Built for Advocacy.

Abstract

Advocacy is a lever for positive change and is most effective and satisfying when used proactively. It is also one of nurses' superpowers and desperately needed outside health care settings, especially in the policy arenas of local, state, and federal government. Despite nurses' being the largest segment of the health care workforce, their voices are often missing from crucial conversations about access to care, health inequities, and upstream problems affecting people's health. Short of being the policy makers themselves, the best way for nurses to affect these decisions is to build and use influence with policy makers. There are concrete steps that nurses can take to grab a seat at the table.