Discuss an
example of how a nurse leader was successful in spearheading change
within an organization, institution, or the government that impacted
healthcare policy. What driving forces led to the nurse leader’s
success? What obstacles were encountered and how were they addressed.
***Please respond to this peers response
Representative
Lauren Underwood is a trained nurse member of the House Democratic
Policy and Communications Committee. She is also co-chair of the Black
Maternal Health Caucus and one of its founders. She served as a Senior
Advisor at the U.S. DOH and Human Services (Underwood, n.d.),
where she managed the Affordable Care Act’s implementation and
instructed future nurse practitioners. She graduated from the University
of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University. Drawing on the work of the
Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Representative Lauren Underwood presented a
resolution in 2021 declaring April 11–17 to be Black Maternal Health
Week. The Black Maternal Health Caucus was founded due to a resolution
sponsored by Sen. Kamala Harris and Rep. Alma Adams, which Underwood
co-chaired.
The Caucus advocates policy solutions to enhance outcomes and
eliminate disparities while bringing attention to the Black maternal
health crisis in Congress. Promoting health equity for all racial and
ethnic minorities is the goal of April’s National Minority Health Month.
More than a hundred Caucus members work to guarantee Black women’s and
children’s rights, dignity, and access to services before, during, and
after pregnancy. Maternal healthcare inequities and the U.S. maternal
mortality issue were the focus of the 2020 and 2021 Black Maternal
Health Momnibus Act (Underwood, 2022).
The Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act improves data collection,
expands and diversifies the perinatal workforce, funds programs that
increase access to mental health treatments and support for mothers,
studies the risks to maternal health that pregnant veterans face and
invests in community-based organizations.
Lauren Underwood launched the Momnibus Act in 2020 to
eliminate racial inequities in the medicalized birthing process. The law
aims to expand government financing for doulas and other
paraprofessionals who reduce the likelihood of complicated deliveries (Black Maternal Health, 2022).
The COVID-19 epidemic caused the bill to stall once it was reintroduced
into the House with President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Framework.
However, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin refused to support the measure,
ending its progress in the Senate, and this is one of the challenges she
faced. The fate of the Momnibus legislation will depend on Underwood’s
ability to hammer out a deal with Manchin, which may jeopardize both
frameworks’ effectiveness.
REFERENCES:
Black maternal health. (2022, June 15). Congresswoman Alma Adams. https://adams.house.gov/issues/black-maternal-health
Underwood, L. (n.d.). Balancing maternal equity and political compromise. Lauren Underwood 14th District of Illinois. https://journals.tulane.edu/ncs/article/view/3783
Underwood, L. (2022, June 24). Biography. Representative Lauren Underwood. https://underwood.house.gov/about/biography
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