nurse legislator

Nurse Legislator
Name
Institution

Nurse Legislator
The United States has a limited number of nurses who are legislators. Karen Bass, the representative for California’s 33rd Congressional District, is one of the few legislators with a background in nursing in the United States (American Nurses Association, 2018). As a nurse legislator, Karen Bass plays a vital advocacy role which is critical not only for the nursing profession but also for the entire health care sector. In the exemplification of the advocacy role, nurse legislators on issues that affect the constituents (Webb, 2016). Where matters relating to health care improvement come in the flow of the house, they are central not only in the voting, but also in the mobilization of other legislators to support the bill expected to confer benefits to the healthcare sector. Further, nurse legislators may come up with bills aimed at addressing specific issues that affect the attainment of identified care objectives. As a consequence, nurse legislators are instrumental in the passage of laws that enhance the health care system.
The advocacy role of a nurse legislator is evident through the contributions of Karen Bass. In 2017, she introduced the Health IT Modernization for Underserved Communities Act, which was aimed at permitting physician assistants be receiving Medicaid incentives for the adoption and application of Electronic Health Records (EHR) irrespective of the health care facility to which they are affiliated (Govtrack, 2017).

In this regard, Bass intends to support the interest of the physician assistants to ensure that they remain motivated. The legislator also voted against banning the utilization of funds availed by the Federal Government for the efforts towards Planned Parenthood. Through these contributions, it is indisputable that Keren Bass has been at the center of debates on issues that affect the health of the constituents.

References
Webb, J. A. K. (2016). Our role as legislative advocates. Nursing Management (Springhouse), 47(8), 7–8. doi:10.1097/01.numa.0000488868.48485
American Nurses Association (2018). Nurses Serving in Congress. Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/advocacy/federal/nurses-serving-in-congress/Govtrack (2017). H.R. 1604: Health IT Modernization for Underserved Communities Act of 2017. Retrieved from https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/hr1604