Various factors hinder nurses from participating in developing healthcare policy at the country’s state, national, or organizational levels. The barriers include nurses’ lack of time or interest, inadequate education and training about advocacy, and fear of retribution from employers or governmental organizations due to their participation in advocacy activities. All these factors, coupled with the different amounts of work in the healthcare facilities, make it challenging for the nurses to find time to participate in the healthcare policy decision-making process.

Inadequate education and training among the nurses is a barrier to nurse participation in the healthcare policy-making process because the process requires skills, such as research and analytical skills, which an individual can only have if they attained the primary education about the same. Inadequate education and training is a significant barrier that hinders a nurse’s ability to participate and engage with the policy developers; therefore, the nurses who lack the required training and education will opt out of all the meetings to develop policies (Hajizadeh et al., 2021). The problem of inadequate education and training can be addressed by engaging the nurses in formal nursing education to ensure they have the requisite skills and expertise.

Lack of interest or enough time to engage in the political arena among the nurses is also a barrier to their participation in policy-making. All the policies in the healthcare sector follow political processes; therefore, the nurses must accept and embrace the political system in the country because it is through this channel, they will create laws and policies that address problems in this sector (Mason et al., 2021). In this connection, nursing students should engage in programs that empower them to be aware of, and participate in, the political process. The programs should include a trip to the state capital to lobby legislators. The trip or program helps train and give confidence to nurses wanting to get more involved in health care policy at the state or national level.

References

Hajizadeh, A., Zamanzadeh, V., & Khodayari‐Zarnaq, R. (2021). Participation of nurse managers in the health policy process: A qualitative study of barriers and facilitators. International Nursing Review, 68(3), 388-398. https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12657Links to an external site.

Mason, D. J., Dickson, E. L., McLemore, M. R., & Perez, G. A. (2021). Policy & Politics in Nursing and Health Care. Elsevier.