Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past 5 years, it’s been impossible to miss the impact of politics on all aspects of life in this country and throughout the world. From a disastrous war that there seems to be no way out of to an economy that is beginning to sputter and slow, our personal lives have all been touched to some degree. The healthcare industry and the nursing profession have been affected as well. As nurses struggle to master some of the most advanced health-care technology on earth, they also struggle to justify and deal with an ever increasing number of citizens who do not have health insurance and an increasing immigrant population. Although medical errors have begun to decline, new drug-resistant infective organisms are increasing. Nursing education continues to struggle to increase class sizes and numbers of graduates but in a political atmosphere of “cut taxes at all costs” they continually struggle with reduced funding and inability to attract qualified faculty due to low salaries.

You might be asking yourself about now, “I’m just a lowly nursing student, what can I do about all these problems?” The answer is “a lot!” Because of the nursing shortage, society, politicians, and the medical community, are being forced to recognize the vital role nurses play in the health-care system. This recognition gives nurses today more political power than they have ever had in the past. Particularly at the state level, but also to some degree at the national level, nurses are being sought for membership on committees that deal with all aspects of health care. Nurses today finally are able to strongly influence the policies that control their lives and their practice.