Finally, nursing leadership must extend to questions of broader public policy. Mc Teer, for example, argues that nurses must "acknowledge their larger role on the public policy-setting stage, " saying they "must find it witin themselves......to lead, guide, direct , and influence the public debate about science and technology.21 she calls this the most perplexing but crucial challenge for nursing leadership.McTeer bases her argument on the observation that because of the vast range of settings and situations in which nurses practise,their " specific experience and direct knowledge have earned them a special role in the setting of the policy agenda to create the rules and regulations ther will govern science and technology in the
futre. 22 Nurses similarly have exerted an historic role in the push for publicly funded health care accessible on the basis of need and not the ability to pey-as a basic human right. That leadership is more important than ever as economic woes beleaguer governments and service providers. Here the leadership of nurse scientists and policy experts must be brought to bear by asking the right questions,seeking answers and positioning nursing voices at policy decision -making tables