Nursings' Social Policy Statement

Nursing is a part of the society from which it grew and continues to evolve. As a profession, nursing is valued both within and outside that society. From the time of Florence Nightingale’s Notes on Nursing: What It Is and What It Is Not in 1859 and the work of Virginia Henderson in 1961, the nursing profession has been responsive to the needs of society. Continuing this tradition, in 1980 the American Nurses Association (ANA) published the fi rst Nursing: A Social Policy Statement (ANA, 1980), which was updated in 1995 as Nursing’s Social Policy Statement. In 2003, ANA published the second edition of Nursing’s Social Policy Statement. Subsequently in 2010, ANA published Nursing’s Social Policy Statement: The Essence of the Profession (ANA, 2010a), which articulates the ways in which contemporary nursing as a profession is valued within U.S. society and is uniquely accountable to that society. As with its predecessors, the current edition provides helpful information to nurses, other health professionals, legislators, regulators, members of funding bodies, and the public. This new guide presents a summary of each section, followed by a discussion of how each social policy statement applies to nursing practice

Use of the Social Policy Statement in Practice Nursing’s Social Policy Statement:

 The Essence of the Profession is essential for all nurses to understand nursing as it is defi ned, nursing as a profession, nursing process, nursing regulation, and advanced nursing practice. The defi nition of nursing, as cited earlier in this chapter, is used in legal, practice, education, and scope of practice documents. The essence of the profession of nursing—formalized and defi ned in the 2010 document—provides the basis for nursing practice. The nursing process has long been the critical thinking model for the profession and the basis for assessment, diagnosis, outcomes identifi cation, planning, implementation, and evaluation. The profession has consciously reaffi rmed the importance of the nursing process in the care of healthcare consumers. The defi nition of nursing specialties, which forms the basis of recognition for those specialties, is also delineated herein. In fact, advanced nursing practice and advanced specialized nursing practice are defi ned and diff erentiated. This guide thus provides the basis for legal regulation and health policy for all nurses. Members of the nursing faculty will fi nd the content of the social policy statement useful in all levels of nursing education. Students will benefi t from reviewing that statement as they learn about the evolution of their profession through its key attributes, the defi nition of nursing, the profession’s description of the characteristics of a nursing specialty, and the delineation of its scope of practice and accompanying standards and competency statements. Such competency statements will provide them with assistance and understanding of the complexity of nursing practice. The social policy statement will also provide them with a clear delineation of the six social concerns in health care that undergird nursing’s social contract with society. In addition, the social policy statement reaffi rms the importance of collaboration within nursing and interprofessional teams. The social policy statement may be used in professional development to reinforce the concepts of autonomy and competence and to address the importance of the scope of nursing practice, the nursing process, and the use of the standards of practice and professional performance in an everyday practice setting. Nurse leaders and administrators will fi nd the social policy statement very benefi cial as a resource for strategic planning, vision and mission statements, and presentations about nurses and nursing. It is also valuable to members of legal and regulatory bodies to better understand how professional, self, and legal regulations complement each other. Researchers may use the statement to provide a historical perspective of the defi nition of nursing. It also provides valuable insights related to the social context of nursing.

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