When I first began the course "Health Care Policy and Politics", I wondered to myself, "What do politics really have to do with health care?" It didn't take me long to realize that politics have more to do with health care than I had ever previously imagined.
One of the course assignments involved writing about " The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act". Although I already knew that some people were supportive of this bill and others were vehemently opposed to it, I did not understand how this new law affects health care. As I completed the necessary research to compose my paper, it became clear to me that this particular policy has far reaching implications for health care. I discovered that the PPACA is likely to place increased demand for health care workers, especially primary care providers, in order to care for the influx of newly insured Americans.

Most of us know that government has a great deal of control over Medicare and Medicaid funding, which is very important to states with a heavy load of seniors and disadvantaged citizens that require increasing amounts of care. However, I did not realize that the legislation controls virtually every aspect of the care that is eligible for reimbursement, as well as the amount of reimbursement that they will cover. Not only does the government control certain aspects of payment, they also control aspects of nursing practice, such as the right of Nurse Practitioners to prescribe certain medications and the need for them to be supervised by physicians.

All of these topics showed me that it is important to be aware of current happenings in the legislation. Even better than being aware of what is happening, is actually getting involved. I learned that a great way to get involved in health care policy and politics is to join a professional nursing organization such as the Florida Nurse's Association and the American Nurses Association. I plan to join the ANA when my financial situation allows me to do so. These organizations provide a platform for the voices of many united nurses to be heard. In fact, in light of the recent "stethoscope" scandal highlighted in the media from "The View", I started wondering what would happen if nurses would unite about real problems that we face in health care instead of in response to a talk-show host's ignorant statements.