Nurses are perhaps the last people that one would expect to be activist in nature. After all, nurses are defined as caring assistants in the medical profession whose job is limited to assisting the patient and doctor in their needs. In reality though, nurses are the ones who administer the most basic medical care to the patients and are the first in line to see the patients troubles. So, it is but natural for nurses to have a social, economic, and political feel regarding patient related issues.
It is wrong to assume that patient care is solely a medical issue because all of the factors that contribute to the existence of the problem range from social, economic, and political reasons. It is a chain reaction of the aforementioned situations and beliefs that have caused at least 13% of Canadian to be unable to afford proper healthcare. Nurses are on the frontline in regards to these issues because they are most often tasked to admit patients and fill our patient information forms.
Nurses therefore know the pain and heartache of having to turn away patients who need the care badly but cannot afford to pay for it. What turns nurses in “activists” in such cases is the fact they know they can help the patient and they want to help but are tied down by rules and regulations that are not beneficial to the people they have sworn their lives to care for. But, this is not to say that nurses have their hands tied with regards to the issue.
History has shown us that there was a time in Canadian nursing history when nurses banded together for the good of their patients who did not have permanent homes and therefore could not afford to get a replacement insurance card if they lose their existing ones. They did by gathering accurate data, making a plausible plan of action, and lobbying the law making bodies to sponsor and pass their suggestion in to law. More importantly, the nurses learned to use the most important weapon in an activists arsenal, that of the media.
Combine those two with the creation of public support and the direct involvement of the patients concerned and politicians always respond to the needs of the people. If we are to study the matter more closely, we will come to realize that nurses are actually fulfilling their oath to care for their patients in the best way they know how by advocating their patients rights. These so called activist nurses stand up and speak up for those patients who are basically ignored by the government and HMO’s. In the end, it is the strong desire of nurses to have all their patients treated fairly that move them to become activists for their cause.