Triggers for nursing policy action: Getting to the critical point to solving “ordinary problems” in nursing

Two “ordinary problem” policy issues are analyzed, with the examination of how nurses, individually and organizationally, collaborated and advocated to address these issues by triggering local, state, and national action by stakeholders. Ultimately, the policy process through which nurses arrived at a Critical Point that triggered policy‐based action to resolve these “ordinary problems” is presented. The first nursing issue is the national nursing shortage of 1966, which led to political action by members of the American Nurses Association, with policy implications focused on increasing the salary of the newly graduated nurse. The second nursing issue is that of needle‐stick injuries experienced by health‐care workers with analysis of the actions of individual nurses and nursing organizations’ stakeholders that triggered the development of state and federal laws, regulations, and policies that protect health‐care workers from these injuries. Common filters affecting triggers for policy action are integrated throughout the policy dialogue.