Getting Political: Nurse Politicians Draw from Clinical Experiences (2534 hits)
Nurses also can volunteer with advocacy groups and perhaps take part in a campaign to network and learn strategizing and marketing techniques.
Whether shepherding legislation they sponsored, collaborating on a strategic workforce plan or educating their peers about healthcare issues, nurses elected to their state legislatures continually draw on their past clinical experiences to promote the profession and get things done. ...
Former Florida Rep. Yolly Roberson, RN, D-104th District, who served from 2002-10, (term-limit rules prevented her from continuing in that role), also found working across the partisan aisle helped her achieve results in passing legislation, including sponsoring HB 411, which went into effect in July 2006 and redefined the term "psychotherapist" to include certain advanced practice registered nurse practitioners for purposes of the psychotherapist-patient privilege of the Florida Evidence Code. She also sponsored legislation that prohibited selling weight-loss pills to minors and legislation that required law enforcement to assist victims of s*xual battery in obtaining necessary medical treatment and other services.
Roberson is forming a nonprofit organization to address healthcare disparities in South Florida. She finds nurses in general are not involved in advocating their positions on policy issues, such as the cost of healthcare. "Nurses can change the face of healthcare in America," Roberson said. "They can change the everyday lives of Americans." ...
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