A professional nursing organization recently drew a line between policy and politics, and said nurses belong on one side of it. We disagree, and this replay explains why.

In this episode, Jamie and Melissa Anne provide an update to the conversation that started the show: what led each of us into nursing, and why nursing knowledge belongs in the public square. Jamie makes the case that politics is a reflection of values, values are a reflection of ethics, and nurses already practice from a code that obligates them to engage in the democratic process and to speak against policy that undermines health equity.

Melissa Anne brings the view from nursing education, where she now teaches students in a direct-entry master's program. We get into the real drivers of the nursing shortage, which is not a shortage of applicants but of faculty, clinical placements, and newer nurses not making it past year three of practice. And we push back hard on resilience training as the profession's default answer to moral distress. You can prepare a nurse for grief. You cannot prepare a nurse to be prevented from practicing ethically. That requires systemic change, not a tougher workforce.

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The views and opinions expressed on Nursing the Nation are our own and do not represent those of our employers, academic institutions, or any organization we're affiliated with.