title: 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.
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, USA.
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Perry
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000517:prevention & control; D004782:Environmental Health / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008119:Lobbying; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts; D009729:Nursing; D010684:Philosophy; D012935:Social Justice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014481:United States; D035862:Vulnerable Populations