://www.americannursetoday.com/from-apathy-to-political-activism/, http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/. Retrieved from http://www.electionguide.org/countries/id/83/, Juma, P. A., Edwards, N., & Spitzer, D. (2014). 2020 Feb;50(1):81-100. doi: 10.4040/jkan.2020.50.1.81. Additionally, the city is host to three major hospitals and two educational facilities from which the study participants were drawn. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 14(1), 4147. Strategies for involvement include political awareness, incorporation of course/program expectations on both undergraduate and graduate levels and teamwork. Maternal-Fetal Imaging Advances in OB-GYN Ultrasound is organized by World Class CME and will be held from Jan 18 20, 2019 at The Westin Riverwalk, San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, United States of America. The characteristics of the nurses who perform research conformed to some, but not all, of the aspects of the stereotype. It will conclude by addressing the relationships between political participation of nurses and their demographic characteristics. Many nurses enjoy taking care of their patients and being at the bedside to where they dont want to become involved in administration and the business or political aspect of their job. Politics in Nursing Profession: Not Too Young To Run, Politics, NANNM And Nursing By Comrade Ajayi B.O. This limited participation does not augur well for the nursing profession because, as noted earlier, limited participation in political activities fails to give nurses the needed leverage to lobby for better policies and programs for the profession. Success accepts challenges in addressing injustices especially within the health-care arena. Power is exercised through and depends on institutions. This section will describe the study setting; population and sample; data collection instrument and procedure; data management and analysis; and ethical considerations. J Nurs Regulation. You may be surprised at how simple and time efficient it is to engage in policy decisions. However, nurses' participation in political activities in many countries is either low or moderate at best. She loves covering topics worthy of more attention in healthcare, education, mental health, and social justice. Whether youre looking to get your pre-licensure degree or taking the next step in your career, the Out of the initial sample of 272 registered nurses to whom the questionnaires were administered, 225 participants completed the survey (retrieval rate of 82.7%). Gebbie et al., 2000. Data Collection ProcedureAfter institutional approval, data collection was completed over a period of three weeks, from March 27 to April 14, 2017. 59(2), 155-158. Kelly ( 2007) posits that nurses must become political activists to safeguard the profession from unhealthy policies, which can be channeled through politics and changes in public policy. gaining membership of the GRNMA is a very passive endeavor nurses are automatically drafted into the association once the government posts them to start working. Together we are strong. And which insurance company got the first taste of federal subsidies to implement HMOA73? This site needs JavaScript to work properly. Is there a nurse in the House? Thank You. Nursing Research and Practice, 2014, 110. Bethesda, MD 20894, Web Policies The implementation of a political role for a nurse is based on three levels of commitment including survival, success, and significance. : 10.1177/1527154411425189, Whitehead, D. (2010). Due to its central location, Tamale serves as a hub for all administrative and commercial activities in the Northern region. Shaping the future of practice through political activity: how nurses can influence health care policy. 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/236573. Search for jobs related to Why are nurses reluctant to get involved in politics or hire on the world's largest freelancing marketplace with 22m+ jobs. AAOHN J. For instance, only 5.8% reported that they attended the most recent district meeting of GRNMA, and only 16% indicated that they attended the last regional symposium organized by GRNMA in their region. National Library of Medicine Key words: health policy, legislative arena, legislative process, nurse advocacy, policy advocates, politics, policy process, power bases, power of numbers. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. One key objective of this study was to determine the extent to which nurses in Ghana are involved in political activities. It was Kaiser-Permanente to profit Nixons campaign financier, Edgar Kaiser. Clark, P. E. (2008). Would you like email updates of new search results? Health care and public health systems around the world operate within frameworks of health policies. This is probably because gaining membership of the GRNMA is a very passive endeavor. The most common political practices reported by participants were: registering to vote (95.1%), voting in the last general election (77.3%), and voting in the last two elections (80%). I did all of that in order to help people, to truly contribute to the greater good making life better for patients. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us. (2013). And something as simple as exercising the right to vote can impact healthcare policy.
