Multiple components are needed in order for change or progress to occur. In order to provoke change, there must be a sense of urgency. In order to create that sense of urgency (an environment that is ripe for change), individuals must use various forms of communication to effectively get their point across (Campbell, 2008).
In today’s society, social media is a great widespread tool used to help create this sense of urgency in order to gather and unify a group of individuals or organizations to work towards change. Almost every organization, company, and even departments of government use social media. As mentioned previously, the California Endowment utilizes social media via Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, bringing greater awareness to the issue of healthcare coverage for the undocumented.
Regarding change theories, take another look at how change occurs. The following video by the Ford Foundation explains how social change occurs, the components required to create a movement of change, and a few real world examples.
Delving even further into “engaged individuals” referred to in the video will help to reveal change agents (as individuals) – the catalysts for the desired change. Agents of change influence others. They are vital in bringing engaged individuals together to help mobilize a movement of change. Innovators create solutions for the problems that need to be addressed. Change agents convince these groups and organizations that such innovation is needed. The California Endowment’s #Health4All campaign promotes the innovative idea that the health of just one individual affects the health of the entire community.
And change agents aren’t limited to a certain field, as many immediately think of Apple and Steve Jobs as the poster child for the term “change agent.” Nurses and nurses as healthcare providers are agents of change in health policy.
“As change agents, nurses bring expertise and resources to the table to help create healthier local and global communities; but often our voices are not heard, and we find ourselves left out of the healthcare conversation. As health collaborators and communicators, we are called upon to synthesize and disseminate our nursing knowledge.” (Ressler & Glazer, 2010).
Healthcare providers encounter urgent issues every day. They understand the barriers that prevent a patient from receiving proper medical care and many times, they know the type of innovation that is needed to remove these barriers. By being active on these front lines, they are in a position to be these agents of change.
References
Campbell, R. (2008). Change management in health care. The Health Care Manager, 27(1), 23-29.
Ressler, P., & Glazer, G. (2010, October 22). Legislative: Nursing’s engagement in health policy and healthcare through social media. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 16(1). doi:10.3912/OJIN.Vol16No01LegCol01
nm health policy: exploring health policy for the undocumented 
Your post really prompted me to investigate why the nursing voice often goes unheard in health care policy discussions. I quickly found numerous TV shows and movies that portrayed nurses as ‘party girls’, poorly educated and untrained. Shows like MTV’s “Scrubbing In”, “Glee” and “The Mindy Project” depict nurses that reinforce these negative stereotypes. Unfortunately, these are not the type of people the public want involved in creating effective, quality and efficient health care. The organization “Truth About Nursing” offers nurses an opportunity to combat these publicized stereotypes through signing petitions that are brought to show producers.
http://www.truthaboutnursing.org/
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Institute of Medicine have called for nurses to be “full partners” in health care reform. This requires us to embody the qualities of an effective change agent. We must bring our expertise and experience in a collaborative effort to create a culture of health!
Institute of Medicine. (2010). The future of nursing, leading change, advancing health. Retrieved from http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/The-Future-of-Nursing-Leading-Change-Advancing-Health.aspx
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These are such great resources and well-said, Katie. Thank you for sharing!
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As social media becomes more used to create awareness and change, do you find that it can also create a health disparity? I ask this because I wonder how many undocumented workers have access to social media? I get how it can increase awareness for people that have access to smartphone and laptops, but it could also help increase awareness to programs available to undocumented workers.
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That is a great question. I think that use of social media among undocumented immigrants would vary according to age. Undocumented individuals who are adolescents or young adults that were brought to the U.S. at a very young age would probably be more likely to utilize these resources. In fact, undocumented college students already utilize social media to reach out to other undocumented students for support with immigration reform, encouragement, and for funding since many of these students do not qualify for government assistance or in-state tuition when it comes to paying for college (Castillo, 2015; Lyons, 2014).
I think the issue of bringing program awareness to this population comes down to the older undocumented immigrants who do not have access to these social media tools. The older generation is probably more likely to need access to care and healthcare coverage. In this sense, finding a creative way to bring about this awareness and change among the older generation would be a challenge.
References
Castillo, W. (2015, January 17). Undocumented students work for support, reform. USA Today. Retrieved from: http://college.usatoday.com/2015/01/17/undocumented-students-work-for-support-reform/
Lyons, J. (2014, May 27). Indiana’s undocumented students turn to social media, protests to fund tuition. USA Today. Retrieved from: http://college.usatoday.com/2014/05/27/indianas-undocumented-students-turn-to-social-media-protests-to-fund-tuition/
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“In today’s society, social media is a great widespread tool used to help create this sense of urgency in order to gather and unify a group of individuals or organizations to work towards change.” How true this point really is. Social media is helping to perform many tasks today and opening up markets that have never occurred in history. Take the 2009 Iran elections, it is now known as the ‘twitter revolution.’ This useful tool can serve as a precision surgical tool cutting away the cancer from our healthcare system, or a sword lopping at the heads of those courageous enough to speak out and make a change. It is what we do with these instruments that will either help us, or undermine our potential.
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Very well said! Individuals and organizations must be intentional, meaningful, and attentive with their interactions on social media.
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Thank you for describing how and why nurses are change agents. Nurses along with other healthcare providers are on the front lines everyday and encounter barriers to care and access to care and as I pointed out in my post can be the change agents with the solutions created being the innovation needed to move patient care to the next level to improve patient outcomes.
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Yes! Advanced practice nurses are well-equipped and in a place of great influence to bring about change through innovations.
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