ANA\C The Nursing Voice Summer 2019

anacalifornia.org  .  15 The Nursing Students in Sacramento Internship is a unique experience awarded to nursing students through a partnership between American Nurses’ Association\California (ANA\C) and the California Nursing Students’ Association (CNSA). While in Sacramento, student nurses were given the opportunity to see how nurses play an important role in advocacy and policy making. On their first day, student nurses joined California registered nurses for RN Day at the State Capitol to hear about current bills related to healthcare and how to promote the nursing per- spective on these issues. During their meetings with the ANA\C executive staff and lobbyist, they were given guidance on how to approach their legislators and discuss issues that are important NSSI 2019 Corner Nursing Students’ Reflection on Sacramento Internship Our professional identity and purpose are dependent upon our commitment to advocacy. Nicole Perrin Victoria Shirley Michael Muela to us. Student nurses had the opportunity to meet with their respective legislators and their staff in order to establish relation- ships and promote the nursing profession. During these meet- ings, students discussed the importance of nurses practicing to their full scope, access and affordability of healthcare for all, our concerns on workplace violence, and the bills that correspond with these issues. The students were able to attend committee hearings to understand the legislative process and hear conversa- tions pertaining to bills that interested us. Overall, the student nurses found this experience to be infor- mative, inspiring, and enjoyable. Not only were ANA\C staff and lobbyists wonderful hosts, the student nurses gained from their expertise. The Sacramento Internship program has inspired the student nurses to continue to grow as leaders and advocates as they further develop their nursing career. This is a tremendous opportunity and that is highly recommended to any nursing student. Nicole Perrin is from the Bay Area and will be graduating from San Diego State University in May 2019. She hopes to work in pediatrics and possibly pursue graduate education in the future. “I really enjoyed being able to discover my voice in politics and learn the ways I, as a future nurse, can speak up about issues in my profession. Thank you to ANA\C for this fascinating experience.” Victoria Shirley is from San Diego. She will be graduating from San Diego City College with an ADN in May 2019 and persuing a Bachelor’s degree in the fall. She hopes to pursue critical care nursing and eventually return to academia as a professor of nursing. “It was great to learn about advocacy and the legislative process from experts like Marketa Houskova and Roxanne Gould. ANA\C does great work to keep California nurses informed and involved in policy.” Michael Muela is from the Coachella Valley and will be graduat- ing from California State University, San Bernardino in June. He hopes to work in critical care, and eventually move into public health nursing and health policy. “This was one of the greatest learning experiences I’ve had in my nursing education. Meeting my legislators and state policymakers was incredibly exciting. I loved the last three days with the ANA\C.” www.anacalifornia.org/testimonials