Teaching Health Care Policy and Advocacy: Effective Strategies

“Independent practice” is a reality for nurse practitioners who work in only nineteen states, including Washington, D.C.  Despite the recent additions to this roster by Hawaii, Maryland, North Dakota and Vermont, the remaining states that require mandated supervisory or collaborative agreements for NP practice continue to face stiff opposition to making independent practice the standard throughout the nation. Furthermore, equitable reimbursement for NP services continues to elude our profession.  Many NPs perceive the opposition to changing practice acts or reimbursement policies of government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid to be so insurmountable that there seems to be a collective resignation to accept these inequities as a simple fact of life.  Despite ongoing pleas by the leaders of state and national NP organizations that their members visit legislators to advocate changes in state legislation (e.g., practice acts) and federal legislation (e.g., Medicare), a majority of NPs appear apprehensive to exert this basic right of citizenship.  This apparent lack of political will among NPs is often viewed as “apathy” by organizational leaders or, at the very least, a widespread lack of empowerment throughout the general NP community.  At University of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois, the premise is that NPs—including most NP faculty—simply lack the very basic skills required for political advocacy, including knowledge of the basic structure of government, the law-making process, and effective grassroots efforts. This presentation offers a concise, yet detailed, outline of how to craft engaging and interactive classroom or online courses at both the MSN and DNP level that will prepare students to enthusiastically and energetically advocate for their profession.