Nursing, advocacy and public policy

• Published in: Nursing ethics Vol. 28; no. 5; pp. 723 - 733
• Main Authors: Scott, Shane Matthew, Scott, P Anne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01-08-2021; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Advocacy; Health care; Medical ethics; Nursing; Nursing care; Policy making; Public policy; agenda setting; Nursing; resource allocation; advocacy; public policy
• ISSN: 0969-7330; 1477-0989
• DOI: 10.1177/0969733020961823

This article draws attention to the nature and importance of public policy. It argues that if nurses are to influence the quality of healthcare effectively, they must be engaged with policymakers to get nursing care issues on the policy agenda. There is an ethical imperative to do so, driven by the advocacy role of the nurse and rooted in the values base of nursing. In addition, it is argued that if one takes the role of patient advocacy seriously, as core to the nursing role, two things are required of nurses: We must (a) broaden the conceptualisation of patient advocacy beyond the individual patient to the system of healthcare resourcing and provision and (b) see systemic change as important as change at the bedside.