Transcendent Pluralism and the Influence of Nursing Testimony on Environmental Justice Legislation

Abstract

Environmental justice is an important issue affecting health disparities. Using the framework of transcendent pluralism, this article describes nursing actions and research in a legislative coalition for an environmental justice bill. Two descriptive studies are conducted: a focus group with six legislative aides and an evaluation of a nursing presentation given to 10 Massachusetts state legislators. Pretest and posttest results showed a small but significant increase in the legislators’ disposition toward the bill; the mean score increased from 5.4 to 5.9 (p = .037). Legislators perceived nurses as lobbying more for nursing profession issues than general health issues (score of 6.3 vs. 4.6; p = .009). Guidelines for lobbying that emerged from the data are included. The author argues that nursing knowledge should play a vital role in public policy and that nurses need to broaden their efforts beyond professional issues to the larger issues that influence a healthy human society.