Among other healthcare providers, nurses play a critical role in the policy development model, being able to initiate the discussion of issues and collecting important data on certain issues. It is important to note that, in the policy development process, nurses often play the role of advocates for patients’ interests and concerns. The reason is that nurses spend much time interacting with patients directly, and community nurses know many details regarding a healthcare or epidemiological situation in a specific community or region (Austin & Wetle, 2017). In this context, nurses can influence the quality of care provided in their communities and contribute to improving standards, procedures, and policies to address patients’ needs. Therefore, when developing certain policies and initiatives, much attention should be paid to nurses’ views regarding particular issues and concerns.
Most policy meetings organized in the sphere of health care and community health today are related to resolving questions and developing policies associated with COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention organized a series of online policy meetings in 2020 to discuss the epidemiological situation in the United States in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The role of nurses at these meetings was to present their own perspectives regarding patients’ demands depending on their differences and effective ways of preventing the spread of the infection in healthcare facilities. Nurses are able to provide the primary data on an actual situation in medical organizations, accentuating issues they face every day in their practice that need to be addressed with the help of effective policies (Wichaikhum et al., 2020). As a result, nurses’ opinions can contribute significantly to discussing the COVD-19 related problems from various perspectives to formulate the most effective policies.
References
Austin, A., & Wetle, V. (2017). The United States health care system: Combining business, health, and delivery (3rd ed.). Pearson Education.
Wichaikhum, O., Abhicharttibutra, K., Nantsupawat, A., Kowitlawakul, Y., & Kunaviktikul, W. (2020). Developing a strategic model of participation in policy development for nurses. International Nursing Review, 67(1), 11-18.