ESSAY: Identification of Healthcare Policy Concerns

PURPOSE
In this course, the students will have the opportunity to identify a healthcare policy concern and community
healthcare concern which can be improved with a change in policy, ordinance or the language in existing
law. The outcome would be the potential for improved health for a population group. Students will present
a proposed solution or change to an elected official, and provide an analysis of the project. While students
are not responsible for ensuring the implementation of their identified solution to the healthcare policy
concern, the student is required to meet with an elected official to present the concern and
proposed resolution. The purpose of this current assignment is to identify the community-based healthcare
policy concern and provide an extensive evidenced-based foundation for proposing a policy change to an
elected official.

COURSE OUTCOMES
This assignment enables the student to meet the following course outcomes:

CO 1. Employ strategies to impact the development, implementation, and consequences of holistic focused healthcare policies at the institutional, local, national, and international levels using evidence-based practice principles. (PO 1)
CO 3. Demonstrate professional and personal growth regarding the advocacy role of the advance practice nurse in healthcare policy for diverse healthcare settings. (PO 3)
CO 5. Advocate for institutional, local, national, and international policies that influence person-centered healthcare, consumers, and nursing practice. (PO 5)

DUE DATE Sunday 11:59 p.m. MT at the end of Week 2

TOTAL POINTS: 250 points
REQUIREMENTS
Description of the Assignment
For this assignment, the student must first select a healthcare policy concern. The concern must be a community-based, public health policy concern. Student may not use healthcare entities or organizational concerns occurring within a private or public healthcare facility. Scholarly evidence supporting the concern must be presented that provides a comprehensive picture of the selected healthcare concern as well as the student-identified solution. The elected official whom the student will interview is also identified in this paper.
Criteria for Content
1. Overview of healthcare policy: This section introduces healthcare policy. It should contain the following elements:
• Define healthcare policy in general and its implications for the nursing profession
• Define the role of advocacy and how it can impact healthcare policy
• Explain how the role of advocacy is consistent with the responsibilities of an advance practice nurse
2. Identification of selected healthcare policy concern: This section provides foundational information regarding the student-selected healthcare policy concern. It should contain the following elements:
• Specifically identify the selected healthcare policy concern
• Description of the impacted population group
• Provide a comprehensive description of the selected healthcare concern by including:
o How frequently does it occur?
o What impact does the selected healthcare concern have upon the community and population group?
3. Description of student-identified solution to the selected healthcare concern: This section presents a comprehensive picture of the student-selected solution to the selected healthcare concern. It should contain the following elements:
• Identify, with specific detail, the solution to the student-selected healthcare concern
• Identify the following areas:
o What would be the positive outcome if the solution was implemented?
o What changes would need to occur in the community to foster implementation?
o What changes would need to occur in the population group to foster implementation?
o What measureable actions will demonstrate a positive outcome if the solution was implemented?
o What might be 2 (two) challenges to implementing the proposed solution and how can each of these challenges be avoided or resolved?
4. Identification of elected official: This section identifies the elected official that the student will present the selected healthcare concern and its solution to. It should contain the following elements:
• The name of the elected official
• The position of the elected official
• Explanation of why this individual was selected
5. Conclusion: This section provides a comprehensive and concise review of the key elements of the assignment.

Preparing the Assignment
Criteria for Format and Special Instructions
1. The paper (excluding the title page and reference page) should be at least 6, but no more than 10 pages. Points will be lost for not meeting these length requirements.
2. Title page, running head, body of paper, and reference page must follow APA guidelines as found in the 6th edition of the manual. This includes the use of headings for each section of the paper except for the introduction where no heading is used.
3. A minimum of 6 (six) appropriate research-based scholarly references must be used of which 2 may be empirical evidence from state and county website data… (Check with your instructor regarding .org or .gov sites). Required textbook for this course, dictionary and Chamberlain College of Nursing lesson information may NOT be used as scholarly references for this assignment. For additional assistance regarding scholarly nursing references, please see “What is a scholarly source” located in the Course Resources tab. Be aware that information from .com websites may be incorrect and should be avoided. References are current – within a 5-year time frame unless a valid rationale is provided and the instructor has approved them prior to submission of the assignment.
4. Ideas and information from scholarly, peer reviewed, nursing sources must be cited must be cited within the text of the paper as well as appearing in the reference list with correct APA format.
5. Rules of grammar, spelling, word usage, and punctuation are followed and consistent with formal, scientific writing.
6. This assignment must be submitted to TurnItIn™, as required by the TurnItIn™ policy. A Similarity Index of 24% or less must be obtained; this is the benchmark for CCN graduate nursing students. Any other level of similarity index requires the student to revise the assignment before the due date and time. To allow sufficient time for revision, early submission of the assignment to TurnItIn™ is highly encouraged. The final submission will be graded by faculty. If a TurnItin™ report indicates that plagiarism has occurred, the Academic Integrity policy will be followed.

ANSWER

Identification of Healthcare Policy Concerns

Overview of Healthcare Policy

Healthcare policy is decisions, plans, and activities which are to be carried out to reach specific goals in the society. A well planned and documented strategy leads the policy makers all the way to achieving their targets. Decisions and plans included in any policy must be within an individual and organization’s reach to make sure it is well performed. Health care policies are essential in medical institutions since they provide guidance and direction to nurses towards achieving the goal of proper medication and excellent patient care            (Baker, Bloom & Davis, 2016). Systems act like fences, which keep every individual focused and to work towards the primary target.

Advocacy is a process of enabling individuals to express their views freely, access information, services, defend their rights and explore their choices freely to choose what they want. Advocacy is essential when making healthcare policies since it gives a chance for patients to express their views and concerns about the problems they are experiencing. Nurses and other medical practitioners also use advocacy to air complains about the limitations they face while taking care of patients. With all these views, policymakers can formulate policies that will impact positively on both patients and the nurses (Roski, Bo-Linn & Andrews, 2014). Advocacy defends individuals’ rights, which make it possible for anyone to express their views without fear or intimidation.

Advance practice nurses supervise and guide other regular nurses on how to handle cases of different patients. They also ensure that the nurses have a comfortable working environment to provide the best services to patients. It clearly shows how both advocates and nurses work towards the same goal of ensuring the best healthcare provision (Baker et al., 2016). Though from different paths, the two works to provide patient care is adequate and nurses are treated accordingly to be able to deliver.

The healthcare concern identified is suicide prevention and education for school-aged children.

Suicide Prevention and Education for School Aged Children The community of Spotsylvania County in Virginia has been experiencing cases of suicide in children lately, and the rate is increasing each day. Therefore, a solution needs to be identified early enough before the act affects the structure of the community entirely. The only answer a child in this community sees for any problem is committing suicide so that he/she does not face the challenge again in …