Political Competence in Nursing
Student Name:
Institutional Affiliation:
Course:
Instructor’s Name:
Date:
Political Competence in Nursing
Political competence in nursing involves developing skills and values necessary to contribute towards the political aspects of nursing. One crucial political element in policymaking. Policies can be facility-based, regional, or state-wide, or universal. If a nurse wants to contribute to policymaking, they must have the most recent and relevant health policies. Therefore, the paper discusses the various approaches nurses can employ to remain updated on health policy knowledge.
Political Competence in Nursing
First, nurses can read and review journal articles and other professional publications. Most policies stem from research findings. Policymakers use the results to develop policies that will guide evidence-based practice (Benton et al., 2017). Hence, nurses should subscribe to relevant journals to receive the periodic volumes and issues. The articles are useful since they cover a wide range of information. Thus, nurses can broaden their perspective, which will aid in policymaking. The information also helps them in objectively reviewing proposed policies. Therefore, their informed involvement ensures that the final policy draft is practical and effective.
Nurses can also enhance their health policy knowledge by attending workshops and conferences. Workshops mainly focus on implementing evidence-based practice, while conferences offer options for addressing the current challenges. Attending workshops provides an advocacy platform (Gazarian et al., 2016). Therefore, nurses can present the issues they feel are most pertinent to their practice settings. They can then discuss a solution and how to implement it. Meanwhile, conferences are often thematic and provide broader solutions. Nurses can pick the solutions and tailor them to fit their workplaces. Therefore, attending seminars and conferences increases nurses’ policy knowledge and development involvement.
Inter-professional collaboration involves working with people from other health and non-health disciplines. Nursing as a healthcare discipline entails specific professional methodologies, values, and principles. However, some of the problems that nurses encounter require non-nursing policy interventions. For example, while technology improves healthcare service delivery, it also poses a cybersecurity threat to a facility (Kamerer & McDermott, 2020). Nurses can work with Information Technology (IT) experts to develop a practice policy that will ensure that patients benefit from the infrastructure without jeopardizing their well-being. Inter-professional collaboration is not a single event but an iterative process. Therefore, nurses that work in inter-professional teams will have a more comprehensive outlook on providing holistic care. Their broader perspective makes them more effective when they are making policies.
Finally, nurses can enhance their health policy knowledge through certification. Professional certifications are validations that a nurse has high-level skills in a specific care setting (Cunningham, 2019). The certifications improve a nurse’s knowledge and skills. Therefore, they become aware of the knowledge gap that exists among uncertified practitioners. They can then propose a policy change that would improve nursing performance and outcomes in their facility. The certifications also boost an institutions’ confidence in a nurse (Junger et al., 2016). Therefore, they can place them in charge of their units. The leadership position gives the nurse leader an excellent opportunity to make departmental policies or contribute towards modifying the organization’s policies and objectives. Thus, improving the practical skills and knowledge enhances the political position and competence.
Nursing policy knowledge is constantly changing. Therefore, nurses must identify which methods would help them remain updated. While all the approaches are effective, some are more relevant to specific nurses depending on the nursing specialty, current role, and the region in which one is practicing.
References
Benton, D. C., Maaitah, R. A., & Gharaibeh, M. (2017). An integrative review of pursing policy and political competence. International Nursing Review, 64(1), 135-145. https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12275
Cunningham, E. (2019). Professional certifications and occupational licenses: Evidence from the Current Population Survey. Monthly Labor Review, 1-38. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26743923
Gazarian, P. K., Fernberg, L. M., & Sheehan, K. D. (2016). Effectiveness of narrative pedagogy in developing student nurses’ advocacy role. Nursing Ethics, 23(2), 132-141. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0969733014557718
Junger, S., Trinkle, N., & Hall, N. (2016). Nurse leader certification preparation: how are confidence levels impacted? Journal of Nursing Management, 24(6), 775-779. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12381
Kamerer, J. L., & McDermott, D. (2020). Cybersecurity: Nurses on the Front Line of Prevention and Education. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 10(4), 48-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2155-8256(20)30014-4
Political Competence in Nursing
Question
Assignment Direction
Nursing advanced practice can serve as content experts for policymakers and their staff. Discuss methods that you can use to stay current with your health policy knowledge. Be specific with your response and share names of publications, websites, and other resources.
Please use 5 references within the five years for this paper