Advocating for Nursing Autonomy Through Virginia Legislation

This assignment addresses the issue of limited nursing autonomy in Virginia, where practitioners often work under physician supervision despite their knowledge and skills. The problem impacts healthcare organizations and patient care, potentially leading to communication gaps and reduced efficiency. The proposed solution involves legislative advocacy to allow nurses to practice independently after five years of clinical experience. Research supports this, citing studies on Virginia's regulations and the impact of burnout and turnover. The occupational therapists would support the advocacy, while doctors and hospital administration would likely oppose it due to concerns about their roles and potential financial impacts. The assignment outlines the legislative process, including contacting a legislator and the steps for introducing a bill, and discusses how Christian principles support advocacy for inclusive healthcare outcomes. References include studies on nursing practice, burnout, and legislative processes.

Advocacy Through Legislation
Identify a problem or concern in your state, community, or organization that has the capacity to be advocated through legislation.
Research the issue and complete the sections below. For each topic that requires the listing of criteria, a minimum of two criteria
should be identified and discussed. Add more rows as is appropriate for the topic/proposal.
Problem
In no more than 200 words, describe the problem, who is affected, and the current ramifications. Explain the consequences if the issue continues.
The problem that is faced by the nursing practitioners in the state of Virginia is the inability to practice autonomously. This means that the nursing
professionals have to work under the supervision of a doctor despite having sufficient knowledge and skill for the nursing practice. The prevalence of the issue
majorly affects the doctors and nurses in the healthcare organizations. The doctors believe that nursing professionals do not possess enough training to sustain
in the real-life situation which makes it difficult for the Virginians to be provided with the best care (Gunn et al., 2019). The doctors would want to train the
nurses with appropriate measures and education to make them situation ready and improve the quality of care provided to the people. It has been observed that
nursing practitioners do not possess enough knowledge to be able to work independently under an organization leading to detrimental effects on the patients.
The scenario will remain the same in Virginia if there are no strict advocacies presented by the legislator and the nursing community. There will be a
communication gap among the nurses and the physicians which will impact the quality of care and reduce the efficiency of the healthcare professionals
towards the patients and their families. The compromise on the part of the nurse can impact the satisfaction rate among the family members and the patient
towards the healthcare organization and the doctors.
Idea for Addressing Solution
In no more than 200 words, outline your idea for addressing the issue and explain why legislation is the best course for advocacy.
As per the current laws in the state of Virginia, the issue is addressed by reducing the prevalence of independency among the nursing professionals and the
physicians by supporting the nurses and making a legislation to practice independently once they have five years of clinical expertise. This addressing of the
issue results in nurses working five years under a doctor supervision to learn the nuances of the profession. The hospital organizations are unaware of the
appropriate legislations that need to be passed to decrease its occurrence. The working hours of the nurses during the timespan of five years remains a critical
aspect of discussion. Under the supervision of the doctor, nurses are thought to invest substantial amount of time with proper learning and knowledge about
the profession. Legislations need to be passed to make sure no overtime is conducted and no exploitation of the professionals have been carried out. Overtime
of the healthcare professionals have been observed to be creating burnouts and increased resignation from their job. For optimum advocacy, legislations and
regulations are to be passed to increase efficiency of the system by reducing the prevalence of dissatisfaction among its employees.
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Research the Issue
Perform research and compile information for your idea. Present substantive evidence-based findings that support your idea for addressing the problem
(studies, research, and reports). Include any similar legislation introduced or passed in other states.
Evidence 1 As per the study conducted by Dillon and Gary in (2015), the state of Virginia restricts the
independency of nurses over the physicians with increased supervision and team-management to
provide patient centered care to the patient. The nursing professionals are less qualified with decreased
problem-solving skills to be given the opportunity to practice autonomously.
Evidence 2 Kurnat-Thoma, Ganger, Peterson & Channell, (2017), had conducted a study to understand the
prevalence of the burnout ratio and employee turnover rate among the nursing professionals due to the
overload of work. It was found that 28.8% to 49% of the resignations have been obtained from nurses
who have been new to the organization with less than a year of practice in the domain. An intervention
of programs to increase the welcoming attitude of the organization towards the new hires have been
observed to decrease the turnover rate to 18.4%.
Stakeholder Support
Discuss the stakeholders who would support the proposed idea and explain why they would be in support.
Stakeholder(s) Supporting 1 The occupational therapists will be supporting the advocacy that is proposed to favor the nursing
professionals. There would be open access to the clinical practice of the nurses. For the supervision, the
occupational therapists can come in handy while promoting the care being provided to the patients in
the clinic.
Stakeholder Opposition
Discuss the stakeholders who would oppose the proposed idea. Explain why they would be in opposition and how you would prepare to debate or converse
about these considerations.
Stakeholder(s) Opposed 1 The doctors will oppose the advocacy that have been proposed to be implemented to incorporate the
autonomy of nursing professionals into the healthcare system. They will be unable to work with the
nurses after five years of clinical expertise in the domain. The doctors will face a loss in the area of help
by the nurses as they will be imparting necessary education and training but then they will not be
thinking of a long-term connection with the doctors.
Stakeholder(s) Opposed 2 The hospital administration will oppose the advocacy as there will be a shortage of nurses after five
years in the hospital that is run by them. The nurses will open their own clinic with collaboration with
physicians supporting their autonomy with the best care for the patients with advanced technology. This
will reduce the usage of the hospital which will incur losses to them.
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Financial Incentives/Costs
In no more than 200 words, summarize the financial impact for the issue and the idea (added costs, cost savings, increased revenue, etc.). Provided support.
The issue that is observed in the state of Virginia, impacts the financial stability of the organization as well as the nurses. When the legislation is incorporated
into the healthcare system, the nursing professionals will face increased financial burden of opening up their own clinic with the best and advanced technology
to improve the satisfaction among the patients. The hospital will face a severe loss on the financial data for years as the recruitment of nurses have to be
increased with better job retention facilities (Smith, 2016). However, the nursing professionals will be gaining advanced knowledge which enhances their
capability to provide the patient with the best care and make appropriate decision-making in situations where the physician is not present. There is a likeliness
of increased costs in the treatment and diagnosis of the illness of the patient which will be incurred by the healthcare insurance provider.
Legislature: Information Needed and Process for Proposal
Discuss the how to advocate for your proposal using legislation. Include the following:
Provide the name and complete contact information
for the legislator.
Mr Mark J. Peake
District: 22
Party: R
District Phone: (434) – 4553382
Email Address: [e-mail]
Describe the steps for how you would present this to
your legislator.
In the official website of the senate, send a message for the legislation which needs to be introduced.
The staff of the Senate will be understanding the importance of the bill and will introduce it. The bill
will be assigned a number and sent to eleven committees under the Senate.
Outline the process if your legislator chooses to
introduce your idea as a bill to congress.
Hearing will be held for the people to testify either for or against the bill with possibilities of an
amendment. The approved bill arrives back to the Senate where it is read or printed in the calendar
three times (Jenkins, 2016). After it has been passed by the House of Delegates and The Senate, it is
passed to the Governor who goes through it and finally passes it.
Christian Principles and Nursing Advocacy
In no more than 200 words, discuss how principles of a Christian worldview lend support to legislative advocacy in health care without bias. Be specific as to
how these principles help advocate for inclusiveness and positive health outcomes for all populations, including those more vulnerable, without regard to
gender, sexual orientation, culture, race, religion/belief, etc.
The Bible contains a number of principles that encircle around performing well and create an environment of welfare for the people. In the Christian
worldview, the principles aim to create a common good for the people and performing it to maintain a healthy environment. This can be achieved by
practicing the ethics of nursing by serving the patients irrespective of their gender, sexual orientation, culture, race, religion, values and beliefs. For the
legislative advocacy to be made into a bill in the law for the nurses and medical professionals, the common good for nurses and the patients are an integral part
that need to be implemented into the system of healthcare. In the healthcare sector, there has to be implications of a common good for the medical
professionals as well as the patients as the care being provided should be accessible by the larger community as well as vulnerable groups.
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References:
Dillon, D., & Gary, F. (2017). Full practice authority for nurse practitioners. Nursing administration quarterly, 41(1), 86-93.
Gunn, V., Muntaner, C., Ng, E., Villeneuve, M., Gea‐Sanchez, M., & Chung, H. (2019). The influence of welfare state factors on nursing professionalization and
nursing human resources: A time‐series cross‐sectional analysis, 2000–2015. Journal of Advanced Nursing.
Jenkins, S. (2016). The context of legislating: Constraints on the legislative process in the United States. Routledge.
Kurnat-Thoma, E., Ganger, M., Peterson, K., & Channell, L. (2017). Reducing Annual Hospital and Registered Nurse Staff Turnover—A 10-Element Onboarding
Program Intervention. SAGE Open Nursing, 3, 237796081769771.
Smith, V. A. (2016). Nursing student attrition and implications for pre-admission advisement. Journal of Nursing Education, 29(5), 215-218.
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