Advocate South Suburban Hospital recently hosted a panel of elected officials and nursing educators to discuss current and potential issues impacting health care.

The event was held Monday at the hospital in Hazel Crest, Ill. Participants included state Sen. Maggie Crotty, D-Oak Forest; state Rep. Will Davis, D-East Hazel Crest; state Rep. Al Riley, D-Matteson; and Professor Nancy MacMullen, the interim chief of the nursing program at Governors State University.

The forum's purpose was to educate hospital employees about the legislative process and provide a format for open dialogue between frontline caregivers and the elected officials.

"The decisions made by legislators have the potential to make a huge impact on our profession and health care in general," said the event's moderator Lori Beyer, manager of Advocate South Suburban Hospital's Family Birth Center. "It is important that we share our knowledge and expertise to help educate lawmakers about the issues important to nursing, the hospital and our patients."

MacMullen provided insight on how measures to encourage nurses to become educators could improve conditions for bedside nurses and help alleviate the nationwide shortage. The legislators shared information about issues pending locally, in Springfield, and nationally that could shape health care. They encouraged the audience to participate in the legislative process by reaching out to their elected officials and becoming civically engaged.

Beyer represents Advocate South Suburban Hospital on Advocate Health Care's Nurse Advocacy Council. The council is a self-governed council of frontline nurses that works to educate and empower Advocate's 7,000 professional nurses - the largest nursing audience in Illinois - on legislative issues impacting their profession.

- THE TIMES