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The
population is aging, managed care all too often puts the bottom
line ahead of patient welfare, and nurses have long served as
advocates for their patients. While we continue in this vital
role we also must learn to organize, get involved, and speak out
together as advocates of Nursing as a profession. Now more than
ever the future of nursing depends upon us. We must find our
collective voice and change the common perception of nursing,
debunk the media's portrayal of nurses as unimportant
"doctor's helpers", and educate the public, as well as
prospective students to the realities of professional nursing-
that nurses play a critical role in patient care and treatment,
that Nurses are intelligent and extremely well educated, and
that the career is a dynamic profession. As Nurse Advocates we
have to work together to improve patient care issues, safe
standards of practice, safe staffing laws, reasonable workloads,
mandatory overtime regulation and better wages. We must take an
active role in taking charge and shaping the future of our
profession.
"Of
all forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most
shocking and inhumane." - Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Recommended Nursing Advocacy Web Sites
- Barry Adams
Situation- Barry Adams was a Massachusetts Registered
Nurse who, in acting upon his statutory obligations as a
patient advocate reported unsafe conditions at his
workplace. In response, he was terminated. [Whistleblower
Protection Issue]
- Big Apple Health
Care Advocacy-Exceptionally informative site filled with
nursing and health advocacy articles, references &
alerts related to New York and nationwide.
- California
Advocates For Nursing Home Reform-Data on nursing
facilities, consumer news, publications, legal resources
& more.
- California
Nursing Association-This group of nurses is among the
nations most active patient and nursing advocates. The site
is feature rich with information, news, nurse alerts,
patient watch, union information and articles.
- Center
for Nursing Advocacy- Nurses working to promote a better
understanding of Nursing. The Center tells the media and the
public what nurses really do, analyzes the media's treatment
of nurses and organizes them to respond, helping nurses
stand together to end harmful depictions and encourage good
ones.
- Common Cause-Healthcare
Advocacy Organization working to end special interest
politics and reform government ethics.
- Diabetics Unite Homepage-Pushing
for a cure for Diabetes, not just contol of the disease,
this advocacy organization's site is packed with insightful
articles, diabetes cure research information & other
useful links of use to patients as well as
professionals.
- Disability
Rights Education & Defense Fund-National law and
policy center dedicated to protecting and advancing the
civil rights of people with disabilities through
legislation, litigation, advocacy, technical assistance, and
education and training of attorneys, advocates, persons with
disabilities....
- HandsNet-
WebClipper is an inexpensive service that tracks the issues
you specify, such as health care, and delivers daily updates
directly to your email box. [Research Tool]
- Health
Advocate's Guide To The Internet-A full online manual
from the National Health Law Program, an extensive guide to
resources in Health Advocacy & search methods on the
net. [Research Tool]
- Health Care
News- The Heartland Institute's national monthly
outreach publication for free-market health care reform.
Articles available for online reading.
- National Health Law
Program-National public interest law firm that seeks to
improve health care for America's working and unemployed
poor, minorities, the elderly and people with disabilities.
Site has plenty of information about current health care
issues.
- Nurse Active-A
Canadian Home Page for Nurses Dedicated To Trade Unionism,
Social Justice and Political Action.
- Nurses And Human
Rights-The Nurse's role in Safeguarding Human Rights,
The Nurse's Role in the Care of Detainees and Prisoners,
Nurses and Torture...
- Patient
Advocates Speak Out About Unsafe Care & Whistle-blowing
Retribution-Article addresses the deteriorating state of
care in US hospitals, the cutbacks in RN's & increase in
UAP use and the spurious actions taken against RN's who have
reported harmful and dangerous staffing conditions.
- Patient
Watch-Excellent patient and nursing advocacy program of
the California Nursing Association. Very informative site.
- Revolution
Magazine-Revolution provides a voice for embattled
direct care nurses, presents an analytical spotlight on the
harsh consequences of health care restructuring and urges
nurses to act. Revolution is published by the California
Nurse's Association.
- RN Central-A
wonderful site featuring breaking advocacy news &
issues, forums & resources, Fran is the Georgia state
coordinator.
- From
Silence to Voice- What Nurses Know and Must Communicate
to the Public. A must-read for all nurses. The message is
one nurses need to hear: talk about your work, show the
world what you do, communicate the fact that nursing is
skilled, responsible and interesting work.
- The Invisible
Disabilities Advocate-In order to create a better
understanding of chronic, debilitating illness, IDA provides
informative pamphlets, a booklet, helpful links, a message
board, health books, nutritional information and much more.
- United
Food and Commercial Workers Union- Represents more than
100,000 nurses and other health care workers across America.
Through union representation, health care workers can
improve wages, expand benefits, foster professional
development, and finally, put the care back into the health
care industry.
- Whistleblower
Protection- List of states with pending or already
passed healthcare provider WHISTLEBLOWER legislation.
Want
To Take Action?
Write
Congress
Discover whom to write and pick up some useful tips on how to
get your point across. If you're not sure who your state and
federal government representatives are, you can easily look up
that information here.
Your letters to Washington can make a difference. Legislators rely on letters to find out what the people back home are thinking.
Guidelines to follow when writing your representatives.
Senate
Committees:
Committee
on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education
S128 Capitol Building
Washington, DC 20510
Committee
on Finance Subcommittee on Health Care
219 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Special
Committee on Aging
G31 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Senate
Committees:
Committee
on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education
2358 Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2358
Washington, DC 20515
Committee
on Veterans' Affairs
Subcommittee on Health
335 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Committee
on Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health
1136 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
For Additional Government Resources See: Federal
Agencies and Programs Involving Health Care
FEATURED SCHOOLS
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NURSING ADVOCACY
