Proposes nurse stages of political engagement. Read over this description of nursing's stages and reflect on how your profession parallels or differs from that of nursing. Consider professional associations that represent your profession, lobbists, and the evidence you have about your professions image and influence in the political arena.

Often a collective voice is heard more loudly than an individual voice. Does your profession have a professional association which represents your profession's issues on a state or national level? If so, share with your collegues the name, website and main positions of the organization. What are the membership dues for this organization? Does the association have a policy statement clearly indicated in their public materials? How well do your values alsogn with those of this association you are analyzing?

If your profession does not have an organization, you may vist the Health Profession Network (HPN) site to see if your profession may be represented there along with other Allied Health members.