Every day, med-surg nurses promote health, protect patients and save lives. Now, AMSN is at work enabling med-surg nurses to adapt their vital skills to the arena of nursing policy advocacy. Learning how to adapt existing nursing skills to the advocacy environment and putting them into practice can improve the lives of many patients for the better.

It’s more than professional development – it’s developing your superpower!

The skills med-surg nurses need for effective policy advocacy are already present in everyday nursing practice. Analysis, listening, synthesizing complex information, and building trust and rapport are all required in the clinical setting – and in advocacy. It’s just that in the advocacy environment, the patients are not in view. They are somewhere else.

The people you see in advocacy environments – state and federal legislators and executive branch officials, staff members, and health care stakeholders and leaders – have the authority to drive significant change. They shape who has coverage, what that coverage is, the scope and scale of nursing practice, And they need and want to hear from a med-surg nurse like you.

How is AMSN helping med-surg nurses develop their superpowers?

• We’re organizing. AMSN has established a Legislative Team to coordinate and lead advocacy efforts, Legislative Advisors to provide guidance on policy questions, and a Legislative Action Center online enabling AMSN members to make their voices heard.
• We’re training and putting it to use. AMSN’s online library and conferences host both CE and non-CE content for med-surg nurses can learn the basics and get up to speed. Our online newsletters regularly include advocacy and issues content specific for med-surg nurses.
• We’re making waves. In September 2020, AMSN’s first-ever Virtual Legislative Fly-in put leading med-surg nurses before members of Congress and their staffs. AMSN members presented our policy agenda at a critical time and learned vital lessons we’ll use to shape our future.

Can these skills be put to use outside the halls of state and national capitals? Absolutely. Med-surg nurses who develop advocacy skills build a bigger and stronger professional network. They also get considered for additional leadership opportunities within their employer, their community, and their national professional association.

As a med-surg nurse, your superpower has been within you all along. Supported by and in partnership with AMSN, med-surg nurses are developing their superpowers in new ways and making a difference!