Facilitating Political Advocacy in Baccalaureate Education Programs in a Southeastern Stat

By virtue of position, academic nurse leaders face many challenges including those related to preparing students for clinical practice as well as the demands of meeting curriculum and accreditation standards. Included in accreditation requirements, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing mandates inclusion of political advocacy in baccalaureate nursing education programs. Recognizing a void in the literature for political advocacy in nursing education, this basic qualitative research study explored the experiences of academic nurse leaders with political advocacy. The primary purpose of this basic qualitative research study was to explore the experiences of nursing department chairperson's experiences with political advocacy in baccalaureate nursing education. Eight academic nurse leaders consented to take part in the study to answer the primary research question: How do nursing department chairpersons facilitate political advocacy in a BSN nursing program? Data collection occurred using semistructured interviews. Three themes emerged from the data: (a) experience as nurse and leader, (b) communication, and (c) the concept of political advocacy. Findings of this study add to the growing body of knowledge on political advocacy in baccalaureate nursing education and offers academic nurse leaders resources to develop communicative action for strategic dialogue to facilitate nursing political advocacy in baccalaureate nursing education.