Question for the Obama Administration: Where and How Will Nurses Fit In?

Most of us have come to believe that words like “lobbyists” and “special interest groups” denote corruption and back-room deals—unless the cause they are pushing is yours. In this case, you’ll be glad to know that the American Nurses Association has its lobbyists working hard for you in the halls of Washington’s legislative branch.

On November 19, the ANA submitted a statement at the Senate Finance Committee hearing on “Health Care Reform: An Economic Perspective.” The statement began softly by praising committee chairman Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana) for “putting forward a vision for health care reform that emphasizes the urgency for action in 2009.”

Then it lowered the hammer: The ANA noted that there was little mention of what role registered nurses would play in the future of providing health care in areas like prevention and screening, health education, cultural competency, chronic disease management, coordination of care and the provision of community-based primary care.

“Simply put,” the statement said, “access to coverage is not access to care.”

You can promise health insurance for everyone, the ANA posits, but who is going to deliver it?

“Registered nurses are fundamental to the critical shift needed in health services delivery, with the goal of transforming the current ‘sick care’ system into a true ‘health care’ system,” the ANA said. “Failure to address issues related to the delivery of care will strain the health infrastructure even more than it already is today.”

A related side note: I heard a piece on National Public Radio this morning in which the reporter cited a recent survey which found that, within the ranks of today’s medical students, only 2 percent say they want to enter the primary care field. It may be that nurse practitioners could pick up some of the slack left by young physicians who are fleeing to higher-paying (and not-so-needed) specialties.

So, will the senators and representatives listen to the people who really know the health care system and what needs to be done to assure that people are able to get the care they’ve been promised?

If legislators are as smart as they claim to be, they will.

If they don’t, they are turning a deaf ear to those who can best help them in what is going to be the humongous, complicated and difficult task of redesigning the health care system.

Do you think nurses are equipped to give advice to those who will be designing health care for the future?

What would you like to tell legislators about nurses’ roles for the future?

Tell us what you think.