Nurse Practitioner Research Paper

Nurse practitioners (NPs) can have a profound and positive impact on communities through patient advocacy and exceptional service delivery. As frontline witness to immeasurable patient experiences, nurse practitioners can improve public well-being through legislative activism. To accomplish this, nurses must gain skill in an unfamiliar forum – the political arena.

NPs know firsthand the issues that effect patient outcomes. These same experiences influence many nurse practitioners to make a plea for change before political figures. Initial forays into politics may feel irregular to fulltime care providers. However, nurse practitioners can prepare for the patient advocacy by observing the following strategies.

Participation in Community Assessments …show more content…
Civic Interest Group Formation

Nurse practitioners play a vital role in community mentorship and networking. [2] By establishing joint commissions and special interest groups, NPs facilitate ongoing community partnerships used to manage current health issues. These activities allow NPs to establish community initiatives that continually foster talent within a given locale.

As community leaders, nurse practitioners play critical roles in establishing initiatives that promote local public health and assists in shaping an environment that responds to citizens’ needs. The supportive guidance helps to provide citizens with outlets to manage ever-evolving local health matters.

Advocacy for Cost-effective Treatments and Medications

Care providers and patients currently face many changes that have heightened concerns over medical expenses. [3] Many stakeholders invested in the healthcare field affect change through legislation. The difficulty of this process escalates as resulting outcomes increasingly affect any given …show more content…
[4] Duly, nurse practitioners stay abreast of current community issues to understand, and advocate for, the programs that best serve needs for the local population. This diligence helps populations receive resources and services that improve community well-being.

As community healthcare professionals, nurse practitioners build relationships allowing them to identify key public health issues. Therefore, well-versed understanding of all local civic interest helps NPs advocate effectively for initiatives that will improve community health outcomes.

Active Involvement in Healthcare Legislation

Legislative rapport represents another critical tool in the nurse practitioners community advocacy skill set. A professional relationship with the influential local officials provides a conduit to present important public welfare issues. Through political affiliations, NPs can advance public wellness agendas by presenting government decision-makers with relevant and timely public information. When serving in this capacity, nurse practitioners provide officials with logical, concise, factual and verified reports. During these presentations, NPs approach the meeting cordially, with the intention to produce a win-win outcome or find a feasible middle ground. Nurse practitioners exercise this approach throughout the many steps involved in the legislative

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