Advocacy and policy are not new to the nursing profession. From Florence Nightingale’s formative 1859 Notes on Nursing: What It Is and What It Is Not, to the Institute of Medicine’s seminal 2011 report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, nurses’ knowledge, skills, and abilities are necessary to the strategic development and support of health care systems. NACNS’s mission and purposes affirm the unique CNS leadership and partnership roles in civic engagement and in advocacy for health care policy-making.
NACNS is committed to promoting a public policy agenda that addresses the most pressing issues facing quality patient care, the nursing profession, and the CNS perspective in all aspects of the practice environment. The association’s Public Policy Agenda reflects the current priorities of the NACNS membership and issues on which the board of directors initiates action. However, in response to a dynamic legislative and regulatory environment, NACNS will also address emerging heath care issues, like the opioid epidemic.
