Nursing and health policy

Purpose: To describe ways nurses are and are not effective in the developme nt of health policy in the United States today, and to provide useful infor mation for those interested in making nursing a more vital part Of the poli cy arena. Design: Qualitative examination of the career experiences and observations of a purposive sample of 27 American nurses currently active in health poli cy at the national, state, local, or organizational level. Method: Semi-structured interviews regarding career path, contributing reso urces improvement of resources available to nurses, and the strengths and w eaknesses of currently available information for policy work. Findings: For nurse participants, policy involvement meant speaking for pat ients in arenas where those need Of care have limited voice. Participation occured after assessment, diagnosis, and planning revealed the need for cha nge in the way resources were allocated. Strong belief it? the capacity and importance of People caving for themselves distinguished nurses in their p olicy roles. Policy makers responded to the experiences and determinants of health and illness as presented by nurses. Conclusion: Once engaged, nurses seldom turned their backs on the would of policy-making. However, they did not report significant use of nursing rese arch or information in policy making. Further investigation and resting of systems to connect nurse policymakers with nurse scholars are recommended.