2005 Ad

AORN Journal,  Feb, 2005  by Burke Beu

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The Nurse In Washington Internship (NIWI) is an annual program presented by the Nursing Organizations Alliance, of which AORN is a member. The NIWI program is an intensive, five-day event that covers government affairs from a nursing perspective.

Each year since 1998, AORN has awarded scholarships to the NIWI program to two AORN members selected by the Legislative Committee based on criteria related to interest, experience, and activity in public policy. This year's recipients are Nancy Fellows, RN, BA, MPA, Willoughby Hills, Ohio, and Susan Chandler, RN, CNOR, CRNFA, Richmond, Va. Fellows serves on the governing council of AORN's Business, Industry & Consulting Specialty Assembly and is an elected member of the Willoughby Hills city council. Chandler participates in numerous legislative activities in Virginia and was a presenter at AORN's 2004 Advocacy Day.

The NIWI event will be held Feb 6 to 9, 2005, at the Washington Court Hotel, Washington, DC, and will include visits with members of Congress on Capitol Hill on the closing day. The event program lists several educational objectives, including the following.

* Discuss how nurses can influence policy at local and national levels.

* Describe how to work effectively with legislative staff members to advance policy agenda.

* Network with other nurses who have similar clinical or political interests.

* Identify key strategies to effect change in the legislative process.

* Describe techniques to advance legislative issues at the grassroots level.

* Identify legislative, political, and economic forces that are driving current changes in health care policy and delivery.

* Describe the effects of budgetary changes on health policy formation and implementation. (1)

Each year, an opening session of the NIWI program is "Linking Practice, Policy, and Politics: Using Nursing's Power to Improve Health," presented by Judith K. Leavitt, RN, MEd, FAAN, an associate professor at the University of Mississippi School of Nursing, Jackson, Miss. Leavitt

* reviews the history of public policy as a component of nursing,

* highlights the significance of nurses as citizens in society, and

* emphasizes "five Cs" of political influence.

HISTORY

In her presentation at the 2004 NIWI event, (2) Leavitt said that nurses sometimes seem reluctant to become involved in public policy and political activities, often thinking that nursing and politics are not related. She explained that advocacy pertains to both clinical situations on behalf of patients and social circumstances on behalf of the general public. She noted that the founders of nursing and many of the earliest nurses, such as Florence Nightingale, Sojourner Truth, Lavinia Dock, and Lillian Ward, were social activists. These nurses pointed out the connection between poverty and disease processes, worked to provide legal sanctions for nursing as a profession, and were vocal in their support of the movement for women's suffrage. Leavitt summarized the common traits of these leaders as follows.

* They had a vision.

* They were risk takers.

* They used their contacts with people in power and positions of authority.

* They sought to influence government.

* They worked collaboratively to achieve their goals.

CITIZEN NURSES

Opportunities abound for nurses as members of society to apply leadership traits in the public policy arena. Leavitt reviewed several significant political issues that need nurses' input and influence, including

* the war on terrorism,

* state and federal budget deficits,

* immediate health care for the uninsured,

* long-range development of a national health plan,

* medical liability reform, and

* the nursing shortage.

Leavitt said nurses represent the largest group of health care providers in the United States, with thousands of nurses in almost every congressional district throughout the country. She said that nurses have the power to influence public policy through their numbers, their expertise, and their positions. She encouraged NIWI participants, as well as other nurses who routinely meet with their elected officials, to offer themselves as local resources for information. This information is needed by policy makers to take positions, prepare testimony, and draft legislative text. Leavitt named several nurses who serve in key legislative and regulatory roles, including a few who are members of Congress.

FIVE Cs

Leavitt concluded her presentation with what she calls the five Cs of political influence:

* communication,

* credibility,

* collective action,

* collaboration, and

* cash.

She reminded attendees that communication includes receiving messages, not just sending them. She contends that nurses can exercise their political influence by staying informed, using the media, valuing their voices, knowing pertinent data, framing a message in a context understood by elected officials, keeping the message short and simple, and maintaining regular contact.