Yamane, T. (1967). He serves as an Assistant Lecturer at the Department of Nursing, School of Allied Health, University for Development Studies, where he also doubles as the examination officer for the department. :10.1177/1527154413490566, Kelly, K. (2007). Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 12(3), 159–167. For more information please follow the below link: Since I am in nursing school at the moment, I can understand why new nurses would be overwhelmed to become involved in politics. Finally, employers need to provide staff nurses with the time, resources, and opportunities to influence local, state and federal policy. Additionally, the city is host to three major hospitals and two educational facilities from which the study participants were drawn. 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). : 10.1155/2016/3975634, O’Rourke, N. C., Crawford, S. L., Morris, N. S., & Pulcini, J. For nurses to advocate effectively for the profession and their clients, to be able to address the social determinants of health and to influence policy formulation at all levels, they must be active in the political process beyond voting. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 18(3), 135–148. Nurses were generally not likely to actively support a candidate for elections. These earlier findings are in sharp contrast to the present study where 91.1% of the participants were registered members of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA). Reston, Virginia: Upper Saddle River. Regardless of the multiple factors limiting the nursing profession’s potential impact on politics, the fact remains that nurses are vital to the development and implementation of healthcare policy. Nursing. Thank You. Furthermore, the faculty of nursing schools should also participate in policy changes, thereby acting as role models for their students. The independent samples t-test was conducted to determine differences in the level of political participation based on gender and practice area, while the one-way ANOVA was used to determine differences in political participation based on age and academic qualification. Descriptive statistics were used to show the level of nurse participation in politics and to describe common practices engaged in by nurses as a form of political participation. This situation is not peculiar to Ghana. CRNA Anesthesia Seminars and Continuing Education Conference for Nurse Anesthetists.Palm Springs’ Encore CPC Review 2019 is organized by Encore Symposiums and will be held from Feb 16 – 17, 2019 at Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa, Palm Springs, California,USA, For more information please follow the below link: Factors influencing organized political participation in nursing. Nurs Res Pract. The Florida Nurses Political Action committee (FNPAC) was organized to elect political candidates and to advance the outcome of political issues or legislation to benefit nursing … The large majority of the participants (76%) were either totally politically unaware or only slightly aware of the implications of politics for nursing. The Foundation expressly disclaims any political views or communications published on or accessible from this website. This finding also supports the assertion of Boswell, Cannon, and Miller (2005) who described nurses’ apathy towards political participation as a pandemic. 2016. J Contin Educ Nurs. I also think new nurses are unaware of the type of impact they can have on different policies at the local, state, and national levels; they may also not know where to even start becoming involved in politics as well. Falk NL. Email: mwombeogo@gmail.com. Show how (and when) nurses can get involved in the legislative process. (2011) and Avolio (2014) respectively were registered members of a professional nursing organization. Let’s roll back the hands of time to a time when human decency mandated healthcare be a SERVICE industry! These organizations often have lobbyists that bring nursing issues to Capitol Hill. Engaging in a political process enables a nurse leader to influence others in order to achieve a set of professional goals. Nurse Leadership is a successful long-term healthcare facility in the health care industry. Tricia Christensen . :10.1155/2014/236573, Keepnews, D. M. (2012). We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you’ve provided to them or that they’ve collected from your use of their services. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 3(2), 97–107. Email: fuseiniabdulganiyu@gmail.com. Health reform has become largely polarized along political and partisan lines (Keepnews, 2012). But I believe this: What makes for more powerful nursing is at least being aware of how policy rulings can affect you and the people you care for. : 10.1177/1527154417728514, Primomo, J., &Bjorling, E. A. Taste of New Orleans 2019 Encore Symposium is organized by Encore Symposiums and will be held from Jan 28 – 31, 2019 at Windsor Court Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America. Clark, P. E. (2008). 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/236573. Advocacy to improve public health through the lens of social determinants is critical for nurses … The city is characterized by high levels of political activities...The city is characterized by high levels of political activities, including television and radio discussions, rallies, mounting of billboards and party flags, and street carnivals, especially during electioneering campaigns. However, despite this high membership in GRNMA, only a few of them showed an active interest in the activities of that association. Nurs… We have for the most … The answer is a lot! I think nurses should have the ressources to influence policies and politics regarding healthcare. Instead, nurses should channel their frustrations into making a positive difference in their profession. In a study conducted in the United States regarding political participation of registered nurses, only 23% of participants reported making monetary contributions to political candidates (Vandenhouten et al., 2011). Note: The values in this table represent multiple responses from participants. The results of these tests are presented in Table 4. The Foundation does not engage in political campaign activities or communications. He is the current Convocation Representative (Professorial) on the University of Cape Coast Council and a member of a number of professional associations. An example of this is refugees. These are the easiest ways for nurses to get involved but there … 2. © 2012 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc. Retrieved from http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/. Nursing as a profes … Professor Akwasi Kumi-Kyereme is an Associate Professor at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. 15th Annual Complex Cardiovascular Catheter Therapeutics: Advanced Endovascular and Coronary Intervention Global Summit (C3) is organized by C3-Interventional Academy and will be held from Jun 23 – 26, 2019 at Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek, Orlando, Florida, United States of America. Nursing education must start preparing nurses with skills on political advocacy, negotiation, and articulating the value of our profession to the public. Thanks for sharing this information.Here we provide one nursing Conference the conference details are given as Aesthetic Medicine Training: Step 1 is organized by American Board of Aesthetic Medicine (ABAM) and will be held from Mar 01 – 03, 2019 at Bangkok, Thailand. https://www.emedevents.com/c/medical-conferences-2019/aesthetic-medicine-training-step-1-by-american-board-of-aesthetic-medicine-abam-mar-01-03-2019. This is probably because gaining membership of the GRNMA is a very passive endeavor. You can provide financial support to candidates or initiatives (such as ballot measures) that you believe reflect your political, ethical or personal point of view. 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. The questionnaires, along with a cover letter to introduce the study purpose and the rights of participants, were personally distributed by the researcher and two volunteers. 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 i… Kenyan nurses involvement in national policy development processes. Total Population by Country 2019. All too often, nurses become frustrated by policies affecting nursing practice, particularly when those policies are written by individuals with limited healthcare knowledge and experience. At times it seems that everything is political in nature — and perhaps most things are in the 21st century. Nurses must be seen and heard in health policy debates. Volunteering is a great way to get involved in a political campaign. :10.1177/1527154413489887, Montalvo, W., & Byrne, M. W. (2016). These percentages are generally higher than the average voter turnout in national elections in Ghana, which is estimated at 71.35% (International Foundation for Electoral Systems, 2019). The fact that nurses generally do register to vote, and do vote in many elections, suggests that nurses may not be generally apathetic towards politics as has been suggested, but rather may limit the extent of their participation. : 10.3912/OJIN.Vol12No01Man02, Ahoya, C. K., Abhichartibuttra, K., &Wichaikhum, O. 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. 1. Get Involved: Donate, share your expertise, or volunteer! Table 1. Nursing as a profes … Background characteristics of participants were described using frequencies, percentages, and means. Political advocacy: Beliefs and practices of registered nurses. https://www.emedevents.com/c/medical-conferences-2019/palm-springs-encore-cpc-review-2019. You can make phone calls to elected representatives about bills under consideration, testify before committees, become involved in practice councils or boards at the workplace, and even run for elected office. Here are just a few ways you can be involved: Learn how policy is developed. For instance, in terms of voting, 95% were registered voters, 77.3% had voted in the last general election, and 80% had voted in the last two elections. They can also attend local meetings, such as parent-teacher association or school board meetings, to share their expertise and advice. Has the time come for politicians to step aside and let nurses … A similar trend of passive participation was observed among participants in terms of organizational participation... A similar trend of passive participation was observed among participants in terms of organizational participation, that is nurses’ level of engagement within nursing organizations. Abdul-Ganiyu Fuseini, MPhil, BSN, RN. For more information please follow the below link: In fact, not many nurses know that grassroots movements exist, particularly if they are not on the internet or connected with social media. Oestberg F. Policy and politics: why nurses should get involved. Families and friends of nurses need to encourage political activism. Professor Akwasi Kumi-Kyereme has been involved in various research projects and has published extensively in his major areas of research interest, namely sexual and reproductive health; social dimensions of health (including HIV, AIDS, and Tuberculosis); and healthcare financing. : 10.1177/1527154411425189, Whitehead, D. (2010). Additionally, the nurses of today are younger, more educated, and more diverse. Nursing Research and Practice, 2016, 1–8. currently make between 25and 75 MILLION each annually. Due to its central location, Tamale serves as a hub for all administrative and commercial activities in the Northern region. Nurses have been somewhat reluctant to do this in the past. As such, nurses have the potential to profoundly influence policy and politics on a global scale. When state legislatures anywhere in the United States are in session, you can be certain that the Nurse Practice Act will come up for review and renewal in some states. Here's what you can do. For more information please follow the below link: Nurses who were unable to complete surveys by the time of this first collection were given another week to complete the survey. regards Good information.There are some Conferences happening in which medical specialty would be Nursing and here is one of those conferences. 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). Political Practices of Nurses OB/GYN Conference – Survival Skills for Today’s 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. For one, nurses can conduct quality improvement projects on the job. Finally, nurses can write to their political representatives to advise them on key health-related issues. Based on this typology, the authors classified citizens into six different groups on the basis of the types of political activities they undertook. Studies exploring the political behavior of nurses in Ghana are virtually non-existent. This limited participation is seen more clearly when nurses were asked about how much money they were able to contribute to political parties, candidates or nursing organizations for political purposes. For more information please follow the below link: Another study in the United States assessing the political efficacy of nurse practitioners reported that the participants generally had limited political participation (O’Rourke et al., 2017). 2. Afizu Alhassan, MN, BSN, RN A period of one week was allowed for consenting participants to complete the survey. 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. Hi, Table 4. Health Promotion International, 26(1), 117-127. doi:10.1093/heapro/dag073. Data Collection Procedure http://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/5064/, Boswell, C., Cannon, S., & Miller, J. Abaneh, I. F. (2019). 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). (2005). Other large groups of people living here include the Dagarbas, Mamprusis, and Akans. (2019). • List specific strategies needed to begin to … One key objective of this study was to determine the extent to which nurses in Ghana are involved in political activities. She is especially passionate about reading and writing, although her other interests include medicine, art, film, history, politics … I am happy to see an employee of Tampa General Hospital shine. (2017). Many nursing scholars, professional nursing organizations, and other health-focused organizations, expect and encourage nurses to engage in socio-political activities. It might even mean paying closer attention to issues that involve nursing and health care and … Nurses are playing a major role in the political process for planning the future of health care. Nursing: Immunity and the Environment Course is organized by Hawaii Nurses Continuing Education (HNCE) and will be held on Nov 04, 2020. Healthcare Transformation: A Bibliometric Analysis of a Global Endeavor, Nurses Advancing Telehealth Services in the Era of Healthcare Reform, Opiate Crisis and Healthcare Reform in America: A Review for Nurses, The State of Play: Healthcare Reform in 2017. The large majority of the participants were either totally politically unaware or only slightly aware of the implications of politics for nursing. Think about that for a minute. ), Nurses, Physician Assistants, and Dentists. However, nurses need support in order to effect change. How can average nurses be involved in the political process? At the end of each day, data were saved on an external drive and on Microsoft OneDrive online. Ethical Considerations The majority of participants (63.6%) were in the junior ranks, holding ranks of Staff Nurse or Senior Staff Nurse. For this to happen, nurses must be skilled in patient care as well as in interdisciplinary teamwork, informatics and technology, implementing evidence-based practice, and quality improvement. The summation and levels of the PAI used in this study included: (a) totally politically unaware (0-8 points); (b) slightly aware of the implications of political activity for nursing (9-17 points); (c) shows a beginning political awareness (18-26 points); and (d) politically astute and an asset to the profession (27-35 points). addSize([750, 400], [[640,480]]). IFES Election Guide: Country of Ghana. \"Influencing Health Care in the Legislative Arena\". Nursing leadership in addressing the social determinants of health. 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. Differentiate between policy and politics. Changes in political astuteness following nurse legislative day. Background Characteristics of Respondents During the third week, the remaining questionnaires were collected. A related finding was observed in participants' academic qualifications, with 56.9% having a diploma in nursing as their highest academic qualification. So, what can nurses do to affect real change within the political world? Budden JS, Moulton P, Harper KJ, Brunell ML, Smiley R. The 2015 national nursing workforce survey. Marquis BL, Huston CJ. Another barrier is the limited formal health care policy education in nursing. Afizu Alhassan, MN, BSN, RN (2013). Nurses' political involvement: Responsibility versus privilege. He has held key positions in the university including Head, Department of Population and Health (2010 – 2014) and Vice Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences (2014 – 2018). 1, Manuscript 2. The one-way ANOVA was conducted to determine the association between age, academic qualification, and political participation. googletag.cmd.push(function() { Attended the most recent district meeting of GRNMA, Attended the last regional symposium organized by GRNMA, Actively supporting an assembly member during elections, Actively supporting a parliamentary candidate during elections, Writing a letter regarding a health issue to a parliamentarian, Writing a letter regarding a health issue to a Minister, Writing an article about health for publication. Below is a list of political activities in which nurses can participate in to change not only the way nursing is practiced, but also the way health care is practiced…So, get involved: 1. Nixon signed into law, the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973, in which medical insurance agencies, hospitals, clinics and even doctors, could begin functioning as nursingworld.org/NurseLegislatorDirectory.aspx. How to Get Involved We all know how busy nurses are, but there are simple, relatively quick ways to become more engaged: Start in your workplace or community: Haebler reports, “Politics exist everywhere — including the organizations where we're employed.” The workplace is a natural place for … Strategies for involvement include political awareness, incorporation of course/program expectations on both undergraduate and graduate levels and teamwork. More than 80% of the inhabitants are Dagdombas. https://www.emedevents.com/c/medical-conferences-2019/taste-of-new-orleans-2019-encore-symposium He is a Fellow of both the West African College of Nurses and the Ghana College of Nurses and Midwives and a Member of the Sigma Theta Tau International. window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []}; After completing this chapter, you should be able to: • Define politics and political involvement. Nurses are playing a major role in the political process for planning the future of health care. https://www.emedevents.com/c/medical-conferences-2019/complex-cardiovascular-catheter-therapeutics-advanced-endovascular-and-coronary-intervention-global-summit-2019 And something as simple as exercising the right to vote can impact healthcare policy. Political participation was defined as nurses’ involvement in activities considered to be political in nature (Vandenhouten et al., 2011). Similarly, Avolio (2014) noted that although nurses agreed that it was important to be politically active, only 30% of respondents reported that they were motivated to become involved in politics. During his time at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, he was deputy secretary for the local chapter of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association. 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. addSize([0, 0], [[300, 250]]). ...nurses are not generally apathetic towards political activities, yet they are limited in the extent to which they participate. For more information please follow the below link: 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). Health promotion in nursing: A derridean discourse analyis. Relationship Between Political Participation and Demographic Characteristics ... all nurses can use advocacy as a tool to inform and influence social policies that effectively address SDOH and promote a just and equitable society that encourage health for all. In a separate comment section, many respondents said https://www.emedevents.com/c/medical-conferences-2019/palm-springs-oasis-in-the-desert-2019-encore-symposium. Good information.There are some Conferences happening in which medical specialty would be Nursing and here is one of those conferences. Vol. World Population Review. I did all of that in order to help people, to truly contribute to the greater good making life better for patients. That company now has LPNs making those so-called nurse advocacy calls asking only one question: “has anything changed since the last call?” Patients are literally dying and no one seem to care at all as long as those insurance companies’ executive officers continue making 25 -75 MILLION DOLLARS each year. Thanks for this article. Kunaviktikul, W. (2014). Key Words: Political participation, Political Astuteness Inventory, political activities, politics, policy, nurses, Ghana. Nurse Practitioners and Political Engagement: ... processes and recommends steps nurse practitioners can take to play a more influential role in ... become involved, and about one-quarter (26.0 percent) credited a professional mentor for motivating them to become involved. November Lung Cancer Awareness Month Political Astuteness Inventory. Factors that act as facilitators and barriers to nurse leaders’ participation in health policy development. If we can get the public to understand what we do, and articulate that clearly, we can show that healthcare is not all about medicine and physicians. Mentoring nurses in political skill to navigate organizational politics. The study was conducted in five different institutions, specifically two district hospitals, one teaching hospital, and two nursing training schools. Nurses have been somewhat reluctant to do this in the past. Nurses can also write their state representatives regarding healthcare policy. Detailed results are presented in Table 5. Concerning this objective, there were mixed findings from this study in that, although nurses agreed that politics should be of concern to nurses, only a small number of the nurses were found to be politically astute. The study was conducted in Tamale, which is officially called Tamale Metropolitan area and is the capital town of the Northern Region of Ghana. Data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 21 (IBM, 2015). Most participants were in their 30s (Mean age = 30.84, Median = 30.00). In the case of an Assemblyman, 85.3% said no; and 82.2% said no for that of a Member of Parliament. The target audience for this medical event is Physicians (M.D. There is consensus among nursing scholars, particularly those active in policy, politics, and nursing practice, that nurses need to be politically active (Avolio, 2014; Juma, Edwards, & Spitzer, 2014; Kelly, 2007; Montalvo & Byrne, 2016; O’Rourke, Crawford, Morris, & Pulcini, 2017; Primomo & Bjorling, 2013; Vandenhouten, Malakar, Kubsch, Block, & Gallagher-Lepak, 2011). This generally high level of political participation among residents of Tamale makes it an ideal setting to study political behavior among a group of people. DOI: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol12No01Man02Key words: health policy, legislative arena, legislative process, nurse advocacy, policy advocates, politics, policy process, power bases, power of numbers.The current health care environment with a myriad of poli… Among all healthcare professionals, nurses are the ones closest to clients and consumers of healthcare (Juma et al., 2014). New York, NY: Harper and Row. We requested that participants read the consent form, and sign if they agreed to take part in the study. Influencing healthcare in the legislative arena. As Oestberg so succinctly points out, “If nurses don’t stand up for issues that are important to us, those with competing interests in healthcare may be the only ones whose voices are heard.” By joining their voices together, American nurses can influence the policy and politics that affect healthcare. The PAI is a 40-item questionnaire with each affirmative response valued at one point. It will conclude by addressing the relationships between political participation of nurses and their demographic characteristics. 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). You can get involved in a campaign, whether it’s for a particular candidate or a specific issue, making telephone calls, walking precincts and talking to the public. Tricia has a Literature degree from Sonoma State University and has been a frequent wiseGEEK contributor for many years. Dr. Wombeogo is a professional nurse, pediatric nurse specialist, public health scientist Senior Lecturer at the University for Development Studies (UDS) and Head of the Department of Public Health at the School of Allied Health Sciences. Political efficacy and participation of nurse practitioners. Whether you are male or female, rich or poor, rural or urban, you have an equal vote in how your country and your municipality are run. Email: akkyereme@ucc.edu.gh. His duties at the University for Development Studies include coordinating and supervising student research. Retrieved from http://www.electionguide.org/countries/id/83/, Juma, P. A., Edwards, N., & Spitzer, D. (2014). Michigan: Univerity of Michigan Press. 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. This frustration often leads to negativity, disillusionment, bitterness, and burn-out. Akwasi Kumi-Kyereme, PhD, MPhil, B.A After institutional approval, data collection was completed over a period of three weeks, from March 27 to April 14, 2017. It is essential that they write more articles about nursing and health issues, become more active in the activities of their professional organizations, contribute financially to political initiatives and activities, and become more conversant with their elected officials. He is currently a Senior Nursing Tutor with the Ghana Ministry of Health and the General Secretary of Nurse Educators’ Group, Ghana. 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. I have learned to become more involved and how to have a voice with policies at my hospital even if it is on a smaller level. Thanks for sharing this information. (2019). The nurse can advocate on issues in which will result in an improvement of the outcome of the patient’s health. It is a matter of Profit over People due to the ‘FOR PROFIT” status of the industry due to Nixon.