Running head: ADVOCACY AND POLITICS 1

Advocacy and Politics

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation
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Advocacy and Politics

Nursing issue: staffing

According to the American Nurses Association (2016), there are significant numbers of

nurses working in shifts that are longer than the standard 10 hours. Studies have significantly

linked long working hours with burnouts and increased medical errors which risk the lives of

both the patient and the nurse (Ropponen et al., 2019). Further, long working hours are

detrimental to the social and personal life of nurses. As a result, nurses would not enjoy their

jobs since a lot has to happen. However, ANA recommends that safe staffing can be determined

by directly involving direct care nurses, something which does not occur in American hospitals.

According to Govtrack.us. (2018), there is a need to develop a committee that comprises 55%

direct care nurses to initiate care plans for their units. It is for the lack of this involvement that I

have raised this as an advocacy issue.

Communication plan

We will sermon all nurses for a meeting through a memo. Also, we will invite other

stakeholders in the health sector to be a party in these initiatives. These include hospital

management and the American Nurses Association.

Communication strategies

Memos will be written to all nursing staff and the hospital administration addressing our

concerns. Social and mainstream media will also be used to communicate our advocacy goals.

Social and mainstream media will help us mobilize like-minded individuals to join hands in the
ADVOCACY AND POLITICS 3

initiative. Further, it will lead us to partner with a like-minded organization that seeks to address

the same problem.

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References

American Nurses Association. (2016). EXECUTIVE SUMMARY American Nurses Association

Health Risk Appraisal. Retrieved from

https://www.nursingworld.org/~495c56/globalassets/practiceandpolicy/healthy-nurse-

healthy-nation/ana-healthriskappraisalsummary_2013-2016.pdf

Govtrack.us. (2018). Safe Staffing for Nurse and Patient Safety Act of 2018 (2018 - H.R. 5052).

Retrieved from https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr5052

Ropponen, A., Koskinen, A., Puttonen, S., & Härmä, M. (2019). Exposure to working-hour

characteristics and short sickness absence in hospital workers: A case-crossover study

using objective data. International journal of nursing studies, 91, 14-21.