A Doctor of Nursing Practice student reflects on her experience learning how to advocate for health policy.
Since being in an evidence-based health policy class at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, I had the opportunity to win the Association of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Nurses’ (APHON) Nurse in Washington Internship (NIWI) scholarship.
I was supposed to attend NIWI in spring 2020, but sadly it was canceled due to the pandemic. Fortunately, I was able to attend NIWI virtually in 2021. NIWI was a great foundational experience and I learned so much. After attending, I was eager to get more involved with advocacy within APHON, so I became a member of their advocacy committee.
It has been wonderful being able to use my voice to advocate for my pediatric patients and their families and the the nursing workforce and to help enhance APHON’s advocacy agenda in Congress. Besides being the voice for our membership, the committee also has a goal of educating more nurses on what advocacy is and how they can get involved as well.
On Sept. 17, the advocacy committee and I had the opportunity to present for the first morning session in the main ballroom at APHON’s annual conference. We gave a presentation on the importance of advocacy in nursing and how to deliver a legislative ask/elevator pitch. We had over 200+ pediatric hematology and oncology nurses in attendance (both live and virtually), and it was an amazing experience to share our work and help other nurses gain the tools and confidence to advocate for APHON’s priorities both nationally and locally.
We even heard feedback from one of the global scholarship winners about how meaningful the advocacy general session was for him. He is from Ghana and said even though his government is structured differently the principles he learned can be used.
The role of nurse as a clinical advocate is natural. Yet, nursing advocacy should not be limited to clinical settings. As nurses we are expert health care providers who are well positioned to advocate for policies and practices that promote and encourage health. We can make an impact! I couldn’t have done this without the scholarly knowledge I gained in our Doctor of Nursing Practice program. THANK YOU.
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