Community Activism
Community activism is an important part of the nursing community. Public health efforts require nurses to educate members of the society, as well as advocate on their behalf. Some of the key concepts in community activism include social justice, empowerment, and consciousness-raising. An analysis shows that the understanding and application of these concepts is central to Advanced Practice Nurses’ activism while APNs can engage in community activism against Big Tobacco through education and policy action.
The first key concept in the issue of social justice. Social justice is a concept with a basis on the philosophical, political, and public health issues that respond to human rights and social equity (Mason et al., 2016). In the case of the provision of medical services, social justice would ensure that all members get adequate medical care rather than having medical care based on one’s wealth. The second concept is empowerment. Empowerment refers to the processes and outcomes whose purpose is to ensure that the communities gain control and mastery of their lives to improve their quality of life (Mason et al., 2016). In the case of health issues, empowerment would involve allowing one to make decisions to manage their conditions.
The last concept is consciousness-raising involves presenting community members with information and engaging them in community engagement (Mason et al., 2016). In the case of obesity, consciousness-raising will ensure that the people examine their particular situations and contexts to identify the issues that lead to the condition. As seen, these concepts are important.
Advanced practice nurses can engage in activism to limit further negative health impacts of Big Tobacco. Nurses have a prominent role in the community. As a consequence, they can educate the population on the harms of tobacco (Mulvey, 2010). At the grassroots level, they can promote issues such as smoke-free working places and extending the resources of tobacco cessation resources (Maryland & Gonzalez, 2012). Such actions can counteract the actions of Big Tobacco in the communities.
The concepts of social justice, empowerment, and consciousness-raising are central to community activism while nurses’ role in community activism against Big Tobacco is information provision and policy action. The three concepts range in their application in the nurse community’s activism in society. Activism for the nurses should include informing the community as well as advocating for policy positions that can reverse the harm by Big Tobacco.
References
Maryland, M. A., & Gonzalez, R. I. (2012). Patient Advocacy in the community and legislative arena. OJIN, 17(1). http://ojin.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-17-2012/No1-Jan-2012/Advocacy-in-Community-and-Legislative-Arena.html?css=print
Mason, D. J., Gardner, D. B., Outlaw, F. H., & O’Grady, E. T. (2016). Policy & politics in nursing and health care – E-book (7th ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences.
Mulvey, K. (2010). A life-saving precedent: Protecting public health policy against Big Tobacco. Tobacco Control, 19(2), 95-97. https://doi.org/10.1136/tc.2009.032755