Barriers Faced By Nurse Leaders Regarding Health Policy Making: A Content Analysis Aproach

Abstract

Background: Worldwide, nurses are the major workforce in health care settings, and their involvement is mandatory in health policy making for patients’ better health outcomes as well as nurses empowerment and professional development. The role of nurse administrators has greater importance in making accurate and timely clinical decisions and devising and implementing strategic plans for improving the quality of care.

Objectives:  To explore the barriers faced by nurse leaders in health policy-making.

Method: A qualitative case study design was used to determine the barriers faced by nurses in health policy, involving face-to-face semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 12 nurse's leaders who had key nursing positions in hospitals. Interviews were audio-taped, recorded, and transcribed. Content analysis was used for analyzing the descriptions of participants, and an inductive approach was utilized.

Results: After coding and categorizing the data, six main themes emerged: nurse leaders views regarding the involvement of nurses in health policy making, Factors hindering nurses' participation in health policy making, the impact of nurses' involvement in health policy making on patient health, The Impact of Non-Involvement of Nurses in Health Policy Making, Paving a Road Map for Enhancing Nurses' Participation in Health Policy, and Perceived Benefits of Involvement of Nurses in Health Policy Making.

Conclusion: The involvement of nurse leaders is very limited in health policy-making in Pakistan. Although many factors are hindering the nurse’s participation in health policy-making, such as nurse-related factors and organizational factors, There are abundant opportunities that can open the windows of opportunity for nurses to participate in health policy-making.