Nurse Representation in Health Care Policy-making
Nurse Representation in Health Care Policy-making Essay
Chapter 14 in the textbook, Leadership in Nursing Practice: Changing the Landscape of Health Care, discusses the nursing profession\’s lack of representation in health care policymaking, even though nurses currently represent the largest profession within t
Nurse representation in health care policymaking. Nurse Representation in Health Care Policy-making Essay
Nurses constitute perhaps the single largest workforce in the health care industry. In fact, they interact closely with patients, families and other medical personnel, thereby allowing them broadly appreciate the industry and environment. Besides that, their command of expert medical skills and knowledge gives them the capacity to inform health policymaking. Historically, nurses have suffered from poor public image, an inability to sustain high influence at the policy level, and low image compared to other medical professions.
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This state of affairs has been blamed on gender inequality, with women making up the larger percentage of personnel. This is understandable since the policymaking environment is largely patriarchal with the majority of decision-marked being men. In fact, health care is not gender neutral, and this has contributed to the comparatively lower status of women. To be more precise, nurse as women within the health care setting are considered as separate, different, and not equal to men. These patriarchal forces extensively affect nurse personnel, who are largely comprised of women. These gendered ideal have significant implications for the capabilities, responsibilities and roles of nurses. This makes the nurses’ policymaking role inherently linked to the social dynamics that affect women (Porter-O’Grady&Malloch, 2016). The gender imbalance is particularly evident in the USA where 7.6% of LPNs and 9.1% of RNs are men (Minority Nurse, 2019). Although the gender imbalance in nursing is slowly change, the issue is very complex since its steeped in privilege, power, unconscious bias, economics, and stereotyped in society and health care. An influx of male nurses could create pressure to give nurses greater voice. Addressing the imbalance could act as the force and impetus for social and policy change, to include ensuring that nurses have greater influence and voice in policymaking(Porter-O’Grady &Malloch, 2016). Nurse Representation in Health Care Policy-making Essay
References
Minority Nurse (2019). Nursing statistics in the US.Retrieved from https://minoritynurse.com/nursing-statistics/
Porter-O’Grady, T. &Malloch, K. (2016).Leadership in nursing practice: changing the landscape of healthcare (2nded.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.Nurse Representation in Health Care Policy-making Essay
