SPECIAL SESSION: Influencing Health Through Policy: The Dynamic Role of Nurses in the Boardroom

Description/Overview: Purpose: Sigma Theta Tau International’s Call to Action 2015-2017 is “Influence to Advance Global Health and Nursing.” Nurses play an essential role within healthcare, as front-line service providers, managers and directors of care, as well as vital decision makers. Acting not only as individuals, nurses are also members and coordinators of inter-professional and multi-sector teams through which balanced action can be undertaken with broad levels of support. Working with our colleagues in other disciplines and sectors, nurses bring a unique and invaluable perspective to patient care, seeing firsthand the gaps in the healthcare system, where improvements are needed most, and frequently have the answers as to how to address these gaps. However, to have the most impactful, positive effect on global healthcare and to determine future direction, nurses must also be directors, trustees and governors at a broad governance and policy level. In these roles, nurses will play a crucial role in tackling global health issues. Methods: To achieve the United Nations’ new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, the right individuals need to be engaged at policy-making levels to facilitate planning, implementation and monitoring, as well as forge new partnerships. Global bodies such as the World Health Organization have articulated the importance of an interdisciplinary approach, and strong collaboration within various healthcare professionals, if we are to reach universal healthcare. Nurses, as key leaders in healthcare, need to be present in leadership positions at every level of health systems to inform and impact overall health policy. Consequently, if nurses are to influence health through policy, they must not only have the knowledge, ability and skills to do so, including the needed confidence, professional presence, reputation and respect, but also must be appointed or elected to governance positions in order to effectively make, inform and direct policy decisions. Nurses in different countries and regions of the world have differing scopes of practice, roles, hierarchical structures and systems within which they must effectively navigate to practice. However, regardless of the structure, role or system, nurses have always been seen as the advocates for patients. Consequently, nurses are well situated to broaden that scope of advocacy to apply it to universal health, at the local, regional or global level. Globally, the World Health Organization estimates there are over 19 million nurses and midwives. If the voice of nurses can be joined to promote advocacy for universal health through multiple mechanisms, with a special focus on policy, the power of the nurses’ voices combined can change the world. Nurses have the ability to advocate for global health and policy change in many ways and at local, regional and global levels, including data collection, research dissemination, relationship development, targeted collaboration, advancing knowledge and education, and improving value and respect for health care providers overall. Involvement in policy requires skill sets and positions that nurses traditionally are not known for though frequently possess. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health acknowledged the significance nurse leaders have in promoting change and improvement to America’s healthcare system. The report committee put forth recommendations that included removing barriers to practice and care, the achievement of higher levels of education and training, including increasing the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80 percent by 2020, and expanding opportunities for nurses to serve as leaders. Results: One initiative launched from those recommendations, and gaining momentum, is the Nurses on Boards Coalition, currently a US initiative but with broader implications and a huge potential impact for healthcare. The overarching goal is to improve healthcare for all Americans through having the right information and skill set at the governance table where healthcare decisions are made. With more than 20 organizations in the United States participating as members of the Nurses on Boards Coalition, the goal of the Coalition is to improve the health of communities and the nation through the service of 10,000 nurses on boards by 2020. “Thousands of healthcare organizations, hundreds of disease-focused organizations, and innumerable nursing organizations will be greatly improved when informed nurses serve on their boards” (Curran, 2015). Conclusion: This presentation will discuss avenues for nurses to advocate for global health through policy engagement in a variety of settings and at all levels. Additionally, this presentation will discuss the specific initiative underway currently in the United States that holds great promise to improve the health of communities and how this effort might reverberate within healthcare around the world.