When considering both internal and external politics and policies, their influence on academic nursing can be seen in each of its three dimensions: education, practice, and research. According to Olshansky, E. F. (2020), the nursing profession continues to embrace the rapid growth of knowledge and technology; however, it has not always directly resulted in positive outcomes for nursing education.
Resistance to change has been coexisting with progress for many decades. For instance, the development of policies supporting the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree as registered nurses’ entry into practice has been continuously discussed since the 1960s (Olshansky, 2020). More recently, there has been debate over the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree as the entry into practice for advanced practice nurses, which also indicates simultaneous advancement and resistance (Olshansky, 2020). Professional practice is shaped by educational programs, which, in turn, are shaped by policies.
In addition to that, nursing practice is a crucial factor in nursing academic programs. One of the most important elements for the study of the professional nursing role is the availability of clinical sites for students. Unfortunately, in some cases, current policies hamper students’ ability to work in clinical sites where they can learn to care for women who wish to have an abortion. Despite sufficient evidence on the safety of the practice, efforts continue to be made to restrict or ban abortion altogether and, therefore, to prevent nurses from receiving clinical training in abortion care (Olshansky, 2020). Such intervention with clinical practice sites is a direct result of politics-based policies.
Finally, nursing research is another major aspect of nursing academic programs. Academic programs might be facilitated or limited by research performed by nurse scholars. Until 2018, an amendment to the rule banning research on gun violence and gun safety prevented such research (Olshansky, 2020). The influence of health policy leaders over legislators to deem gun violence a public health issue is likely to result in more funding and fewer barriers to research on this topic. Moreover, funding agencies often complicate the study of particular topics. For example, the National Institutes of Health is less interested in funding research on abortion and contraception, in this way hindering or severely restricting nursing research in these areas. Therefore, research that is considered worth funding will affect the actual research performed in academic settings, and decisions about what is worth funding are based on politics and policies.
Reference
Olshansky, E. F. (2020). Policy and politics in nursing academia. In D. J. Mason, E. L. Dickson, G. A. Perez & M. R. McLemore (Eds.), Policy and politics in nursing and health care (8th ed., pp. 500-507). Elsevier Health Sciences.