Nurses and Social Justice
Nurses are responsible for the treatment of people from a wide range of demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds. They must adhere to strict guidelines to ensure effective care delivery and the promotion of health-care outcomes. The ANA code of ethics is one regulatory framework that nurses are obliged to follow, and one provision is to express nursing ideals and integrate diverse social justice ideas into practice and health policy (Olson & Stokes, 2016). The clause encourages all nurses to collaborate through their various organizations to shape public policies that influence care standards. The principle seeks to maintain the integrity of the nursing profession as care providers in their various cadres by encouraging active participation in the political and social circles in promoting favorable nursing agendas. According to Premji and Hatfield (2016), nurses are uniquely positioned to participate in various ways in improving the well-being of the community by progressively addressing any issues that hinder access to optimal care.
Nurses as Advocates
Nurses are the largest group of care providers who are in the forefront in establishing connections with the patients at the clinical and community levels. Their role and positioning offer them the opportunity to understand the patients’ characteristics and problems affecting access and provision of care. They can then use their position and numbers through their nursing organizations to address regulatory and legislative issues through active advocacy (Olson & Stokes, 2016). Their participation integrates social justice into the nursing profession fostering improved public health and safety outcomes. These aspects under consideration include environmental issues that have an impact on public health, financial concerns that hinder access to health, and institutional factors that make it impossible to provide the desired care. The initiatives address social disparities in healthcare guided by other principles that encourage empathy and duty to their patients and the self.
References
Olson, L., & Stokes, F. (2016). The ANA code of ethics for Nurses with interpretive statements: Resource for nursing regulation. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 7(2), 9-20.
Premji, S., & Hatfield, J. (2016). Call to Action for Nurses/Nursing. BioMed Research International, 2016, 3127543.
