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Educating and influencing legislators is essential to moving good health policy forward. It is vital that nurses, and their advocates, reach out to their elected representatives and ask them to support legislation and policies that improve healthcare delivery and nursing practice.
WHY IT MATTERS!
Every day legislators make decisions that impact the healthcare, nursing, our patients and our communities. It is essential that nurses, and the community, are actively engaged as educated citizens to ensure legislators make wise policy decisions.
Legislators do care about what their constituents think, and they want to make good decisions. It is important to legislators that they hear from informed constituents on issues to help them advance legislation that improves health care delivery in our State.
When your legislator goes to vote on proposed legislation, he or she wants to know how many folks back home called or wrote for and against an issue. By taking just a few minutes to pick up the phone and make a short call and write an email, you will be playing a critical role in making nurses heard in the policy making process.
STEP ONE: FIND YOUR LEGISLATORS
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO FIND OUT WHO YOUR FLORIDA STATE LEGISLATORS ARE:
STEP TWO: EDUCATE YOURSELF ON THE ISSUES
It is important that before you contact your elected officials you are educated and informed on the issues. Presenting yourself as an informed and educated constituent will help convince your legislator to support nursing in our state;
The link below will bring you to a series of educational resources and talking points that will help you become more educated and influential when talking to your elected officials.
STEP THREE: CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS
The first time you contact a legislator it may seem intimidating! You should remember that your elected officials want to hear from you on the issues. The most effective method of influencing policy is meeting one on one with your elected officials to discuss the issues. However, due to the COVID pandemic face to face meetings with legislators are greatly limited. You can call your legislators office and schedule an appointment to meet them, typically via a virtual meeting using ZOOM, or a similar service. (You may meet their staff member, and that is just as effective!)
For information about the best ways to lobby download this handy resource manual. It includes helpful information about effective lobbying strategies and techniques.
It is also important to contact specific Committee Members when a bill is going to be heard in committee. Below are links to the specific health related committee:
FLORIDA SENATE HEALTH APPROPRIATES COMMITTEE: https://www.flsenate.gov/Committees/Show/AHS/
FLORIDA SENATE HEALTH POLICY COMMITTEE : https://www.flsenate.gov/Committees/Show/HP/
FLORIDA HOUSE HEALTH CARE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Committees/committeesdetail.aspx?CommitteeId=3088
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE: https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Committees/committeesdetail.aspx?CommitteeId=3085
STEP FOUR: INFLUENCE OTHERS TO CONTACT THEIR LEGISLATORS
Nursing is the largest healthcare workforce in our State, and our Country. Mobilizing our colleagues, our friends and our families to become active can dramatically influence health policy decisions.
Educate your colleagues, friends and family on the issues and encourage them to become engaged!
Share with them the tools and resources developed on this website to help enable them to positively effect health policy.
