Nursing Health Reform Essay

The legislative process is a pivotal process that shapes the health care policy within the country. The US healthcare system requires a lot of influencing and lobbying in order to adopt or to implement the necessary health care reform policies. The nurses are the relevant people to push for these reforms through their associations or alliances e.g. The Nursing Organizations Alliance (NOA).Nursing Health Reform Essay

The nurses hold the most influential position in driving for the necessary healthcare reforms; this is because of their numbers, expertise and also their positions. The evidence of these numbers is demonstrated by a statistical report which shows that in every 44 female voters in the US there is one nurse. Secondly, in every 100 voters there is one nurse. Finally, there is evidence that there are 100,000 nurses in every congressional district (source: Leavitt, 2003).

Given the position and the well earned respect for nurses by the American public (The Gallup poll has shown that nurses are top ranking when it comes to ‘Honesty and Ethics in profession’).All these factors are evidence that the nurses can indeed influence the healthcare policy and the policy makers. There is need for nurses to develop an interest and an understanding in the legislative process if they are to be knowledgeable of the political environment, which is a determinant in the making of the health care policies.