Students learn legislative process

On Tuesday, March 12th, the state Student Nurses’ Association of Pennsylvania (SNAP) held their biannual Capitol Hill Step by Step program in Harrisburg. This day served to educate student nurses about healthcare policy and the importance of being informed about guidelines that shape the future of nursing practice. This year’s program featured Attorney General Kathleen Kane who spoke about her experience with nursing and her support for SNAP’s involvement in government policies.


Sophomore Liz Long, Legislative Coordinator for both the SNAP-Villanova chapter and the state SNAP, was one of the coordinators. Liz, shown above (left) with Kane and Ranck, is also a member of the chapter’s Resolutions Committee. 

Liz strongly believes in the need for student and professional nurses to be active participants in healthcare policy; she feels that nurses bring a unique, holistic perspective that must be present in order to create the best policies for the profession and its patients. With the current dynamic and progressive healthcare climate, this unique opportunity provided Liz and other student nurses with a more intimate education of the importance of healthcare policy and how as future nurses they have the power to impact such decisions.

Liz also served as a featured speaker at the first SNAP-Villanova meeting this semester and discussed nursing students' roles in legislative issues. She has formed and headed an enormously successful Resolutions Committee for SNAP-Villanova. Villanova's "Joining Forces...." resolution was passed by the House of Delegates at the state SNAP convention in November and will be presented at the upcoming NSNA convention in Charlotte, NC.

On March 16 and 17, SNAP-Villanova's Freshmen Representatives, Marianna Cesareo and Meghan Long attended the state SNAP's special LEAD workshop for freshmen/sophomore rising leaders. Liz Long, as state Legislative Coordinator, was one of the student leaders.