12 American Nurse Today Volume 11, Number 9 AmericanNurseToday.com

Inside ANAFROM YOUR ANA PRESIDENT

WE ARE ENGAGED in a high-stakes profession—serv-ing on the frontlines as essential players throughout ourpatients’ healthcare journeys, and invariably the firstand last lines of defense for them and their families.

However, the stakes can be equally high on thebroader political and policy-making fronts, where ourcritical thinking, judgment, and advocacy are just as vital. Nurses’ voices can make a crucial difference incrafting and moving policy measures that are essentialto good nursing practice and quality health care, as wellas in electing government leaders who share our goals.

Recently, our activism helped pass federal legislationthat addresses the opioid epidemic in this country. ANAand our members advocated strongly for this measure,which in part will give nurse practition-ers with appropriate training the authori-ty to prescribe buprenorphine to patientswho desperately need this medication to overcome their opioid dependence.ANA also continues to help shape otherstrategies to fight the opioid crisisthrough our work with the White Houseand other stakeholders.

Another example of nurses’ politicaladvocacy in action centers on theprogress we are making to expand vet-erans’ access to timely, quality health-care—part of our longstanding, compre-hensive effort to bring advanced practicenursing care to patients. Working withour advanced practice registered nurse(APRN) partner organizations, ANA ral-lied nurses and other stakeholders tosubmit comments on a rule that would grant full prac-tice authority to APRNs employed in our nation’s Veter-ans Health Administration. The rule has received un-precedented attention and provided a great opportunityto educate the public and stakeholders about the impor-tance of patient access to APRNs. By the time the publiccomment period closed, the VA had received an as-tounding 177,000+ comments, with letters of supportcoming from the Federal Trade Commission, AmericanHospital Association, and AARP.

ANA’s annual Lobby Day also gives nurses an oppor-tunity to highlight our expertise and to speak out on is-sues of concern. This year’s event was no exception.

Nearly 350 participants made 250 visits to Congressionalleaders and staff, asking them to support legislation onsafe staffing, workforce education funding, increasedaccess to home healthcare benefits, and gun violenceprevention. Our virtual Lobby Day messages reached80,000 people on social media.

Another critical way we can make our voices countis by voting on November 8. Earlier this year, ANA en-dorsed Hillary Clinton for president based on the resultsof an online poll of ANA members and a thorough vetting process to determine how well the candidates’positions align with nursing’s agenda.

Although all elections are important, the outcomesof this year’s presidential race, as well as key Congres-

sional contests, could potentially changethe course of our nation in significantways. We need a president and congres-sional leaders who will make it a priori-ty to ensure our healthcare system ishigh quality, affordable, and accessi-ble—and who will support nurses intheir work to address the needs of everysegment of the population, includingthe most vulnerable.

We realize that for most nurses, timeis a precious commodity. But if we wantour voices to count, if we want to beseen as the experts and leaders we are,if we want to gain traction on issuesranging from safe staffing to workplaceprotections against infectious diseases,we need to engage in political advocacy.That advocacy can be done at the local,

state, or national level and in any form—be it a LobbyDay event, rally, tweet, email, or phone call. I also en-courage you to take a grand leap into the political ringby considering running for office. But what’s most im-portant is that you make your voice heard.

To learn more about how to get involved, go towww.RNaction.org. And please remember to vote onNovember 8.

Pamela F. Cipriano, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN President, American Nurses Association

Political advocacy: Apassion for shaping healthcare and our practice

Nurses gather at the Capitol forLobby Day.