American Public Health Association 134th Annual Meeting Session

1
American Public Health Association 134th
Annual Meeting Session 4282.0 Tuesday, November
7, 2006
Changes in political astuteness following a
graduate course in health systems and
policy Janet Primomo, PhD, RN
jprimomo_at_u.washington.edu

• Findings
• Items with the greatest change included
• knowing the legislative committees that deal
  with health-related issues
• knowing the process by which a bill is
  introduced in the state legislature

• Problem Involvement in health policy is a
  crucial aspect of the professional nursing role,
  especially for nurses prepared at the masters
  level. The AACN Essentials of Masters Education
  and the PHN Standards of Practice address the
  importance of policy development and advocacy in
  curricula and practice. However, nurses tend to
  unaware of health policy and how to influence it.
  Little is known about whether students increase
  their political astuteness, knowledge of health
  policy, or their involvement in policy advocacy
  as a result of academic course work.
• Political Astuteness encompasses
• Awareness of health care policy issues
• Understanding legislative and policy processes
• Political skills (ie. knowing who policy makers
  are and how to communicate with them)
• Involvement in the political process (ie.voting
  providing testimony contributing to campaigns
  participating in professional organizations)
• Purpose of study To determine if political
  astuteness changes after students complete a
  10-week graduate course in health systems and
  policy, a required course for all MN students.
• Health Care Systems and Health Policy Course (3
  credits) Content
• Health care organization and financing
• Policy and legislative processes
• Policy development and analysis

There was a significant increase in political
astuteness at the end of the course (M 23.1,
SD .5.7) as compared to the first class (M
13.6, SD 5.2), t - 16.2, df 39, p .000.
Basic RN education n/___ ADN or Diploma 9 /
25 BSN 27/ 75
Years as RN n/__ lt 5 years 5
/ 14 5 - 9 years 1 / 3 10 - 19 years
14 / 39 20 or more years 16 / 44