The Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing at UC Irvine is one of the few DNP programs that has a stand-alone class on Health Politics and Policy. The course and practicum is taught by Susanne Phillips, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN, who has a passion for health policy and has won many accolades for her advocacy work.
The class encourages students to meet with their local elected officials and attend public meetings. Recently, the class heard firsthand from two high ranking nurses about the important voices and perspectives nurses bring to health politics and policy. “It’s one of the best parts of what I do,” said Phillips, “bringing the doctoral students these ‘real people, real nurses.”
The Honorable Chief Lynn Malerba, DNP, RN, Former Treasurer of the United States, and the Honorable Gale Adcock, MSN, FNP, North Carolina Senator of the 16th District shared their experiences in government and bringing the nursing lens to policy development. Both discussed the importance of bringing policymakers together to have constructive conversations about the issues we have in our healthcare systems and how the focus should be on what is right for the patient.
Malerba, lifetime chief of the Mohegan Tribe, is also known Chief Many Hearts because she was a cardiac nurse. She is the first Native American to hold the position of Treasurer of the United States.
Adcock served four terms in the North Carolina House before joining the state Senate in 2023 as the first nurse ever elected to that Chamber. She was a family nurse practitioner and president of the North Carolina Nurses Association.
Following a short presentation by each official, every student asks a question to encourage interaction.
DNP student Pantea Vahidi shared the value of this unique class:
“The practicum experience truly opened my eyes to issues, policies, and processes I had never encountered before. Through my outreach to local government officials and participation in county advisory meetings to fulfill the practicum requirements, new doors have opened that previously did not exist.
As with most things in life, you get out what you put in. Given I was genuinely passionate about learning more, I did not attend just any City Council meeting to log hours. I actively sought out health-related initiatives and became involved with my county’s Behavioral Health Task Force. I have continued that involvement, and there is now potential to
collaborate with the County on enhancing its behavioral health workforce well-being programs.”
