By Mikaelyn Law, RN, BSN
During a presidential election year, do you find an increased interest in politics? ONS member Carrie Riccobono, MSN, RN, ACNS-BC, OCN®, says she applauds a renewed passion surrounding political campaigns and debates, but she contends it is essential year round.
Many nurses say they don’t get involved in health policy and advocacy because it seems too intimidating. “Not every nurse needs to storm Capitol Hill,” Riccobono reassures. “We all can be involved in smaller, manageable ways: we can question, and we can alert the public or our healthcare systems when policy is discussed that will impact us.”
Getting Involved in Advocacy
Empowering patients was Riccobono’s motivation to get involved in health policy. “I was saddened to see patients not given choices, who had to blindly follow their provider’s chosen plan of care,” she says. “Through advocacy and education, I strive to help every patient with cancer to be an informed consumer.”
Outside of her formal nursing role as a clinical nurse specialist for breast services at Froedtert Medical College of Wisconsin Center for Diagnostic Imaging in Waukesha, Riccobono says she is involved in several organizations. The ONS Capitol Gang, which has around two thousand ONS members, is a national grassroots group to which Riccobono provides professional input, responding to federal legislation and regulatory changes through her work with Alec Stone, ONS’s health policy director. “The Capitol Gang is also a supportive platform where members can bring health policy ideas they are passionate about, to be advocated at a state or national level,” Riccobono explains. She also serves as an advocate for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and National Breast Cancer Coalition.
In her home state, Riccobono is a member of the Wisconsin Nurses Association Health Policy Board, Wisconsin Cancer Council Policy Committee, and Wisconsin Breast Cancer Coalition. “I have been very involved in helping pass Wisconsin Cancer Treatment Fairness Act,” she says. “I was able to testify to the Senate and the House on the topic, speak on behalf of the Southeastern Wisconsin Oncology Nurses, and be the voice for our patients.”
Using Social Media as an Advocacy Tool
Riccobono recognized social media as a powerful tool for education and advocacy when she helped developed Nurses Talk, an online TV show that holds real conversations with nurses. The episodes are available on a YouTube channel and Facebook page. “Nurses Talk was conceived as a vehicle to help members of our community empower themselves,” Riccobono explains. “It tackles health and illness issues from a distinctly nursing perspective and showcases specific careers in nursing to help you understand what it means to be a nurse in the 21st century.”
In addition to Nurses Talk, Riccobono runs the Facebook pages of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Southeastern Wisconsin ONS Chapter, and local Lions Club. “I’ve found that social media enables me to easily educate the public on current issues like health policy, recalls, and educational opportunities,” she says.
Learning to Make Your Voice Heard
“It is an ongoing process; I am always learning,” Riccobono says. “By no means do I feel I am an expert. But I am passionate and want to make a difference. So I am always looking for ways to use my voice as an expert to be a change agent.”
She attributes her education to mentors, formal training with professional nursing organizations like the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the Nurse in Washington Internship program (NIWI). “NIWI was amazing and began the path for me to understand the fundamentals of federal government,” Riccobono says. “It broke down the barriers of unspoken political red tape and explained the movement of legislation development.”
Nurse in Washington Internship
Occurring annually in March near Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, NIWI is a three-day program for which the ONS offers several scholarships. ONS member Mary Lane, MN, C-NP, ARNP, OCN®, an ARNP in a community oncology clinic in Washington State, participated in 2013 as a scholarship recipient. “It was an empowering and motivational experience that was engaging and impressionable and emphasized the importance of advocating for your patients and community,” she says.
One part of the program introduced her to the policy agenda developed by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (ACCN) and nursing panels, which focused on the future of nursing and problems that the profession faces. “During the advocacy session, it was enlightening to see how groups representing organizations like ONS lobbied for federal funding,” Lane says.
She says her favorite part of the experience was the time spent with a Congressional representative staff member promoting the nursing agenda presented by the ACCN. “I was surprised that a collective voice could be heard for the agenda, considering the variety of healthcare fields represented at NIWI. For example, while I was disappointed that I couldn’t advocate for specific ONS needs, the collective agenda did reflect some of the same priorities as ONS.”
NIWI wasn’t Lane’s first experience with advocacy, however. She was involved early in her career while working as a certified diabetic educator, when she met with her state representative and senator to discuss insurance mandates to cover diabetic education. “This model would have been wonderful if applied to patients with cancer, who could have an insurance benefit providing visits exclusively for education about symptom management and chemotherapy,” Lane reflects.
In her current position, Lane says that she advocates for “policies that work to improve the health of our society, whether through funding of preventive care, advocating for the vulnerable of our society, or promoting change in policies that would eliminate waste in our limited healthcare resources.”
Bringing It Back Home
“Nurses represent the largest collection of healthcare professionals, who provide care in a variety of settings to patients across their entire lifespan,” Riccobono says. “Why isn’t every nurse involved in health policy and advocacy? The benefits are amazing: you become empowered, and you also build relationships. Find your passion and fight for what you believe is right, or challenge what you think is wrong.
“It is our duty to be informed,” Riccobono adds. “Become a member of ONS and the American Nurses Association, because health policy changes are often communicated by professional nursing organizations.”
Lane says that nurses should write to their representatives when asked to do so by ONS or other advocacy groups. “Sharing personal stories can support healthcare policies that improve care and access,” she explains.
“Advocacy that starts at a grassroots level can bring about change for the good,” Lane says. “Nurses are a powerful force and have our society’s trust. We are our patients’, families’, and communities’ advocates.”