The Nursing Policy and Outcome Center (NPOC) was established by Faculty of Nursing, Chiang Mai University supported by the China Medical Board in 2006. The first center of its kind in South East Asia, it informs and mentors policy makers, researchers, educators and practicing nurses. It was established to stimulate the role of nursing within policy making by enabling nurses working in different settings to participate in policy development, nursing quality and health outcomes. This is facilitated through the analysis of policies at local, national and international level that impact nursing, conducting research and then suggesting new policies or modifying existing ones. NPOC is consulted on nursing policy through its outcome research and it works collaboratively with other disciplines in the nursing community.
The Center Director is Professor Dr. Wipada Kunaviktikul, a mentor and facilitator of nurses and faculty who wish to contribute to the policy making process. She is driven by an awareness that nurses make up the majority of health personnel but research shows that they do not have adequate opportunity to contribute to policy formulation and revision. They tend to work solely at the implementation level but the knowledge and experience they can provide means they have a vital role to play. NPOC supports efforts to ensure that nurses working at all levels, from hospitals, to the community and academia can have the opportunity to contribute to policy making.
So how do nurses input into the policy making process?
There are three steps to policy development. The first is policy formulation, then policy implementation and finally, policy revision. Nurses can report from the field and give input to about what is working and what is not. Thus policy formulation can respond directly to information gleaned from real interactions with patients and the community. This recognizes the fact that nurses are best placed to identify the current and most relevant policy issues that need addressing and to help set priorities.
As the first center of its kind in Thailand, NPOC is proud of its role and cognizant of the responsibilities of nurses as leaders in healthcare. The World Health Organization encourages nurses and midwives to be involved in health policy formulation. NPOC has recommended that nursing education from the beginning of training through to PhD level, make nursing students aware of the role they can play in policy formulation in order to have a real impact on the health of our communities and society.
NPOC Director Dr. Wipada explains, “We encourage nurses to disseminate their research findings and practice innovations in order to share their knowledge and experiences globally through publication. Here at NPOC we have published research on critical issues such as the effect of extended working hours on medical staff which has an impact on patients, nurses and organizational outcomes. We have also published a study on the issues impacting the quality of nursing doctoral education globally.”
This research has been published in national and international academic journals including the International Nursing Review and the Journal of Advanced Nursing. To aid relevant study, the center has developed a database of more than a thousand abstracts relevant to the field of nursing administration which can be used in the implementation of research recommendations as well as to improve nursing administration, practice, research and education.
NPOC is currently contributing to health policy planning in other areas too including elderly care, childhood development, healthy communities and occupational policy planning by working with other Centers of Excellence at the faculty of Nursing Chiang Mai University(FONCMU). The center provides other services too such as the hosting of meetings, health seminars and research presentations, training facilitation, conferences and guest speakerships.
NPOC is one of several long standing and strong collaborations with the China Medical Board, and both organizations have learned a lot from one another. NPOC intends to continue to build on their previous work. As more researchers join NPOC as the Faculty of Nursing expands, NPOC will more deeply engage in work that will benefit the health of our communities.