Nurses Involvement in Health Policy Related to Ebola

Nurses Involvement in Health Policy Related to Ebola
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Nurses’ Involvement in Health Policy Related to Ebola
Given the complexity of modern health systems, nurses should be given an opportunity to contribute more in health policy management and planning. Contingent issues relating to emerging health challenges such as those created by Ebola require inclusive involvement of all actors in the healthcare sector. The outbreak of Ebola in West Africa came with an added burden for nurses who were forced to mount the main care response. In essence, it is the nurses who shouldered the burden of wearing protective suits to be able to offer oral nutrition and intravenous hydration among other supportive care services (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2014). Yet, nurses remain highly sidelined when it comes to making and maintaining healthcare policies.
In relation to contagious situations as the one presented by Ebola, nurses should be allowed a chance to shape personal protection and national care guidelines and protocols (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2014). In essence, nurses, through their representative bodies should be included in all processes of decision making and policy formulation in an effort to tap into their field experiences and their general skills so as to improve health outcomes. Nurses should also be empowered to educate the public on matters related to the disease so as to eliminate incidences such as public panic and which are related to miscommunication and lack information (WHO, 2010). By allowing nurses to take part in policy related debates, and to chip in what they know about the disease, not only will nurses become informative to the public, but also to their co-policy makers who most of the time rely on unconfirmed information when formulating policies.
Nurses play an important role in driving the success of the healthcare system. In this context, nurses should be gr...