Political Activism In Nursing

IN WHAT SENSE IS NURSING A POLITICAL ACT? HOW CAN PROFESSIONAL NURSES BE ACTIVISTS? DISCUSS THESE QUESTIONS AND PROVIDE EXAMPLES OF POLITICAL ACTIVISM TO ILLUSTRATE YOUR POINTS.

Nurses strive to provide holistic and comprehensive care. Nurses understand that health (and therefore nursing) is political and that to be advocates may require them to become political activists. Political activism refers to the process of trying to influence decision- makers to implement changes to improve the lives of clients, communities and population. These decision –makers may be politicians, corporate or hospital executives, government bureaucrats or mangers in a health care facility.
Professional nurses can be good political activists by having proper
The nurse can advocate by taking the problem to the nurse manager, who in turn brings it to the notice of hospital executives indicating to them the implication of shortage of diaper on patients, and the hospital or nursing home. Another example of nurse’s activists was when the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) went on strike on Labor Day at five hospitals in Minneapolis to demonstrate their grievances against Allina health for not responding to their proposals to address workplace safety concerns and improve staffing. Ontario nurses association and other nursing association supported it (Ontario Nurses Association, 2015). At home level, nurses hold managerial positions in unions advocating for the welfare of their members with hospital management, government. They sometimes take the affected management to court if they refuse or fail to negotiate with them. Nurses also demonstrate their political activist by lobbying with employers to employ more nurses when there is shortage of nurses to prevent burnout and loss of