Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson is a nurse by profession. Johnson served as a nurse in Texas before she was elected in 1993 to represent the 30th Congressional District of Texas which she represents to date, making her the first nurse to serve in the United States Congress (Pollitt, 2020). Congresswoman Johnson has played a critical role in advocating for nurses’ role as advocates for public health because she introduced bill H.R. 1597 that the U.S. Congress passed to become the National Nurse Act of 2019.
The National Nurse Act of 2019 established the office of the National Nurse, improving healthcare delivery since nurses participate in national policy formulation. Before, nurses did not have a national office to advocate for their rights and be involved in formulating federal healthcare policy. The roles and responsibilities of the National nurse include serving as the national spokesperson for nurses in policy, preventative medicine, and leadership, working together with the Surgeon General’s office to identify and address national health priorities, advocating for healthcare professionals to work with community programs to improve health, increase emergency preparedness and public safety and prepare and submit biennial reports to the U.S congress on nurses working in the U.S Public Health Service (U.S Congress, 2019). The National Nurse Act of 2019 has helped to address health disparities because the federal government provides funding for community nursing programs which helps to increase healthcare access among vulnerable populations in the United States. Hence, congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson has used her nursing background to address health disparities through the enactment of the National Nurse Act of 2019, increasing the role that nurses play in national healthcare formulation by creating the office of the National Nurse, which works in collaboration with the Office of the Surgeon General to provide preventative care and advocate for healthcare access among all Americans.
Eddie Bernice Johnson’s main contribution is the passage of bill H.R. 1597, which became the National Nurse Act of 2019 after its adoption by the U.S Congress. Johnson used her nursing background to lobby for the bill’s passage because she knows nurses play a critical role in promoting healthcare since they spend more time with communities and patients than physicians. The importance of Eddie Bernice Johnson was that she helped to address health disparities and advocate for better working rights for nurses at the national level through her work as a representative of the 30th Congressional District of Texas in the U.S. Congress.
References
Pollitt, P. A. (2020). Nurses in Congress: Eddie Bernice Johnson – UNCG. libres.uncg.edu/ir/asu/f/Pollitt_Phoebe_2020_Nurses%20in%20Congress_Eddie%20Johnson.pdf
U.S Congress. (7 March 2019). Congresswoman Johnson introduces national nurse act of 2019. ebjohnson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/congre
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