Nurses Asked to Spread Information on Healthcare Reform
Monday September 28, 2009
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Sources on Healthcare Reform
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, www.kff.org, has information on all proposals for healthcare reform. The site also has a tool at www.kff.org/healthreform/sidebyside.cfm, that allows users to line up the plans and compare them.
The AARP Web site, www.aarp.org, offers articles about how to distinguish healthcare reform myth from fact, and links to news articles.
The White House Web site includes a section on myths and facts about Obama’s healthcare proposals at www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck.
Full text of the House bill may be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.3200: and the Senate proposed legislation may be found at http://help.senate.gov/BAI09A84_xml.pdf.
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“The Obama administration recognizes the huge role that nurses play in teaching and engaging patients in dialogue,” says Mary K. Wakefield, RN, PhD, FAAN, head of the Health Resources and Services Administration. “The White House clearly knows that nurses are a go-to profession for care and for insight about healthcare reform. They recognize that nurses’ opinions are well respected by the American public and that nurses see the results of problems with healthcare every single day.”
In August, nearly 1,000 members of the American Nurses Association joined Wakefield and other White House officials on a conference call. The White House representatives asked nurses to help them explain the need for healthcare reform, using stories of what they have seen in their practice, whether in town hall meetings, with friends and neighbors, or in conversation with patients. The call was one of many meetings the administration is holding with nursing leaders and representatives on healthcare reform, according to Wakefield and Rebecca Patton, RN, MSN, CNOR, president of the ANA.
“We can’t afford to wait,” Patton says, explaining why the ANA believes nurses should actively support healthcare reform. “We really need to make this happen now. The cost of inaction is greater than action.”
But nurses’ support for reform, including Obama’s proposals, should not be unequivocal, says Lisa Sams, RNC, MSN, president of Clinical Linkages Inc., who works with organizations to help provide care using evidence-based practice. Nurses need to educate themselves on various healthcare reform issues and proposals, Sams says. But that includes asking questions about whether the proposals from the White House and Congress will adequately change the system, based on available evidence, she says.
“The issue of complexity of care cannot be understated,” Sams says. “None of this is simple.” Given the scope of the reform proposals, and the attempt to cover everyone and cut costs, she believes concerns about possible healthcare rationing are valid. Other questions nurses should be asking include: “Are we trying to do too much too soon? How will this affect clinical practice?” And, first and most important, she says, “What is the central and over-arching focus of this legislation? This legislation is really not about care delivery.”
Nurses should make up their own minds about healthcare reform, Wakefield says. But they should do so based on solid information rather than myths and false rumors. For example, the idea that healthcare reform would “kill old people” or includes “death squads” is completely false, and nurses need to be able to explain this to patients, colleagues, and members of their communities, she says.
“Dispelling the myths is one of the places that nursing leaders can play one of their most important roles,” Wakefield says.
Nurses should approach healthcare reform just as they would any other health concern, using assessment and critical thinking skills, Patton says. “The smartest thing for us to do as nurses is use our nursing skills when we talk to people” about healthcare reform.
First nurses should inform themselves, using their own experiences as well as information they have researched, she says. They should assess whether patients or community members are interested in having a conversation about healthcare reform, as well as whether the conversation is appropriate. Once a dialogue has been initiated, nurses can do the following, Patton says:
Listen to what patients, friends, and community members have to say about healthcare reform, including stories they have heard and fears of what might happen if healthcare reform is enacted.
Provide information from valid sources, including their own practice, to answer questions, clarify misconceptions, and help people make up their minds about healthcare reform.
Inform members of Congress about their positions on healthcare reform, identifying themselves as nurses, and back those positions up with their experiences and expertise.
Attend and host meetings to talk about healthcare reform and why it is important.
“It’s really about personal lobbying for our future,” Patton says. “Regardless of party affiliation, it’s an issue that affects all of us.”
For more on the role nurses might take under a reformed healthcare system, read “Healthcare Reform Needs You” in the September issue of Nurse.com — The Magazine, available at www.Nurse.com.
Cathryn Domrose is a staff writer at Gannett Healthcare Group.
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