Attitudes of Nursing Students Regarding Nurses' Involvement in Health Care Policy: A New Model Predicting Future Involvement

AIM The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of nursing students regarding nurses' involvement in health care policy and influencing factors. BACKGROUND Nurses have the potential to influence health care policy. In practice, their involvement in policy-making decisions has been unremarkable. METHOD A cross-section study was performed. A self-report questionnaire measuring nurses' involvement in determining health care policy was distributed among 400 nursing students from three universities in Israel. RESULTS Most students intended to become involved in determining health care policy; however, they claimed that their level of awareness and training in the field was not adequate. Recently, a new model predicted a 74.8 percent involvement of future nurses in determining health care policy. CONCLUSION Nursing leaders and designers of nursing education programs must create professional and personal resources through political activism among nursing students in order to preserve patients' rights and treatment quality.