An Analysis and Review of the Use of State Legislator Clinical Site Visits to Increase Advocacy for Nurse Anesthesiologists.

Nurse anesthesiologists have successfully influenced legislative change to include full practice authority across the United States. These legislative changes directly impact the scope of practice as well as patient care and the advancement of the nursing profession. However, nurse anesthesiologists remain hesitant to embrace health policy advocacy as a professional responsibility. To act as advocates, awareness must exist around professional responsibility to engage in political advocacy, and how to engage in this role. We describe successful statewide strategies involving members of a professional state organization for nurse anesthesiologists. Leaders from the state organization incorporated clinical site visits to create a shared vision and inform legislators about their role and its influence on providing safe, quality, cost-effective care to patients. These efforts were effective in moving the policy agenda forward. Additionally, this process of educating legislators within the hospital has empowered a new generation of nurse anesthesiology advocates.