Developing a health advocacy campaign
Health advocacy campaign
There is a shortage of health care workers globally. This has contributed to an increased workload and, hence, overtime working by health workers. At the end of the day, the patients suffer most. They do not get quality services. This is because the nurses have a lot of patients to attend to and they are fatigued. The purpose of this paper is to review on what can be done to eliminate the problem of shortage of nurses and the ethical laws which may be involved in the policy administered.
Population Health Issue and Population Affected
This chronic shortage of nurses mostly affects the poor people who are found in the developing countries. The poor cannot afford to go to the private health centers because the charges are very high. They, therefore, end up going to the public health centers where they receive poor services (Gunn, 2013).
Advocacy Programs Researched in this Area
To eliminate this problem of shortage of health care workers, there is need to employ more than 4.5 million health workers worldwide. This will include 2.6 million doctors, nurses and midwives. Moreover, there is need to acknowledge the need for health professionals such as the community health workers, lab technicians, public health workers and health managers. In West Africa alone, the shortage required around 1.6 million additional health workers including 900000 doctors’, nurses and midwives (Johns & Freshwater, 2009).
There is need to ensure that there is equitable distribution of the health workers where 75% of the newly employed health workers would be attached to the rural areas. There is also need to advocate for gender equality while distributing these workers. The working environment of the workers should be made conducive for the workers to perform effectively. This will include things like, clean working environment with adequate resources for the jobs being done for quality and inclusive services. The management should be effective to ensure that the juniors are working under the required conditions and are performing effectively (Marion et al., 2003). There is a need to employ training programs. The public should be educated on the need to train more nurses and to generally improve the conditions in the health centers for delivery of effective services to the patients. The government should be highly involved in this. These programs turn out effective and the attributes which make them effective are: government support: the government was ready to improve the working conditions of the health care sectors. Most of the governments in most nations were ready to support training programs for the health care workers. They would sponsor those interested with the training. Non-governmental organizations were also formed which helped so much. For example they can strengthen and implement the ethical recruitment policy which will slow the brain drain of the trained health workers (Huston, 2014).
Plan for a health advocacy campaign
Shortage of health care workers is a major problem in the world. In order to eliminate the problem there is need to design a change model. The change will be about the doctorates practicing as nurse practitioners. The objectives of this policy will be to reduce the problem of shortage of health care workers and to improve the quality of services being provided to the patients. They will be in a position to address the quick expansion of knowledge underlying practice; they will also be able to attend the increased complexity of the patients care, the quality of care which the patients need, patients’ safety and the increased shortage of the nursing personnel. In addition the doctorates will be able to solve the problem of shortage of doctorally prepared nursing faculty (Kovner et al., 2009).
The society needs qualified nursing professionals who have got the quality of leadership in interdisciplinary collaboration to figure the health care system and to improve the outcomes of the nursing care. There has been an explosion of scientific knowledge which stresses on the need for strong preparation of the nursing professionals so that they are able to translate research into practice. They will provide a high level of care as well (Dracup et al., 2005).
Objectives for the Policy Implemented The doctorate will be of much benefit in the health care provision. Within the first one year of their service as nurse practitioners, they will have combated the problem of shortage of health care practitioners as well as improving the quality of services provided to the patients. These doctorates will also have acquired knowledge in other disciplines where they will have the chance to fully participate in decision making with the other professional colleagues. Educational parity enriches the influence of nursing professionals in policy and the formulation of the practice guideline. The development of innovative models of health care delivery is also enhanced. The future directions in the nursing practices and the health care delivery are prepared too (Dracup et al 2005).
How Information will be conveyed to Various Stakeholders The advocacy will target on influential stakeholders who strongly support the need for an action on the subject of human resource health (Huston, 2014). The stakeholders will be the World Health Organizations (WHO). The information on change will officially be communicated to the stake holders officially. They will be emailed as that will reach the intended information faster. The emails can be referred to in future and one does not tend to forget easily. The emailed information should be convincing and very well evidenced.
Data and Evidence to Substantiate Proposed Need
The stake holders should fully get convinced on the need for change. They should understand the problem deeply in order see the need for change. I will carry all the evidence required so as to fully convince the stakeholders. The evidence will include written evidences of the problems which he patients face due to shortage of nurses. I will have with me a person who will act as a witness to what I will be conveying.
How Attributes of Effective Advocacy Programs Researched Can Be Applied to this Proposed Campaign
The campaign on the doctorates being nurse practitioners needs government support. The government is a powerful institution which is very influential. The government can highly support the change. The formation of non-governmental organizations can also be of great help since more people will be informed on the need for the doctorates becoming nurse practitioners.
Enactment of Policy through Modification of Existing Policy OR Creation of New Legislation
There is no need to change or modify any law to allow the doctorates to become nurse practitioners. All what is required for the doctorates is to get licensed and certified to become advanced nurse practitioners. Before they start their work they should first display their certificates or licenses to the authorities. The certificate should contain the name and sign for the licensee and the level of the practitioners. If the licensee violates the provision of laws required for doctorates to become nurse practitioners, are supposed to be subjected to a disciplinary action by the board of nursing. For the doctorate to become nurse practitioners, they are supposed to file an application for a certificate for the specialty area they are interested with. Once one is authorized, he is supposed to maintain the registration of the RN license and the NP certificate in order to practice as a nurse practitioner (Ellis, 2005).
How Existing Laws or Regulations could Impact My Advocacy The law states that for one to work in any area, he / she should be licensed or certified. This is a law recognized by the government and the citizens as well. Therefore the doctorates will have to get licenses which will not be a big problem as long as they have the qualifications of becoming nurse practitioners. These qualifications include: one should be an expert in clinical knowledge, they should have specialized education, they should be complex decision makers, they should have clinical reasoning and diagnostic skills and should have the ability to initiate and evaluate therapeutic management plans.
Analysis of Methods used to Influence Legislators or Other Policy Makers to Support the Policy
In order to influence legislators and other policy makers to support my policy, I would use the “three legs” of lobbying (Harrington & Estes, 2008). The first leg is money. The poor in the developing countries are not financially stable. The few who are rich can go to the private hospitals and get their treatment. The poor are at a high risk of getting diseases and the only option they have is to attend the public health centers which are high crowded and offers poor quality services. When the doctorates practice as nurse practitioners, the shortage of nurses will have reduced and the services offered will be of quality. The second leg is relationships. The policy will boost the relationships between themselves and the common nurses. This will lead to the nurses being more informed on how to execute their duties more effectively. The third leg is the public opinion. When the public is explained to on the need for more nurses who are more infirmed, they definitely will support the policy. The voice of the public is very strong and will fully convince the policy makers (Harrington & Estes, 2008).
Summary of Anticipated Obstacles and How I will Overcome these Hurdles
Some of the obstacles which may arise in the legislative process include: There is likely hood that the doctorate nurse practitioners will diminish the need and support of the PhD programs. This is because these people go for the PhD programs with the desire of being doctorates but not health care practitioners (Dracup et al., 2005). If they shift to being health care providers, the other people who are aiming at being doctorates may lose interest and chose to take other careers.
The other problem which may come along with the policy is confusion among the patients. The patients will not be in a position to differentiate between the doctor of nursing practice and the common nurses. There will be two groups of people who will be the physicians and the differently qualified health care professionals. Another problem with the policy is that not all the doctorates will be willing to surrender their hard work to being just nurse practitioners. They have gone through so much training including the training which the teachers receive (Johns & Freshwater, 2009). Studying doctorates consumes a vast amount of time and effort. It will be a big humiliation to the doctorates if they are to shift to being health care practitioners. The ways to overcome these problems is to critically explain to the doctorates on the need of them practicing as nurses practitioners. They should get to the point of understanding where they will get to know that the most important reason as to why they are working is to serve the nation and not to earn large amounts of income. To eliminate the problem of confusion, the patients should be fully aware of the newly adopted policy and they should be well explained the differences between the doctorates and the other nurses.
Ethical Dilemmas that Could Arise and How They Would be Resolved
Ethical dilemmas are very common in the advocacy campaigns. Some of the key dilemmas I would face are: whether to acknowledge the weaknesses of my policy. I might fear that when I disclose the weaknesses of my policy, it may be rejected by the policy makers. However, everything has a negative and positive side. There is need for the policy makers to know the weaknesses of the policy so that they can evaluate it to find out whether it will be of much effect to the general public. If they find out the negative side overthrows the positive side of the policy, then there is need for the policy to be neglected. Another ethical dilemma which may arise is whether to debate with the opponents. There has to be some individuals who are against the policy. Debating with the rivals means that they can either win or lose. If they win the policy will be neglected by the policy makers. That is not an easy decision to make. However, I would take the risk of debating because I am sure that the policy will be of benefit to the people world-wide. All I would do is prepare with the supporting evidences. I would debate with the hope to win The other dilemma is whether to launch attacks on the opposing individuals and groups. There is no need to do that but if the opposition group becomes too extreme, then I would go ahead and launch attacks on them. Finally I might have the dilemma of whether criticize the behaviors of the opponents of they become too extreme. I would go ahead to criticize where necessary. I will be doing all that to fight for the adoption of my policy.
Ethic Laws and Reporting Requirements for this Campaign
The ethical laws which are applicable in the advocacy campaign is to ensure that all those who involved in the campaign were respected as ends not means where everyone was equally treated. The human, civil and legal rights of every individual were also respected. This mainly comes in where there is an encounter with the opponents. One is not supposed to use power and violence to influence the public or the policy makers but is supposed to use facts. In case one uses violence he/she will be acting against the law. Generally, I would do the best for everyone under the all the circumstances.
Ethical Challenges Unique to the Population
The ethical challenges which mainly face the poor are the violation of civil, human and legal rights. The most violated rights are the civil and legal rights. These people do not have the power to speak out their ideas. Their civil and human rights are not respected. These people are not well represented in the government thereby end up undergoing a lot of torture. They undergo cruelty, injustice, intolerance and oppression. They therefore face problems of close mindedness or lack of participation in the democratic government among others. The poor are supposed to be given a chance to work and be part of their government and ensure that the government recognizes their voice. People should have their say in the government to avoid being tortured. The citizens are not supposed to leave all the power to the government. They should ensure that they are recognized through the protection of their rights and being allowed to join the decision making of the major issues of the nation (Harrington & Estes, 2008).
Summary
In conclusion, the policy of doctorates becoming nurse practitioners can be an effective policy. The advanced nursing practices will be implemented leading to provision of more quality services to the patients. They will carry also out research in the health care sector. However, there is need to use incrementalism for the policy to be effective. It is not easy to just adopt such a policy at once. Addressing the problems associated with the policy before adopting will lead to the policy being a success.
References
Dracup, K., Cronenwett, L., Meleis, A. I., & Benner, P. E. (2005). Reflections on the doctorate of nursing practice. Nursing Outlook, 53(4), 177-182.
Ellis, L. B. (2005). Professional doctorates for nurses: mapping provision and perceptions. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 50(4), 440-448.
Gunn, J. (2013). Minnesota’s rural health workforce shortages. Minnesota Medicine, 96(12), 41-45.
Harrington, C., & Estes, C. (Eds.). (2008). Health policy: crisis and reform in the US health care delivery system. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Huston, C. J. (2014). Professional Issues in Nursing: Challenges & Opportunities. Baltimore, MD: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Johns, C., & Freshwater, D. (Eds.). (2009). Transforming nursing through reflective practice. John Wiley & Sons.
Kovner, C.T., Brewer, C.S., Greene, W., & Fairchild, S. (2009). Understanding New Registered Nurses’ Intent to Stay at their Jobs. Nursing Economic, 27(2), 81-98.
Marion, L., Viens, D., O’Sullivan, A., Crabtree, K., Fontana, S., & Price, M. (2003). The practice doctorate in nursing: Future or fringe. Topics in Advanced Practice Nursing eJournal, 3(2), 1-9.