UNDERSTANDING POWER AND POLITICS:Politics
● Is an interpersonal endeavor—uses communication and persuasion ● Is a collective activity—requires the support and action of many people ● Calls for analysis and planning—requires an assessment of the issue and a plan to resolve it ● Involves image—hinges on the image people have of change makers
Nursing’s Political History Nurses’ political activities began with Florence Nightingale, continued with the emergence of nursing schools and women’s suffrage, and improved with the establishment of nursing organizations and the feminist movement (Sullivan, 2013). Establishing the National Center for Nursing Research (later changed to the National Institute of Nursing Research) within the National Institutes of Health is an example of nurses’ powerful political action.