Discussion: Nursing Workforce Advocacy

Workplace advocacy strategies are complementary and focus on reinforcing the voice of nursing and ensuring nurses get involved in workplace decisions affecting patient care. These strategies have the capability of empowering nurses to provide quality care to patients. Some of the strategies include shared governance which helps nurses to focus on the organization’s micro level. It also extends to the larger healthcare system and beyond.

Another advocacy strategy is creating policies for organizations such as nurse staffing and how it affects all involved. Nurse staffing can be influenced by nurses participating in a nurse management hospital council. Empowering the nurses can help in improving their environment while enhancing the delivery of quality healthcare. Additionally, nurses can be provided with decision support and ways of resolving conflicts at the point of delivering healthcare (Tomajan, 2012).

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Conflict resolution as an advocacy strategy helps the nurses to identify and manage potential conflicts. It guarantees nurses can learn and practice some of the specialized and important advocacy strategies. Patient advocacy is another strategy important to the nursing profession due to the fact that patients depend largely on the nurses to make sure they receive suitable care. Nurses can also embrace problem-solving as an advocacy strategy in their workplace. They use communication to bring different groups together and help in addressing any issues. Nurses can also engage in positive collaboration among themselves gathering the support required to address any issues. Nurses work in a challenging environment, therefore, nurses must recognize current issues of their facility, health care system as well as comprehend and utilize the optimal advocacy strategies to be successful and accountable professionals.

American Nurse Association (ANA) provides five resources for workforce advocacy programs which include:

” Identify mechanisms within health care systems that provide opportunities for RNs to affect institutional policies.
Develop conflict resolution models for use within organizations that address RNs’ concerns about patient care and delivery issues.
Seek legislative solutions for workplace problems by reviewing issues of concern to nurses in -employment settings and introducing appropriate legislation.
Develop legal centers for nurses, which could provide legal support and decision-making advice as a last recourse to resolve workplace issues.
Provide RNs with self-advocacy and patient advocacy information” (American Nurses Association [ANA], n.d.).

These resources provide a piece of good knowledge of advocacy strategies. In the hospital I work in everyone can provide their suggestions and join in the policy development by participating in a policy council. They need to be able to distinguish the mechanisms within healthcare systems and understand the healthcare related regulations and current care trends. They can actively provide useful ideas to help lead to the change in their workplace. Everyone has the potential to lead their facility in the process of change. When employees work together as a team and collaborate together, they can create a positive and energetic workplace and deliver quality and safe care. The confidence in approaching new avenues in the development of policies and collaborating with healthcare providers to develop special program opportunities has increased since attending GCU. I would like to develop a program for my hospital to provide postpartum home visits for new mothers. These visits can monitor the needs of the mother and infant more closely to address any issues immediately. This may also provide ongoing education as mom and baby continue to adjust to being at home. Prevention or monitoring of postpartum depression is also important to the safety of both mom and baby.References

American Nurses Association. (n.d.). Five opportunities and challenges for workforce advocacy programs. Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/workf…

Tomajan, K. (2012, January). Advocating for nurses and nursing. OJIN: Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 17(1), Manuscript 4. https://doi.org/10.3912/OJIN.Vol17No01Man04