Week one DQ 2.2

Marie Angeline Lim posted May 6, 2020 9:31 AM

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Organizational politics is normal in any work setting. This includes that of the nursing profession. Understanding how politics works within an organization or a unit requires close observation and involvement. (olinenursingduq.edu, 2020) However, nurses often have little involvement in organizational politics, as well as influencing policies when it comes to healthcare delivery due to little opportunities, lack of awareness or just avoiding politics all together. Politically competent leaders have a goal in mind, and the political sense to engage others to join them in their effort to ultimately get things done. (Bacharach, 2017) As future APNs, we can practice our political competence by assuming leadership positions, voicing out our opinions regarding current policies or by simply exercising our right to vote on matters that impact health care in general. Brokaw (2016) points out that the nursing profession has significant power to profoundly impact healthcare policy on a global scale. Additionally, the nurses of today are younger, more educated, and more diverse. They bring more energy, more ideas, and more ingenuity to the nursing profession.
An example of political competence is when the power of the nursing collective is evidenced in organized nursing’s efforts to provide support and defense for a Texas nurse who was discharged from her hospital position for reporting a physician to the Texas Medical Board for medical patient care that the nurse believed was unsafe. (clinicalgate.com, 2017) The nurses, as well as organizations such as the ANA and Texas Nurses Association worked together to defend the said nurse. This case was significant due to the fact that it could potentially have long-term negative effects on nurses who act or question actions of physicians and act as patient advocates. We have to remember that as nurses, we are in the forefront of providing care for our patients, and therefore, we have to also take into consideration our welfare just as much as we do our patients’. By working together and voicing out our concerns, we have the political power to correct or question policies that may affect the well being of both patients and nurses.

Reference
Nurse Managers and Organizational Politics. (2020). Retrieved May 6, 2020, from https://onlinenursing.duq.edu/blog/nurse-managers-and-organizational-politics/
Bacharach, S. (2017). To lead, you need political competence. Retrieved May 6, 2020, from https://www.inc.com/samuel-bacharach/to-lead-you-need-political-competence.html
Brokaw, J. (2016). The nursing profession’s potential impact on policy and politics. Retrieved May 6, 2020, from https://www.myamericannurse.com/nursing-professions-potential-impact-policy-politics/
Political Action in Nursing. (2017). Retrieved May 6, 2020, from https://clinicalgate.com/political-action-in-nursing/