The Role of the Professional Nurse as Community Advocate Learning Objectives

The Role of the Professional Nurse as Community Advocate

Learning Objectives
Identify signs of political involvement in a community
Identify conditions in a community that can have a negative influence on health
Describe the health impact of negative characteristics of a community that can be improved by political advocacy
Create policy recommendations that address a social determinant of health
Use current literature and data to provide rationale for policy recommendations
Write a letter in support of OR opposition to a health care issue or legislative bill to an organization, government representative or media outlet.

Registered nurses are the largest health care professional group. In a rapidly changing health care environment, nurses need to be at the forefront of change. It is important for nurses to share their experience and stories. As professionals, nurses need to be at the table to drive health policy and advocate for quality outcomes of aggregates. One way for a nurse to utilize their voice is by writing a letter to an elected or appointed official whose jurisdiction may be influential on the issue. Another avenue that nurses may choose is to inform the public through a media outlet, such as an op-ed essay for a newspaper, blog or a letter to the editor.

This assignment requires you to find a community health issue or bill that you are passionate about and that is under discussion by a local, state or federal governmental agency. You are expected to research the history of the bill. You will write a letter in support of OR opposition to this issue or bill to a governmental representative, an agency, or a media outlet. Please use the guideline for writing a letter to a representative or to a media outlet that is provided in the Assignment Folder. Your letter must meet all the components listed on the rubric and conform to word count listed in the appropriate guideline.

It is recommended that you contact an organization, media outlet staff, your governmental representative or their staff by phone. If you choose to make contact with a representative of an organization, media outlet staff, a local, state or federal legislator or their staff representative please include the following:
mention of the contact in your written Community Action Letter (ex: during our conversation of September 30, 2022…)