The paper discusses the relevance of having knowledge in politics and legislation in current and future community health nursing practices. Politics and legislation affects directly and indirectly every profession such as engineers, accountants, teachers and doctors as well as the nurses. Most nurses do not want to be involved in politics or anything related to politics but it is a reality that politics and legislation affect the practices of nurses especially those who are practicing community health nursing.
Community health nursing is basically giving health care to the public or community in setting such as state health departments; visiting nurse services; community or neighborhood health centers; day care centers; and hospices (2001). Since they serve the public, the kind of health care they should provide depends on the health care law in a certain community.
The public health in a community is a collaborative role of legislators or the law-makers, health agencies and health care providers which include the nurses. It is the responsibility of health care providers to be responsive to community needs but it is the government’s role to provide the health care system needed by the nurses in giving health care. For example, a health center should provide immunization to children within the community. The nurses are the ones who will give immunization but it is the local government’s responsibility to provide the medicines and facilities needed for immunization.
The connection between politics, legislation and nurses is that legislation or law regulates nursing practices while the government reinforces and make such legislation to ensure that the nursing practices especially the community health nursing are followed for the benefit of the public.
The basic reason why nurses, like the teachers and doctors are regulated by law is to prevent malpractice and to ensure that they provide enough health care services. Like doctors, they can cure a person or they can make them ill and to address this issue, legislation provides guidelines on the practices, responsibilities and level of competency of community health nurses (2002). It also presents the rights of clients or groups in a health care setting. A community health nurse can not refuse giving health care to a certain group of people known to have a certain disease for example, leprosy, in the fear of acquiring that disease.
Legislation also ensures that nurses practices in a way that acknowledges the differences in beliefs and cultural practices of individuals, groups and communities (2002). Nurses must be aware that his culture might be different to the culture of the individual or the community. Some culture refuse taking a certain medicine and there are some who do not practice blood transfusion.
Politics and legislation is part of community health nursing practice not only today but especially in the future when new policies and law may be added to the current legislation. Nursing practices is that serious that it needed standards, regulations, and protocol set up by the legislation.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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