Thoughts About Health Policies

Abstract

This essay is about health policies. Included are the definition of health policy, the descriptions of the concepts of a conceptual model of nursing and health policy, and examples of various sources of health policies. A central thesis of this essay is that practice guidelines are largely unrecognized as health policies. This thesis provides the connection between the abstract idea of a health policy and what is done in nursing practice. The essay concludes with examples of research questions about nursing and health policies.

Health and Nursing Policies: Word Choice and Crafting Policies With Unique Nursing Knowledge

“…There has been much written about the importance of utilizing unique nursing knowledge in the development or crafting of policies that are focused on nursing and health (Alligood & Miles, 2011; Aronowitz & Fawcett, 2015; Fawcett, 2022; Musker & Kagan, 2011; Ortiz, 2018; Parse, 2007). Crafting a policy is an exercise in skillfully utilizing words to convey a specific meaning about an issue.…”

More Thoughts About Health Policies: Focus on Conceptual Models

“…One way in which the members of the discipline can advocate for health policies is to understand and recognize that clinical practice guidelines are considered health policies (Fawcett, 2022). In this essay, I describe how various nursing conceptual models not developed to focus explicitly on health policies can be used to guide health policy development, analysis, evaluation, and research, with the understanding that some health policies are clinical practice guidelines.…”