As you read about the civic voluntarism model, it will help you better understand why you have or have not participated in political activities. Your parent’s socioeconomic status is a strong predictor of your participation. Family income is a factor that impacts your participation as well as your parent’s educational attainment. As previously mentioned, nurses who have advanced degrees are more likely to participate in politics compared to Licensed Vocational Nurses. Now that you are entering into the health profession, you must consider whether you will get involved in politics and your community. As a result of taking this course, you will at least have a baseline of your current political participation and how your family and other agents of socialization have influenced you to this point in your life. The next step is to begin thinking about why participation is important as a health professional especially knowing the majority of nursing students (80 percent) report their nursing courses lacked political content and did not prepare them for political participation. Therefore, do you plan to engage in any of the following activities?

• voting
• discussing politics
• contacting elected officials
• speaking at public gatherings
• participating in demonstrations
• membership in nursing organizations

By being politically engaged, you can participate in influencing legislative changes in health policy. Considering the current state of healthcare policies in the U.S., this is a critical time for our nation to craft new policies concerning access, cost, and quality of healthcare. As a future health professional, you have the opportunity to help craft these policies using the expertise and experience you will gain in your profession.