Introduction
It is worth admitting that medical professionals are not the only people who can promote better population health. Politicians also bear responsibility for this process because they can affect the issue administratively. Relevant laws, regulations, and other legal documents can significantly influence how care is delivered to people. That is why it is impossible to overestimate the role of US presidents and their administrations in addressing multiple healthcare problems. The president is the head of government, meaning that this political figure has the power to solve the existing problems. However, various preferences, political agendas, economic conditions, and others result in the fact that presidents can differently address the same issues. The paper’s purpose is to identify how Donald Trump, Barack Obama, and George Bush approached the opioid crisis, explain which administration succeeded with the issue, and mention why nurses should participate in healthcare agenda setting.
Agenda Comparison
The Population Health concern and the factors that contribute to it
The opioid crisis is a significant problem that adversely affects the population’s health. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (2021), the issue emerged in the late 1990s when pharmaceutical companies insisted that patients would not have an addiction to opioid pain relievers. Thus, healthcare professionals start actively prescribing these drugs, which led to the fact that more than 47,000 individuals died from an opioid overdose in 2017 (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2021). That is why it is reasonable to consider how different presidents approached the problem.
The administrative agenda focus related to this issue for the current and two previous presidents
President Trump
Trump declared the opioid crisis a national emergency, meaning that sufficient attention was necessary to address the issue. Achenbach et al. (2017) admit that Trump and his administration were ready to use all emergencies and other resources to manage the crisis. For example, it refers to removing some bureaucratic barriers to allow state authorities to choose more appropriate responses.
President Obama
Obama’s term in office is often associated with his failure to address the problem of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid. In 2010, the issue was not acute, and Obama did little to manage opioid abuse (Barlas, 2017). In 2015, the Obama administration announced its 107-page National Drug Control Strategy, where a single sentence was only devoted to fentanyl (Higham et al., 2019).
President Bush
Bush is considered one of the high-ranking officials who are responsible for the opioid crisis. The rationale refers to the fact that a memo highlighting a dramatic increase in opioid addiction was announced in 2006 (Ehley, 2019). Instead of taking appropriate action to address the problem, Bush contributed to the epidemic. His administration nullified Clinton’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulation to reduce workplace injuries (Ryan, 2019). The absence of this regulation resulted in many painful injuries that were treated using opioids.
The allocations of financial and other resources that the current and two previous presidents dedicated to this issue
President Trump
According to the Healio Primary Care Today (2019), the Trump administration allocated $350 million to help hospitals and universities address the problem. Firefighters, police officers, and paramedics were equipped with naloxone, an anti-overdose drug, to ensure that drug addicts can obtain immediate assistance in case of overdoes, which can save their lives (Achenbach et al., 2017).
President Obama
In 2016, the 21st Century Cures Act was passed, and it allocated $1 billion to promote treatment access, reduce opioid overdose deaths, and others (Barlas, 2017). That step implied that states should have received monetary assistance depending on how severe they suffered from the problem.
President Bush
However, representatives of the Bush administration stipulated that some measures were taken. Thus, John Walters, the agency’s director, admitted that the steps were behind the scenes, including the development of a pilot program to improve screening and treatment access (Ehley, 2019).
How each of the presidential administrations approached the issue
President Trump
The Trump administration took an active role in addressing the crisis. It established a specific goal “to reduce overdose by 40% over 3 years” (Healio Primary Care Today, 2019, para. 1).
President Obama
Obama failed to draw sufficient attention to the opioid crisis. Even though the problem was not so acute when he entered the office, it does not absolve him from responsibility. The rationale is that Obama ignored the Drug Enforcement Administration’s alert about the threat of fentanyl (Highham et al., 2019).
President Bush
Irrespective of the statements above, there is no evidence that the Bush administration took specific efforts to approach the opioid crisis. As a result, the problem kept developing and turned into an epidemic affecting millions of people and causing thousands of deaths.
Agenda Comparison Analysis
The administrative agency most likely helping to address the healthcare issue
President Trump
It seems that the Trump administration is the most suitable to address the opioid crisis. The rationale is that Trump declared the crisis a national emergency and took appropriate steps to solve the problem.
President Obama
It could be possible to rely on the Obama administration in its late years in office. It was the time when the president understood the importance of the problem and was ready to take some action.
President Bush
The Bush administration is the least suitable because Bush did not admit that the opioid crisis existed. However, it is worth acknowledging Bush should be considered more responsible because his administration’s timely response could have prevented the current situation.
How the selected healthcare issue might get on the agenda for the current and two previous presidents
President Trump
The Trump administration was forced to respond to the opioid crisis because thousands of Americans were dying from drug overdose every year. Thus, the government should have addressed the issue to protect the population.
President Obama
The Obama administration witnessed the development of the crisis, but it failed to draw sufficient attention to that process. An increasing number of opioid-addicted individuals predicted the future problem.
President Bush
Bush saw the first signs of the ongoing crisis, but he failed to act on them. Thus, the absence of adequate response has made the opioid crisis topical today.
The entrepreneur/champion/sponsor of the healthcare issue for the current and two previous presidents
President Trump
It does not seem that Trump required any external assistance or motivation to respond to the problem. The President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis provided him with the required information.
President Obama
Tom Frieden would be a suitable champion of the healthcare issue because he was the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2011. Frieden emphasized the need to address the issue of opioid overdose (Ehley, 2019).
President Bush
I would cooperate with Karl Rove to promote the issue of the opioid crisis. This politician was Senior Advisor during the Bush administration, meaning that he could shape the political agenda.
Narrative
The information above has revealed that the opioid crisis is essential. Since 2017 alone witnessed 47,000 deaths as a result of opioid overdose, there is no doubt that it is necessary to address the problem (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2021). Simultaneously, it is worth admitting that the issue has a rich history because the first acute signs of the crisis started appearing approximately 15 years ago. However, the presidents who were witnessing the rise of the problem, including the Bush and Obama administrations, failed to respond adequately to the problem (Ehley, 2019). That approach resulted in the fact that the scale of the crisis kept increasing, which has led to the current problems. That is why there is no doubt that the legislative agenda should address the opioid crisis to improve the population’s health.
Furthermore, it is reasonable to comment on why the nurse should actively participate in agenda-setting for healthcare issues. Firstly, Milstead and Short (2019) stipulate that nurses should control the practice of care delivery. This statement refers to the fact that these medical professionals are in direct contact with patients, meaning that they know what specific improvements the population requires. Secondly, O’Rourke et al. (2017) admit that nurses should involve in agenda-setting to secure affordable and high-quality care. The rationale behind this statement is that nurses have sufficient knowledge and skills that allow them to understand what changes are necessary to make the healthcare industry better. Finally, Milstead and Short (2019) insist that nurses should participate in policymaking processes because they can be the first to notice any new health issues that affect the population. Thus, the involvement of these medical professionals in agenda setting increases the possibility that a timely response will occur.
Conclusion
The paper has demonstrated that the opioid crisis is a significant problem for the United States. The agenda comparison grid has revealed that three US presidents are associated with the situation. Thus, George Bush witnessed the crisis emerged, but his administration failed to address this issue. Barack Obama only took some measures during his last year in office, while Donald Trump was the most active in responding to the crisis. Finally, the paper concludes that nurses play an essential role in agenda-setting. These medical professionals have the required knowledge and skills to ensure that appropriate legislative measures are present to improve the healthcare industry and the population’s health.
References
Achenbach, J., Wagner, J., & Bernstein, L. (2017). Trump says the opioid crisis is a national emergency and pledges more money and attention. Washington Post. Web.
Barlas, S. (2017). US and states ramp up response to the opioid crisis. Pharmacy & Therapeutics, 42(9), 569-571, 592.
Ehley, B. (2019). Federal scientists warned of the coming opioid crisis in 2006. Politico. Web.
Healio Primary Care Today. (2019). Clinicians have mixed opinions about the Trump administration’s newest plan to fight the opioid crisis. Web.
Higham, S., Horwitz, S., & Zezima, K. (2019). The fentanyl failure. The Washington Post. Web.
Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2021). Opioid overdose crisis. Web.
O’Rourke, N. C., Crawford, S. L., Morris, N. S., & Pulcini, J. (2017). Political efficacy and participation of nurse practitioners. Policy, Politics, and Nursing, 18(3), 135-148. Web.
Ryan, D. L. (2019). Bush-era cut to workplace injury rules swung the door open to the opioid crisis. Boston Globe. Web.