Hello SPN Members,
I hope this month’s letter finds you well. It has been a challenging start to the year for my hometown of Los Angeles, which is beginning the recovery phase from a series of wildfires that devastated parts of our community. The immense social and health needs arising from this event, along with the arrival of a new administration in the White House, have me thinking quite a bit about the role that nurses play in advocacy – within their local communities, in their broader regions and states, and at the national level. Nurses are well-attuned to the needs of individuals, families, and populations within their communities, and they understand the impact that policy changes can have on access to the resources needed to ensure the health and well-being of patients and families, including safe housing and schools, a clean built environment that supports physical activity, nutritious food and clean drinking water, and regular visits with a trusted health care provider. When nurses use their professional voices to speak on behalf of our patients, families, and communities, we can be a powerful force for good, given the strength of our numbers and the trust that the public at large places in nursing.
I encourage each of you to identify ways to engage in advocacy as part of your professional role as a pediatric registered nurse. There are so many opportunities for advocacy – certainly, you advocate daily for individual patients and families, but what would it look like to extend that advocacy beyond the individual/family level and out into your community? Your local city council or county board of supervisors need to hear from you as they make health and healthcare-related decisions for your community. You can attend a council meeting to offer commentary or give a presentation that helps to advocate for needed services or supports in your community. Your hospital or healthcare organization likely has a community/government affairs office that could benefit from your engagement. The members of that office rely on hearing from practicing clinicians to understand and contextualize new legislation and to effectively advocate for the needs of the organization and its staff. SPN has an active Healthcare Policy and Advocacy Committee, comprised of SPN members with a passion for advocacy. This committee exists to help SPN members stay up to date with current issues and their impact on pediatric nursing and the care of the children, youth, and families we serve, and they’re always eager to hear from members who have a concern or otherwise want to connect. The American Nurses Association (ANA) also has a strong advocacy arm, and they have multiple opportunities year-round for engagement in their advocacy work, ranging from sending letters to your federal and state representatives to attendance at the annual ANA Hill Day, where you can go to Washington, DC, to meet with representatives and discuss issues of importance to the profession of nursing. There are so many ways to be engaged, and your voice as a registered nurse will be needed as we enter a period of political change and reshaping of government priorities. We must ensure that the needs of the diverse group of children, youth, and families we are honored to serve remain well-known and accounted for amidst this change, and it’s up to us to give voice to those needs and the ways in which they can best be met.
