NURS 6050: Policy and Advocacy for Improving Population Health
“Welcome to NURS 6050: Policy and Advocacy for Improving Population Health“
At first glance, it may seem that the realms of politics and nursing exist on somewhat opposite ends of a spectrum. But a closer examination reveals quite a connection between the two.
Nurses occupy a unique and powerful position in the healthcare system. They spend more time than other health professionals in direct patient care. They interact with patients and families, often during times of great need and distress. Because of this, nurses are often among the first to know when the healthcare system does not meet patient needs, and they have a deep understanding of how it might succeed or fail to provide access to safe, affordable care.
In addition to identifying problems with healthcare, nurses are in an equally unique position to improve it. As experts in the delivery of healthcare, nurses can participate in regulatory and legislative processes and can directly impact the laws and rules that govern their practice.
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This important course in the MSN program, Policy and Advocacy for Improving Population Health, examines this impact and explores how nurses can make it a reality. You will examine sources of regulatory and legislative information, and how best to apply this information to analyzing current and future policy. You will consider the role that nurses can play in healthcare program design, implementation, and evaluation. Additionally, you will examine the impact that nurses have on addressing not only local and domestic healthcare issues but global issues as well.
Welcome to Policy and Advocacy for Improving Population Health!
Course Description
In today’s rapidly changing healthcare delivery system, decisions made within the political arena impact the future of health delivery systems, healthcare professionals, and the populations they serve. In this course, students examine the policy process and its impact on healthcare delivery, cost, quality, and access. Students examine the importance of getting healthcare issues on federal and state agenda, investigate governmental response through legislation and regulation, and identify where they can advocate for positive outcomes in program/policy design, implementation, and evaluation. Global health issues are examined for their relevance and impact on the development of the nurse advocate. Through discussions, reflection, case studies, and the application of professional communications techniques as political tactics to influence policy outcomes, students demonstrate integration of policy decision-making into professional nurse practice for the benefit of individuals and populations.
Course Learning Outcomes
By the conclusion of this course, you should be able to:
- Evaluate factors that affect nursing practice (such as socioeconomic, political, legal/regulatory, ethical, and global factors).
- Evaluate factors that affect healthcare delivery systems (such as socioeconomic, political, legal/regulatory, ethical, and global factors).
- Evaluate factors that affect population health (such as socioeconomic, political, legal/regulatory, ethical, and global factors).
- Analyze the influence of policy and politics on the cost, quality, and access to healthcare delivery systems.
- Apply policy processes including political advocacy skills into professional nursing practice.
- Assess tradeoffs between cost, quality, and access inherent in a complex healthcare delivery system.
- Analyze global policies for health and healthcare issues.
Course Summary:
Date | Details | Due |
---|---|---|
Wed Mar 1, 2023 | Discussion Topic Week 1: Discussion | due by 10:59pm |
Sun Mar 12, 2023 | Assignment Week 2: Assignment | due by 10:59pm |
Wed Mar 15, 2023 | Discussion Topic Week 3: Discussion | due by 10:59pm |
Sun Mar 26, 2023 | Assignment Week 4: Assignment | due by 10:59pm |
Wed Mar 29, 2023 | Discussion Topic Week 5: Discussion | due by 10:59pm |
Sun Apr 9, 2023 | Assignment Week 6: Assignment | due by 10:59pm |
Wed Apr 12, 2023 | Discussion Topic Week 7: Discussion | due by 10:59pm |
Wed Apr 19, 2023 | Discussion Topic Week 8: Discussion | due by 10:59pm |
Sun Apr 23, 2023 | Assignment Week 8: Assignment | due by 10:59pm |
Wed Apr 26, 2023 | Discussion Topic Week 9: Discussion | due by 10:59pm |
Sun May 7, 2023 | Assignment Week 10: Assignment | due by 10:59pm |
Fri May 12, 2023 | Assignment Week 11: Assignment | due by 10:59pm |
Assignment Turnitin Drafts |
Welcome to class. This is actually a very interesting class, and one where you are expected to learn many NEW things. To make it easier for my students I always post helpful hints prior to all assignments. These hints are designed to help you not make the most common student errors I have seen in the past. My goal is to help you earn the highest score possible. But if you do not regularly check and follow the advice I provide, then my posts will not be very useful.
Remember that APA 7th edition is a course and school requirement. No exceptions, this includes discussion. The things I am most interested in seeing, is that you can correctly format a citation and a reference. In discussion do not try hanging indents, as our system does not know how to do that. Do not cite anything you do not reference, and do not reference anything you do not cite. Finally, never use blogs, magazines, random websites, or newspaper articles as cited sources for discussion or papers. Only use peer reviewed articles found in your library.
Also check you email frequently as I will send emails, if I see you are having any classroom issues.
Students are expected to have read the syllabus and handbook and to understand how papers and assignments are graded (rubric). Deadlines are important and you cannot earn points when you do not submit papers or try to submit late. Remember, you must ask for permission to submit late, and this may or may not be approved, depending upon the circumstances.
If you need to speak with me, send me a text. I try to get back to my students quickly.
According to Montero et al. (2022), about half of adults in the U.S. expressed that they have difficulty affording health care costs. Many Americans are struggling to get affordable insurance that provides good health coverage. Economic stability, one of the social determinants of health, plays a significant role in this topic. After dealing with the pandemic, many people suffered from the loss of jobs and medical insurance coverage from their employers.
During President Trump’s administration, he planned to make prescription drugs less expensive, allow people to choose their insurance, and provide transparency in hospital and insurer prices (Trump White House, 2020). His first strategy was to eliminate the Affordable Care Act and focus on giving people more power to choose their healthcare insurance. As a result, several individual insurance markets became available for Americans to choose from.
Unfortunately, after his term, more Americans were left without any insurance. The population of Americans without insurance increased by 2.3 million before and during the pandemic (Gee, 2020). Individual insurance became too expensive for people to afford. Although President Trump’s plan was promising, it failed to achieve its goals.
President Biden aims to build on the Affordable Care Act to address health care issues related to the pandemic, minimize health care costs, and improve how people navigate the American health care system (The White House, 2021). Just recently, President Biden announced new programs focusing on lowering healthcare costs and eliminating hidden medical charges. New regulations will prevent private insurance companies from offering deceiving coverages for those with underlying conditions.
In a recent survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, more people have health insurance coverage in 2022 than in 2021 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023). According to the bureau, many factors contributed to the increase in insurance coverage, such as an increase in public coverage that compensated for the lack of private insurance coverage. With all the new programs the Biden administration is implementing, we have yet to see the effect of all these changes in the coming years.
One thing that the presidents could have focused more on is expanding insurance coverage. According to University of Southern California (n.d.), the expansion in Medicaid coverage significantly impacted access to healthcare in the U.S. The expanded Medicaid insurance coverage made it feasible for adults between 18 and 64 to get insured. It makes it possible for them to go to medical facilities to seek help.
Another program that they could’ve implemented is educating people about the many different healthcare sites that are available for us to use. For example, in Home Health, more than half of our patients go directly to the emergency room if they feel ill. We, as clinicians, would educate them that if they experience mild symptoms such as possible UTI, fever, ear or eye infection, or cuts that need stitches, we have access to urgent care that do not only cater to their needs, but also cost them significantly less.