Nurses are resources and educators to local legislators. Since it is a citizen led legislature, representatives can be pizza shop owners, lawyers, tech professionals or of any trade/profession and may know nothing about nursing. It is imperative that nurses have the ability and confidence to discuss and educate these representatives on the work of nurses and issues of importance to nursing and the public.

Therefore, speaking with local representatives requires some background knowledge. The ANA and your state’s professional nursing association such as the Florida Nurses Association, has many resources for the nurse when it comes to legislative advocacy. Having the support and knowledge of these issues is crucial.

Please review the educational resources located under the Week 8 Content Area to assist and guide you for this discussion. Then, complete and submit the following:

1. Choose a health or nursing related issue or area of concern in your community or state. This could include health concerns, environmental issues, nursing issues, or legislation of importance to nurses and the public.

2. Research the issue or bill and create an “elevator speech” or “pitch” of the issue (how it relates to the nursing profession, patient outcomes, and your support or nursing’s support for, or against, the issue.  Your “pitch” should be long enough to get your point across and include statements of evidence (about one minutes in length).

3. Find your local representatives and identify the committees they serve on, especially committees that are about healthcare and health policy.

In your discussion question response, present the issue and associated legislation (if applicable), the population affected, and possible strategies where nurses can have the greatest impact. Include your elevator speech and the local representative(s) you would present your elevator speech to. Better yet, video your speech right in this discussion! Don’t forget to reference any sources of your research. You will still need a scholarly nursing journal article per the discussion rubric.

So your post should look like this (Example)

Professor and Class:

The issue I chose to address is … ([present the issue and associated legislation (if applicable), the population affected, and possible strategies where nurses can have the greatest impact. This is where your text and journal article will be included].

My elevator speech:

Dear Congressman Smith,

I am writing to you today about Senate Bill ….. {make sure you present the bill or issue and make it clear what you want them to do like support a bill or vote no or provide more funding for the issue].

Here are some resources to get you started:

-American Nurses Association (ANA) Policy and Advocacy. Here you can find state legislative issues the ANA is promoting across the country.

http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/Policy-Advocacy

-American Nurses Association RNAction.org Here you can see all the current issues and action center information

-Florida Nurses Association-Advocacy https://www.floridanurse.org/page/Advocacy

Project Title 
Write the name of your project.

Project Description 
Describe the project and discuss the setting where the project took place.

Project Rationale Provide a justification for the selection of this project. Who will benefit and how will they benefit from this project (not including yourself)? What is the significance of the project, and how will it advance nursing science?

Personal/Professional Expectations 
As you established this project, what did you hope to gain from this project, both professionally and personally.

Project Goals 
Succinctly describe the long-and short-term goals of your project.

Analysis of the Literature

Your overview should  include a brief review of the existing research on your topic and a discussion comparing this research to your project focus. How did your project  meet the gaps in existing nursing knowledge?

Procedure 
Describe how you carried out the project.

Findings
What were the results of the project?  What feedback did you receive from your stakeholders? 

Assignment Expectations

Length: A minimum of 1500 words; answers must thoroughly address the points in a clear, concise manner.

Structure: Include a title page and reference page in APA style. These do not count towards the minimum word count for this assignment.

References: Use the appropriate APA style in-text citations and references for all resources utilized to answer the questions. Include at least three (3) scholarly sources to support your claims.

Format: Save your assignment as a Microsoft Word document (.doc or .docx).