I have chosen Chapter 69 of Unit 5, “Taking Action: An Insider’s View of Lobbying”. I chose this chapter in order to learn more about lobbying and lobbyist in general as well as how it relates to nursing. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines lobby as “an organized group of people who work together to influence government decisions that relate to a particular industry, issue, etc.” (Lobby, n.d.). The highly controversial phenomenon known as lobbying is associated with many negative connotations related to government. The very act of lobbying and the lobbyist has a preconceived notion that they are riddled with corruption and bribery. To society, they are the bad guys and cause the government to be dominated by powerful special interest groups that are only out for themselves and to increase their wealth. However, I wanted to get a fresh perspective on lobbying and to determine if its utilization has any positive attributes as it relates to nursing.
This chapter was very enlightening. It allowed me to view how lobbying as a Registered Nurse can help advance
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I am no longer ignorant of many of the good policies and bills enacted that were assisted by the hard work of lobbyist and nursing political action committees. Prior to reading this chapter, I viewed many lobbyist as soldiers for a litany of corporatist that are greedy and only seek power without a care in the world for the average American citizen. Lobbying was making an attempt to overthrow democracy in favor of a plutocracy. However, I have learned that you cannot paint all lobbyist or the act of lobbying with a broad brush. Each of the lobbyist and their requests or positions on issues should be scrutinized and the focus placed on the probable outcomes as a result of what they are proposing. According to Dickson