Politics wk 12 reply

Due by end of day. Please write a 300 word reply to my classmate, her discussion post is below. APA format. NO AI. My professor is a stickler for AI. PLEASE NO AI. scholarly written, APA formatted and a minimum of 3 references (which may include the course textbook).

" 

  Reflecting on my mindset at the start of this course, I will admit that I viewed healthcare policy and politics as a distant concept. I felt that policy and politics were handled by people in offices that have been far removed from the bedside. Through my years at the bedside, I conditioned myself to focus only on the immediate clinical picture of the patient directly in front of me and the tasks required that shift. In my Module 1 discussion, I described a facility-level policy change regarding psychotropic medications. At that time, I saw my role strictly as a caregiver, and policy was just a set of rules that I had to follow. However, this course has challenged my idea that I can remain a passive bystander. Throughout this course, I am learning that the idea of policy and politics should not be a distant concept, as they are the very foundation that supports or limits our ability to provide safe, effective care.

               A specific issue where I now see the need for my personal involvement is safe nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, which has moved to the forefront of the current healthcare crisis. In the past, I accepted being short-staffed on a shift as an expected inconvenience or a management failure. This course theory has allowed me to recognize that being short-staffed is not just a facility problem; safe staffing challenges are rooted in legislative and organizational policy. Recent research from Fernández-Sánchez et al. (2025) demonstrates a direct connection between nurse-patient ratios and the occurrence of adverse events for hospitalized patients. This information confirms what we already know: that inadequate staffing is a systemic risk to patient safety.

Mason et al. (2021) explains that nurses must act as political agents because our clinical experience provides real-time information that policy makers often lack. I will admit that idea made me uncomfortable at first. But the more I sit with it, the more I realize that I have been watching the consequences of policy decisions my entire career. I just did not call it that. I am still figuring out how deeply I want to step into the political arena, and part of me feels unprepared for it. At the same time, I cannot ignore that the nursing voice is often missing from the forums where these decisions are made. I understand that advocating for systemic changes, like staffing mandates, is not abandoning my nursing duties but rather a necessary extension of them. I realize that while patient advocacy has always been a core part of my job, the need for broader advocacy is actually well within my reach.

To move beyond the role of bystander, I think I can use my frontline experience as policy-relevant evidence. This starts with participating in my organization’s Safe Staffing Committee to ensure that patient acuity, not just census, drives our internal policies. While I recognize that this is a relatively small step in the overall scheme of things, it is a tangible foundation to build upon. By working to ensure that patient acuity, rather than just census, is the policy driver, I am applying my experience to shape the what and why of our practice.

Recent research by Mainey et al. (2025) stress that while regulatory documents often mandate this type of activism, they can create tension for nurses navigating systemic hurdles. This resonates with my own journey; while I am still weighing how deeply I want to dive into the political arena, I no longer believe that I am exempt from the process. I am leaving this course with a deeper understanding that the nursing voice is a necessary piece of systemic change.

References

Fernández-Sánchez, J. D., Andrés-Pretel, F., Ortiz-Diaz, V., Molina-Alarcón, M., & Lozano-Hernández, C. M. (2025). Relationship between the nurse–patient ratio and adverse events in conventional hospitalization units in a third‐level hospital. Journal of Nursing Management, 2025(1). https://doi.org/10.1155/jonm/8885593

‌Mainey, L., Richardson, S., Essex, R., & Dillard-Wright, J. (2025). Nursing advocacy and activism: A critical analysis of regulatory documents. Nursing ethics, 32(3), 980–993. https://doi.org/10.1177/09697330241299525

Mason, D. J., Dickson, E. L., McLemore, M. R., Perez, G. A., Trent-Adams, S., & Underwood, L. (2021). Policy & Politics in Nursing and Health Care (8th ed.). Elsevier. https://online.vitalsource.com/books/9780323554985"