Word cloud generators have become popular tools for meetings and team-building events. Groups or teams are asked to use these applications to input words they feel best describe their team or their role. A “word cloud” is generated by the application that makes prominent the most-used terms, offering an image of the common thinking among participants of that role.

What types of words would you use to build a nursing word cloud? Empathetic, organized, hard-working, or advocate would all certainly apply. Would you add policy-maker to your list? Do you think it would be a very prominent component of the word cloud?

Nursing has become one of the largest professions in the world, and as such, nurses have the potential to influence policy and politics on a global scale. When nurses influence the politics that improve the delivery of healthcare, they are ultimately advocating for their patients. Hence, policy-making has become an increasingly popular term among nurses as they recognize a moral and professional obligation to be engaged in healthcare legislation.

To Prepare:

• Revisit the Congress.gov website provided in the Resources and consider the role of RNs and APRNs in policy-making.
• Reflect on potential opportunities that may exist for RNs and APRNs to participate in the policy-making process.

By Day 3 of Week 8

Post an explanation of at least two opportunities that exist for RNs and APRNs to actively participate in policy-making. Explain some of the challenges that these opportunities may present and describe how you might overcome these challenges. Finally, recommend two strategies you might make to better advocate for or communicate the existence of these opportunities to participate in policy-making. Be specific and provide examples.

By Day 6 of Week 8

Respond to at least two of your colleagues’* posts by suggesting additional opportunities or recommendations for overcoming the challenges described by your colleagues.

*Note: Throughout this program, your fellow students are referred to as colleagues. Everything should be in APA 7 formart. At least 3 references all  with DOI number and at least 3 paragraphs for mainpost and 2 for replies.’

Discussion for reply one  (Guy)

RNs and APRNs have crucial roles in health care to inform decisions of policy making. There are many opportunities that exist for nursing professionals to participate in policy making. According to Burke (2016), “It’s essential that policies exist that define and integrate appropriate standards for delivery of care and address conditions necessary for that care to occur. Through policy work, nurses can and should influence practice standards and processes to assure quality of care. Nurses who influence policy help share the care that will be provided today and tomorrow. Policies also impact resource allocation to support delivery of healthcare”.

One opportunity that exists for nurses to become active in policy making is to become a member of the American Nurses Association. According to Catallo, Spalding, & Haghiri-Vijeh (2014), “Policy products that the ANA offers include a “policy activist took kit”. As part of this took kit, RNs are provided with resources that include how to get involved in a political campaign, writing letters to the editor, how to engage politicians and carry out lobbying activities”. The article “Nursing Professional Organizations: What Are They Doing to Engage Nurses in Health Policy?” discusses how nurses can become engaged in health policy activities and how to address policy issues.

Another opportunity that exists for nurses to become active in policy making is to advance their education by becoming an APRN. According to Regis College (n.d), “Nurse practitioners have an opportunity to serve as advocates for patients, families, communities, other nurses, and health care organizations. Through this advocacy, nurse practitioners can influence health care policy. By gaining a comprehensive understanding in particular areas of health care, nurse practitioners are uniquely situated to support positions that will benefit out communities”. Becoming an APRN prepares your ability to participate in advocacy of health care policy making.

A strategy that can be used to promote nursing professionals involvement in policy making is to do so through nursing employers. For example, I would propose to create and implement a “Policy Committee” through my hospital organization to discuss the potential nurse advocacy benefits we can offer to policy making. In addition, as mentioned by Catallo et al,. (2014), to convey “Political awareness and understanding of the importance of being involved in nursing organizations, time to engage in policy development outside of nursing work, and resources to develop skills in policy participation”.

Another strategy that can be implemented to overcome to barriers of nursing involvement in policy making is to do so through nursing education. According to Short (2008), “The foundations for a professional understanding of health care policy should be well laid in formal education and synthesized with practice and work environments. Without time to promote synthesis of policy concepts related to the practice environment, nurses have no basis for further exploration and may remain naive to the influences of policy throughout their career”. If nursing students (RN or APRN) were exposed to health care policy and the influence their roles can have on policy making during their nursing education, there would be much more nursing involvement in health care policy that is needed today.

References

Burke, A. (2016). Influence Through Policy: Nurses Have a Unique Role. Retrieved October 18, 2020 from https://nursingcentered.sigmanursing.org/commentary/more-commentary/Vol42_2_nurses-have-a-unique-role.

Catallo, C., Spalding, K., & Haghiri-Vijeh, R. (2014). Nursing Professional Organizations: What Are They Doing to Engage Nurses in Health Policy? SAGE Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244014560534

Regis College (n.d). How Does Nursing Influence Health Care Policy? Retrieved October 18, 2020 from https://online.regiscollege.edu/blog/how-does-nursing-influence-health-care-policy/

Short N. M. (2008). Influencing health policy: strategies for nursing education to partner with nursing practice. Journal of professional nursing: official journal of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. 24(5), 264–269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2007.10.004

Discussion for reply two(Megan)

“The design phase of the policy process is the point at which the original intent of a solution to a problem is understood and the appropriate tools are employed to achieve policy success” (Milstead, 2019). The creation of policies, or presenting your idea, is how nurses can participate in policymaking. Actively working in the nursing field can help nurses see problems that arise and a better solution to patient needs. Bringing these ideas to congress to make changes will benefit the need of the patients. “Nurses’ influence in health policies protects patient safety, increases quality of care, and facilitates their access to the required resources and promotes quality health care” (Arabi et al., 2014).

Advocacy is another way that nurses can participate in policymaking. “We have been patient advocates in our interactions with doctors and administrators, why not with Congress“ (L. Phillips, 2020). Nurses should feel excited and empowered that they get to have a voice in the political world to make healthcare changes. Advocating for our patients is our duty, and I cannot think of a better way to do this than policy creation or changes. “As a component of professional nursing, active participation in the policy process is essential in the formulation of policies designed to provide quality health care at sustainable costs to all individuals” (Milstead, 2019).

Some of the challenges nurses face when getting involved with policymaking are getting push back from legislators and finding the evidence-based practice to support ideas. Nurses must band together and fight for what we know is right and what our patients need. Becoming an active member of a nursing organization can help support new policies or change old policies. Support strength comes in numbers. Having multiple people that share the same ideas will decrease pushback. Finding evidence-based practice to support our ideas may pose a problem, but putting in work to find or create research will be worth it, in the end, to help our patients with new or changed policies. Also, becoming a member of a nursing association can assist with finding or creating evidence-based practice.

The strategies I think will help advocate for these opportunities is being involved in a nursing association and providing courses like this to nurses. I know I spoke of nursing associations already, but I cannot think of a better way to come together and share our similar experiences and ideas to improve processes and policies to assist our patients. Providing courses like this to help educate nurses and get them involved in politics helps drive home the importance of our voices.

References

Arabi, A., Rafii, F., Cheraghi, M., & Ghiyasvandian, S. (2014, May 19). Nurses’ policy influence: A concept analysis. PubMed Central (PMC). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4061635/

Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Pg.  97

Phillips, R. (2003). Health Care Policy: The Nurse’s Crucial Role. American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing. https://www.aaacn.org/volunteer/teams/legislative/health-care-policy-nurses-crucial-role

The practice of health care providers at all levels brings you into contact with people from a variety of faiths. This calls for knowledge and understanding of a diversity of faith expressions; for the purpose of this course, the focus will be on the Christian worldview.

Based on “Case Study: End of Life Decisions,” the Christian worldview, and the worldview questions presented in the required topic study materials you will complete an ethical analysis of George’s situation and his decision from the perspective of the Christian worldview.

Provide a 1,500-2,000-word ethical analysis while answering the following questions:

1. How would George interpret his suffering in light of the Christian narrative, with an emphasis on the fallenness of the world?
2. How would  George interpret his suffering in light of the Christian narrative, with an emphasis on the hope of resurrection?
3. As George contemplates life with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), how would the Christian worldview inform his view about the value of his life as a person?
4. What sorts of values and considerations would the Christian worldview focus on in deliberating about whether or not George should opt for euthanasia?
5. Given the above, what options would be morally justified in the Christian worldview for George and why?
6. Based on your worldview, what decision would you make if you were in George’s situation?

Remember to support your responses with the topic study materials.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide. An abstract is required.

This assignment uses a rubric.You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.

1. Bioethics: A Primer for Christians

Read Chapters 6 and 12 in Bioethics: A Primer for Christians.

http://gcumedia.com/digital-resources/wm-b-eerdmans-publishing-co/2013/bioethics_a-primer-for-christians_ebook_3e.php
2. Called to Care: A Christian Worldview for Nursing

Read Chapters 10-12 in Called to Care: A Christian Worldview for Nursing.

http://gcumedia.com/digital-resources/intervarsity-press/2006/called-to-care_a-christian-worldview-for-nursing_ebook_2e.php

3. Defining Death: Medical, Legal and Ethical Issues in the Determination of Death

Read the Introduction and Chapters 1-3 of “Defining Death: Medical, Legal and Ethical Issues in the Determination of Death” by the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research (1984).

https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/559345/defining_death.pdf?sequence=1

Rubric

1. Analysis of how the man would interpret his suffering in light of the Christian narrative and the fallenness of the world is clear and demonstrates a deep understanding that is skillfully supported by topic study materials. 12%
2. Analysis of how the man would interpret his suffering in light of the Christian narrative and the hope of resurrection is clear and demonstrates a deep understanding that is skillfully supported by topic study materials. 12%
3. Analysis of how the Christian worldview of the man might inform his view about the value of his life as a person with ALS is clear and demonstrates a deep understanding that is skillfully supported by topic study materials.12%
4. Evaluation of which values and considerations the Christian worldview focuses on when deliberating the option of euthanasia for the man is clear and demonstrates a deep understanding that is skillfully supported by topic study materials. 12%
5. Evaluation of which options would be justified in the Christian worldview for the man is clear and demonstrates a deep understanding that is skillfully supported by topic study materials. 12%
6. Reflection hypothesis of which personal choices would be make if faced with ALS based on personal worldview is clear, relevant, and insightful. 10%
7. Thesis is comprehensive and contains the essence of the paper. Thesis statement makes the purpose of the paper clear. 7%
8. Clear and convincing argument presents a persuasive claim in a distinctive and compelling manner. All sources are authoritative. 8%
9. Writer is clearly in command of standard, written, academic English. 5%
10. All format elements are correct.5%
11. Sources are completely and correctly documented, as appropriate to assignment and style, and format is free of error. 5%

In the Module 4 Discussion, you considered how professional nurses can become involved in policy-making. A critical component of any policy design is evaluation of the results. How comfortable are you with the thought of becoming involved with such matters?

Some nurses may be hesitant to get involved with policy evaluation. The preference may be to focus on the care and well-being of their patients; some nurses may feel ill-equipped to enter the realm of policy and political activities. However, as you have examined previously, who better to advocate for patients and effective programs and polices than nurses? Already patient advocates in interactions with doctors and leadership, why not with government and regulatory agencies?

In this Discussion, you will reflect on the role of professional nurses in policy evaluation.

To Prepare:

• In the Module 4 Discussion, you considered how professional nurses can become involved in policy-making.
• Review the Resources and reflect on the role of professional nurses in policy evaluation.

By Day 3 of Week 9

Post an explanation of at least two opportunities that currently exist for RNs and APRNs to actively participate in policy review. Explain some of the challenges that these opportunities may present and describe how you might overcome these challenges. Finally, recommend two strategies you might make to better advocate for or communicate the existence of these opportunities. Be specific and provide examples.

Reply to the discussion (Taylor)-Needs 2 paragraph and at least 3 references

Policy Review in Nursing

Main Question Post- Nurses need to be a part of the policy review process to better their organizations and careers. Nurses can participate in policy review by joining a professional nursing organization. According to (Derouin 2019), professional organizations are “asked to assist with data collection and eventual dissemination of summative evaluation data” (p. 122). With nurses helping to gather data, they can participate in policy review by gathering information and knowledge to better a policy and evaluating the outcomes. Professional organizations are a great way to learn from others in your organization and get their opinion on policy review. Nurses can also participate in policy review by using evidence-based research and data to contact their legislation regarding health policy issues or concerns. During policy review, gathering reliable information and reflecting on it can help improve research and implement better policy. By presenting legislation with a concrete proposal to enhance policy, the review process will help improve any issues. Nurses will better understand the importance of policy review by being an active participant.

Challenges may arise when you mix nurses and policy review. When joining a professional organization, you may deal with the others’ opinions that you don’t quite agree upon. Professional organizations help build your networking team, but if your ideas and opinions don’t match others, it can make it difficult for you to build a strong team. According to Derouin (2019), a few challenges to health policy evaluation include lack of resources to complete assessment, lack of comparative results, and social media. Lack of resources could be a challenge, but joining a professional organization can provide you with many resources for a policy review. Lack of results could be a challenge, but engaging in evidence-based research can help you form a proposal to send to the legislature to improve policy review. With the upcoming presidential election, health policy has been discussed a lot on social media. Social media is a great way to discuss and learn the opinions of others. Using social media, Professional Nursing Organizations can share policy information amongst their members and followers (Waddell, 2018). Social media and ever-changing technology can help nursing challenges when participating in policy review, such as HIPPA violations. Policy evaluation “serves as the key to improving quality, safety, efficiency of clinical practice as well as assessing the impact of emerging innovations and science (Polit & Peck, 2012)” (Derouin, 2019, p. 118). Whether it’s through joining a professional organization, accessing social media, or using evidence-based research, nurses need to be active participants in policy review to better their profession, organization, and communities.

Strategies to communicate issues between nurses and policy review are essential. Gazarian et al. (2020) recommended the using research over how to put health policy into action to help determine ways to improve health care.  One strategy to help with writing to the legislature regarding policy review would be to use writing resources, like Grammarly, to help with punctuation and plagiarism. Another approach when writing to legislation would be to research evidence-based data using reliable and credible databases. Nurses need to use evidence-based research to improve health policy as well as healthcare as a whole. The ability to search for reliable and up-to-date information will help you construct a solid proposal to present to the legislature. A strategy to advocate about joining professional organizations would be to reach out to fellow APRNs in your community. Communicate and see if they are involved in any professional organizations and persuade them to join with you. Banding together to work as a team will lead to success.

References

Derouin, A. (2019). Health policy and social program evaluation. In J. A. Milstead, & N. M. Short (Eds.), Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed., pp 115-131). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning

Gazarian, P., Ballout, S., Heelan-Fancher, L., & Sundean, L. J. (2020). Theories, models, and frameworks used in nursing health policy dissertations: A scoping review. Applied Nursing Research. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2020.151234

Waddell, A. (2019). Nursing organizations’ health policy content on facebook and twitter preceding the 2016 united states presidential election. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 75(1), 119–128. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1111/jan.13826

Reply to Leigh- Needs 2 paragraph and at least 3 references

Main Discussion Post

Many nursing professionals hesitate to get involved in either policy-making or policy evaluation due to the lack of confidence in preparedness or knowledge. In opposition, the Institute of Medicine believes that “nurses were vital to the redesign of healthcare systems, needed to be viewed as partners of physicians and other healthcare providers, and needed to be “at the table” to ensure effective planning, implementation, and ongoing evaluation of healthcare policies” (Milstead, J.A., Short, N.M., (2019). Even though nurses struggle with assurance, many opportunities are offered to become educated in policy evaluation.

Opportunities for policy evaluation in the nursing profession are presented at the state and national levels. Joining state nursing associations presents nurses with the opportunity to gain knowledge of policymaking and evaluation. Through attending conferences, connecting with other members throughout your state, lobbying, speaking to the media on nurses’ behalf, protecting your states’ Nursing Practice Act, and advocating allows nurses to advance their policy evaluation knowledge (Arkansas Registered Nurses Association (ARNA), (2020). Even though there are many benefits, challenges are also exposed. Due to an increased workload of Advanced Practicing Registered Nurses (APRNs) and Registered Nurses (RNs), being apart of either state or national level associations presents challenges that may be overcome with proper time management.

Another opportunity for the professional nursing community is the ability to reach out the local and federal legislation. “Working with your elected representatives on smaller nursing issues related to your experience builds credibility so they’ll be more likely to turn to you when they’re looking for resources for larger nursing issues (Oestberg, Fredrik MSN, RN. (2013). By sharing personal experiences and evidence-based practice research with members of legislation allows nurses to assist in policy evaluation through checking the value, effectiveness, and impact (Oestberg, Fredrik MSN, RN. (2013). Challenges that may be presented are the inabilities to contact local and federal legislation and the differences of opinion. If unable to contact members of legislation, forming relationships with either your organization policy-makers, members of your organization’s administration, or even your educational coordinator may assist in communication.

In order for the knowledge and confidence of nursing professionals to grow, they have to be informed of the available opportunities. By the encouragement of the administration, management, and educational coordinators, practicing RN’s and APRN’s would have the opportunity to advocate for their healthcare profession.

References:

Arkansas Registered Nurses Association (ARNA). (2020, January 7). Membership Benefits. https://arna.org/membership/benefits/.

Milstead, J.A., Short, N.M., (2019). Interprofessional Practice. Health Policy and Politics- A Nurse’s Guide. (pp. 117). Jones and Bartlett Learning.

American Nurses Association (ANA). (n.d.). Health Policy.

Oestberg, Fredrik MSN, RN. (2013). Getting involved in policy and politics, Nursing Critical Care: (Volume 8. Issue 3. pp 48). doi: 10.1097/01.CCN.0000429392.92546.6f