Thoughts About Health Policy Content in Baccalaureate Nursing Programs

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Health Policy Analysis
• Public Health

Background:

• Baccalaureate nursing programs are crucial for preparing nurses in health policy.
• Existing curricula may not fully equip nurses with necessary policy knowledge and influence skills.
• A comprehensive framework is needed to analyze health policy content in nursing education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze health policy content in a baccalaureate nursing program using a combined conceptual model.
• To identify emphasized policy sources and the development of personal influence skills in nursing courses.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a framework combining the conceptual model for nursing and health policy with the Adams influence model.
• Analyzed course content focusing on policy emphasis and personal influence skill development.

Main Results:

• Course content predominantly focused on public health policy sources.
• Limited emphasis was found on organizational and professional policy sources.
• Development of personal influence skills was minimally addressed, with exceptions in communication and message articulation.

Conclusions:

• Nursing curricula require strengthening in health policy content, particularly regarding organizational/professional sources.
• Enhanced focus on developing nurses' personal influence skills is essential for policy engagement.
• Educators must adapt programs to better prepare nurses for policy advocacy and leadership.