A health policy nurse works to improve working conditions for nurses and advocates for better patient care. They review healthcare laws and policies and provide suggestions based on their expertise. Health policy nurses can advise policymakers and other healthcare professionals on how to improve public health in the United States, and they also advocate for better working conditions for nurses. While health policy nurses don’t hold patient-facing roles, they often facilitate tangible change for the nurses “on the ground,” which in turn improves patient care.
Where Do Health Policy Nurses Work?
Health policy nurses can work in government, the private sector, or even in a non-profit role. Some examples include:
Consulting firms
Government agencies at the state, local, or federal level
Healthcare organizations
Non-profit organizations
Public health non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
Research firms
Trade associations
In the government sector, nurses can act as lobbyists, ensuring their local, state, and federal representatives understand the challenges nurses face and how a policy change could improve both nursing retention, satisfaction, and patient care quality.
Research firms hire health policy nurses to assist in studies that provide valuable insight into the state of healthcare and nursing roles. Non-profit organizations and NGOs often take a humanitarian bent, educating the public on healthcare issues and advocating for change. Some larger healthcare organizations will take the initiative to bring health policy nurses onto their team, allowing them to promote improvements with less red tape.
What Does a Health Policy Nurse Do?
Health policy nursing is less about daily tasks and more about the big picture. Some priority goals for health policy nurses include:
Developing methods to increase care access
Educating those in authority on needed healthcare policy changes
Helping health organizations to apply changes required by healthcare policies or new laws
Identifying healthcare waste and creating methods to reduce cost
Implementing techniques to improve healthcare efficiency
Patient advocacy
Planning and promoting new health policies
Promoting health and wellness for individuals and communities
The day-to-day of a health policy nurse can look a bit different depending on their role. If a health policy nurse works with the government, they may spend their days in meetings with congressmen, committee members, and high-level healthcare management, discussing issues in healthcare and recommending policy changes that could improve the system.
In a non-profit setting, health policy nurses may take on some marketing duties. Change in healthcare needs a lot of help: both for the healthcare providers and recipients. Health policy nurses advocate and educate, but most people need some pizzazz to latch on to new information. Nurses in this position can help design marketing campaigns that bring current health issues to light.
How Do I Become a Health Policy Nurse?
Health policy nurses understand the healthcare system from varied experience and at a high level. Meaning, they understand how healthcare works and can see a path towards improvement. The first step for any nurse is to earn a nursing degree. Health policy nurses need a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from an accredited nursing program to be able to work in this field.
Before nurses can advocate for change, they need to understand the baseline state of healthcare. That means getting some experience doing the work of a nurse. After graduation, new nurses can apply to work in a health setting as graduate nurses (GNs). In their first job, they will work under a nurse preceptor – an experienced nurse who trains new graduates.
After they pass the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN), their state licensing exam, GNs become registered nurses (RNs). Then, when they finish training on their unit or office, health policy nurses can practice on their own.
Once a nurse has some experience as an RN, they may be ready to return to school and earn an advanced practice degree: a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN). While pursuing their MSN, nurses may also minor in fields that will help them in their health policy career, like law, ethics, and health policy. Nurses can finish their MSN in two years, but some prefer to go at a slower pace so they can work full-time while they study.
An MSN gives health policy nurses an advantage, as many of the leaders they speak with will take their advanced degrees as a mark of expertise. Nurses in this field may also benefit from nursing certifications, like:
How Much Does a Health Policy Nurse Make Per Year?
Health policy nursing salaries are not specified by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), but they do disclose annual wages for medical and health services managers, which may fall into the same wage bracket. Health policy nurses’ salaries can vary a lot, as non-profits may pay less than consulting positions.
However, a good median is provided by the salary earned by medical and health services managers, which is $127,980 on average as of 2022. This amount can vary depending on the work setting and the cost of living in the area. The low-end average was $64,100 and the high-end was $209,990. Depending on the type of facility, an employer may be able to offer higher or lower compensation.
The West Coast and New England states may offer health policy nurses the best salaries, but the cost of living in these areas can also be high.
The top-paying metropolitan areas for health policy nurses include:
New York
District of Columbia
New Jersey
Massachusetts
Delaware
Are Health Policy Nurses in High Demand?
Many agree that healthcare in the United States has to change, and soon. Health policy nurses are already working with leaders in government and the health sector to improve conditions for providers and patients alike, and to make healthcare more accessible to the underserved and marginalized. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 24% of U.S. hospitals have reported critical staffing shortages. This statistic alone fuels health policy nurses to fight for a better system that attracts more intelligent, hard-working, and compassionate nursing professionals.
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