www.wocn.org/legislative
Web site for the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society. Legislative news specific to the specialty of WOC/ET nursing. News is archived, so older items are still available. Since it is maintained by volunteer WOC/ET nurses, updates may not be as timely as with some larger organizations.

www.nursingworld.org
Web site for the American Nurses Association. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing includes general nursing policy topics. News features also alert readers to immediate action needed on legislative issues. Source for data about nursing profession.

www.nih.gov/ninr
Web site of the National Institute for Nursing Research. A first stop for planning nursing research projects. CRISP, an online database of federally funded biomedical research projects, allows users to see where the money has already been allocated. Lists of funding programs are also available. Users can also access the National Library of Medicine's PubMed and Medline Plus databases for electronic literature searches. For the novice researcher, there is an online research training program.

www.ahcpr.gov
Web site of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The State and Local Policymakers Liaison program provides resources to assist in educating legislators about healthcare issues. Research topics and Fact Sheets include material that would be helpful in educating both consumers and legislators about particular health issues that have been well researched. Need data to explain the scope of persons affected with a particular health problem? The HCUPnet and MEPS tabs provide access to statistics about hospital utilization (searchable by diagnosis or procedure) and medical expenditures.

www.publicagenda.org
Web site of Public Agenda, a public opinion and policy analysis organization. This site should be book marked by anyone holding or aspiring to public office. Chances are, it is not (especially if the individual is a novice), so you may surprise a candidate or official with your command of public opinion. Site includes survey findings about a variety of issues, including health care. Very simple, clear explanations of issues, simple, illustrative graphics, and clear explanations of cautions in interpretation of some data make this a site that is easy to use, even if you hate statistics.

www.apha.org
Web site of the American Public Health Association. The Government Relations and Policy Section is a treasure. Included are all of the policy statements the association has ever made, since 1948, archived for retrieval. Action Alerts include sample letters for legislators that can be customized (suggestions are even offered on how to do this). There are even Fact Sheets suitable for distribution to legislators, aides, and anyone else you might have to convince to achieve your policy goals. Although the issues are public health and may be broader in scope than most WOC/ET nurses are seeking, this site provides an excellent role model for how it should be done.

www.archives.gov
Web site of the United States National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Want to read the Federal Register from the comfort of your own home? This is site. Users can also access all of the historical records of Congress, so that you can trace the progress (or death) of a particular piece of legislation. There is also a section on grant funding available that might be of value to WOC/ET nurses interested in beginning to catalog and archive the important records of our specialty.

www.nurseadvocate.org
Web site titled Nurse Advocate: nurses and workplace violence. This site is a compendium of news and links to information about violence toward nurses in the workplace. Includes research news, informative definitions, and a nice link to the International Council of Nurses Guidelines on coping with workplace violence. Might be especially useful to WOC/ET nurses practicing in settings where personal safety is compromised, but this topic should be a concern to all nurses.

www.cdc.gov/nchs
Site of the Center for Disease Control's National Center for Health Statistics. This is a comprehensive source of data from large national surveys suitable for secondary data analysis. Of particular interest to WOC/ET nurses will be data regarding insurance coverage among persons under age 65, as we work to advocate on behalf of persons with need for medical supplies. Preliminary data from Healthy People 2010 will also be found here, so WOC/ET nurses can follow progress on the Pressure Ulcer goal.

www.talkingquality.gov
Web site of the Work Group on Consumer Health Care Information. This is a very helpful site in preparing data presentations for UOA, civic or other lay groups. Site guides users through the process of preparing to present information in a way that might help consumers understand it, and motivate them to work for legislative action.

www.surgenongeneral.gov/sgoffice.htm
Web site of the Office of the Surgeon General of the United States. Links to the United States Public Health Service, Healthy People 2010, and Healthfinder, a consumer information site are here. The News and Public Affairs section of the site provides access to press releases and talk papers that are excellent public policy resources. There is also a section on the Office for Human Research Protections that will be of interest to all WOC/ET nurses conducting or assisting in research activities.

www.guideline.gov
Web site for the National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC), a public resource for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. NGC is sponsored jointly by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the American Medical Association, and the American Association of Health Plans. The absence of a nursing presence is precisely why nurses need to be aware of these guidelines, which will undoubtedly be used for public policy decisions that may affect patients. WOC/ET nurses who have been in practice for a few years can recall the use of "science" to justify non-payment for behavioral interventions for urinary incontinence. Users can subscribe to a weekly e-mail update service. There is a section with evidence reports, which I could not get to load.