What happens in health policy at local, state, and federal levels directly affects patients, nurses, and nursing practice. Some healthcare professionals, though, are intimidated by the complex and often nonlinear policy process or simply don't know how to take the first step toward implementing policy change. In Evidence-Informed Health Policy, authors Jacqueline M. Loversidge and Joyce Zurmehly demystify health policymaking and equip nurses and other healthcare professionals with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to navigate the first of many steps into health policy.
The goals of this book are threefold:
- To persuade readers that evidence-based or evidence-informed policymaking is not, after all, an oxymoron, and that perspectives on the use of evidence in policy are changing. To our knowledge, this is the first health policy text in nursing and healthcare in which evidence-based policymaking is the primary focus.
- To ground readers in policy and policymaking to a sufficient extent that it serves as a foundation for using the rest of the book.
- To present the EIHP model for nursing and healthcare, adapted from the Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt EBP model. This model can be used by nurses and other healthcare professionals serving in active policymaking roles, teaching health policy, or simply interested in the process.
The primary focus of this book is on policymaking in government, but principles and strategies presented can apply well in organizational settings. Mention of these applications is made throughout.
Audiences who can best benefit from this book include the following:
- Nurse leaders
- Nurses who are members or staff of professional associations and organizations
- Healthcare regulatory agency members or staff
- Other healthcare professionals
Jacqueline M. Loversidge, PhD, RNC-AWHC, is an Associate Professor of Clinical Nursing at The Ohio State University College of Nursing. Loversidge earned a diploma from Muhlenberg Hospital School of Nursing in Plainfield, New Jersey; a BSN from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio; a master's degree with a major in nursing from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio; and a PhD in higher education policy and leadership from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. She holds national certification as an ambulatory women's health care nurse through the National Certification Corporation. Loversidge has been educating undergraduate and graduate students in the areas of health policy and regulation, evidence-based practice, and leadership in nursing and healthcare for more than 15 years. She has extensive experience in the regulatory setting, having held two positions at the Ohio Board of Nursing (OBN). The first was Associate Executive Director, which included the role of government liaison. Later, after a decade in practice and administrative settings, she served as the OBN Education Consultant, with the responsibility for oversight of all Ohio prelicensure nursing education programs. While at OBN, Loversidge served on various National Council of State Boards of Nursing committees, including the Committee on Special Projects, responsible for the transformation of the paper-and-pencil NCLEX licensure examination to a computer-adaptive model.
Joyce Zurmehly, PhD, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, ANEF, is an Associate Professor of Clinical Nursing at The Ohio State University College of Nursing. Zurmehly has been educating undergraduate and graduate students for more than 25 years. She is recognized for academic leadership in advancing nursing education through her work as a faculty scholar and nurse regulator. She has been influential in shaping undergraduate and graduate nursing education. Zurmehly's primary area of contribution in nursing education has been in collaborating with state and national experts to set enduring nursing education policy by promulgating administrative rules. Because of her expertise in the regulation of nursing programs, she has been appointed to national committees, where she actively participates in developing policy in the regulation of nursing programs. She collaborated with the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and broke new ground in nursing regulation by developing recommendations that promote collaboration with educators to foster innovations in nursing education. As part of this work, a model of the regulatory influences on nursing education was developed. Many have adopted these model education rules, thus positively affecting nursing education nationally and internationally. Zurmehly was also involved in the development of the Transition to Practice program at the NCSBN, in which multiple perspectives were addressed.
