Elevating the Voice of Nursing Leadership

Abstract

As we began planning for AONL Advocacy Day during the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, we expected record attendance at AONL’s annual event in Washington, DC. What a great opportunity to raise the profile of nursing and increase legislators’ understanding of nursing’s impact in advancing health! Registration substantially outpaced all prior years. Then on January 21, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first United States case of the novel coronavirus that had already taken 6 lives in China,¹ changing life in this country as we know it. As this pandemic changed the way we deliver care, it has also changed the way legislators interact with their constituents.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced members of Congress and their offices to communicate with constituents in old and new ways. Virtual town hall meetings replaced in-person events. The closure of legislative offices meant e-mail and social media became the preferred means of communication to hear from constituents. To adapt, AONL transformed its annual advocacy event into a virtual advocacy experience. Throughout the first week of June, AONL held a series of webinars to prepare nurse leaders to effectively advocate for the inclusion of nursing’s priorities (Figure 1 ) in COVID 4.0 legislation and FY 2021 appropriations.

Figure 1.

Legislative Priorities for Nursing During the Pandemic.

Highlights and Challenges

On June 4, nurse leaders sent more than 150 personalized e-mails and social media messages to their federal legislators requesting increased funding for nursing education and workforce infrastructure programs; for support services that promote clinician resiliency and mental health; and to expand the ability of providers to use telehealth. Nurse leaders illustrated the need for funding these priorities by sharing stories from their health organization, showing how clinicians cared for COVID-19 patients and how funding will help their teams heal from the effects of this crisis. Funding also is crucial to prepare the nursing workforce for future events.

How do you build a sense of excitement, elevate the voice of nursing leadership, and help participants understand how their personal experiences relate to the complex legislative issues included in AONL’s request of Congress? These are the challenges AONL faces every year as it prepares nurse leaders for advocacy day. A virtual advocacy day presented the additional challenge of addressing all these issues without face-to-face interaction.

Importance of Social Media

Social media is a valuable tool to create awareness and allow people to engage. AONL and advocacy day participants used it differently this year. Previously, participants primarily used digital media to post pictures of their Capitol Hill meetings, tagging legislators to say thank you for meeting with them. This year, AONL used social media to generate excitement and garner participation in the weeks leading up to advocacy day. AONL developed a social media toolkit complete with graphics and sample tweets participants could use to engage with their legislators on social media and elevate the voice of nursing leadership online by using #AONLAdvocacy and #NurseLeaders.

As we move past the pandemic, it is important to incorporate the lessons learned from AONL’s first virtual advocacy day. We hope to have face-to-face meetings in the future, but we also understand the importance of a multipronged advocacy strategy. Social media and traditional letter writing are equally important tools to incorporate into our evolving strategy for engaging nurse leaders in health policy and civic engagement.

It is critical that legislators hear directly from nurse leaders on the pandemic frontline about the issues facing our patients, our nurses, and our health care organizations. Below, read the experience of a nurse executive, Rosa Hickey, who has attended AONL Advocacy Day for the past 5 years.

Participant Perspective

May 15, 2019

More than 125 nurse leaders are visiting Washington, DC today. We have assigned seating based upon our home state. I am sitting at a table surrounded by my colleagues from Pennsylvania. We just heard a briefing on AONL’s advocacy agenda and education session preparing us to meet with our legislators. We are advocating for legislation supported by the larger nursing community—reauthorizing and funding nursing workforce development programs and increasing access to care.

I am invigorated. I always feel this way during and after AONL Advocacy Day. As we proceed to Capitol Hill, we walk with a sense of purpose and pride. We are scheduled to meet with our senators and the members of Congress representing the congressional districts where my colleagues and I reside and work. We attend these meetings as a group and represent many areas in our state. We follow the guidelines we learned about during the morning education session. We take turns delivering talking points. The elected officials and/or staffers ask us questions specific to what this issue looks like in Pennsylvania. This gives us the opportunity to add depth to AONL’s request and localize the issue.

Storytelling is so important to effective advocacy. I am struck by the genuine interest from elected officials and staff. The issues become real when you can tell a story showing how their constituents are impacted by policy.

This experience has taught me that an in-person meeting is the beginning of an essential dialogue and relationship with my legislators. Upon returning home, I e-mailed the staffers I met with, thanking them for their time, reiterating my “ask,” and offering myself as an educational resource on nursing and patient care issues.

June 5, 2020

Yesterday, I participated in AONL’s first virtual advocacy day. I was disappointed when AONL canceled the Washington, DC event, but was grateful there was still an opportunity to join my colleagues in advocating for our patients and nursing teams. Rather than speaking to congressional staff, I delivered the same message through e-mail to my members of Congress. I hope the future will afford us the opportunity to be together in Washington, DC next year. However, our voices were heard! Unity is our path forward.

Biography

Stacey Chappell is director, advocacy and external communication at AONL, Chicago, Illinois. She can be reached at schappell@aha.org. Pamela B. Edwards, EdD, MSN, RN, CENP, is assistant vice president, education, practice and research, Duke University Health System, Durham, North Carolina. Rosa Hickey, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, is director, patient care services and chief nursing officer, WellSpan Surgery and Rehabilitation Hospital, York, Pennsylvania. Christian Lawson, MBA, BSN, RN, is director of emergency services, University of North Carolina Medical Center, Chapel Hill.