Healthcare professionals are the key stakeholders in both policy formulation and evaluation. This is because they are directly involved in implementing the adopted policies. As such, healthcare professionals ought not to be as just caregivers but have a critical responsibility in contributing to advocacy. Nurses therefore have a role and must be given a chance in the creation and enforcement of health policies. Through their actions during policy formulation and evaluation, healthcare professionals influence the current and future welfare of healthcare. During health policy formulation, healthcare professionals examine the content of the policy, implement the policy and also assess the impact of the policy. To ensure that there is an appropriate healthcare policy, Anders (2021) indicates that nurses need to be well informed and to have the capacity to speak with authority across every aspect of the health policy process. When healthcare professionals are effectively involved in the policy evaluation process, they offer insights that would be helpful in improving the design and implementation of the individual policies and hence contributing to the prosperity of the healthcare system. Health policy is a tool that nurses must utilize to improve the safety and quality of healthcare. I would, however, wish to explain that nurses ought to possess essential skills on policy evaluation for them to determine if the policy is effective or not. According to Hajizadehet al. (2021) insufficient knowledge and skills on evaluation of policy and insufficient knowledge on the health policy formulation guidelines are barriers to the nurses’ participation in health policy making. What are some of the factors that could improve the involvement of nurses in policy formulation and evalution in your facility?

Reference

Anders R. L. (2021). Engaging nurses in health policy in the era of COVID-19. Nursing forum, 56(1), 89–94. https://doi.org/10.1111/nuf.12514

Hajizadeh, A., Zamanzadeh, V., Kakemam, E., Bahreini, R., & Khodayari-Zarnaq, R. (2021). Factors influencing nurses participation in the health policy-making process: A systematic review. BMC Nursing, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-021-00648-6