NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS
Walden University NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS – Step-By-Step Guide
This guide will demonstrate how to complete the Walden University NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS assignment based on general principles of academic writing. Here, we will show you the A, B, Cs of completing an academic paper, irrespective of the instructions. After guiding you through what to do, the guide will leave one or two sample essays at the end to highlight the various sections discussed below.
How to Research and Prepare for NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS
Whether one passes or fails an academic assignment such as the Walden University NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS depends on the preparation done beforehand. The first thing to do once you receive an assignment is to quickly skim through the requirements. Once that is done, start going through the instructions one by one to clearly understand what the instructor wants. The most important thing here is to understand the required format—whether it is APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.
After understanding the requirements of the paper, the next phase is to gather relevant materials. The first place to start the research process is the weekly resources. Go through the resources provided in the instructions to determine which ones fit the assignment. After reviewing the provided resources, use the university library to search for additional resources. After gathering sufficient and necessary resources, you are now ready to start drafting your paper.
How to Write the Introduction for NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS
The introduction for the Walden University NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS is where you tell the instructor what your paper will encompass. In three to four statements, highlight the important points that will form the basis of your paper. Here, you can include statistics to show the importance of the topic you will be discussing. At the end of the introduction, write a clear purpose statement outlining what exactly will be contained in the paper. This statement will start with “The purpose of this paper…” and then proceed to outline the various sections of the instructions.
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How to Write the Body for NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS
After the introduction, move into the main part of the NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS assignment, which is the body. Given that the paper you will be writing is not experimental, the way you organize the headings and subheadings of your paper is critically important. In some cases, you might have to use more subheadings to properly organize the assignment. The organization will depend on the rubric provided. Carefully examine the rubric, as it will contain all the detailed requirements of the assignment. Sometimes, the rubric will have information that the normal instructions lack.
Another important factor to consider at this point is how to do citations. In-text citations are fundamental as they support the arguments and points you make in the paper. At this point, the resources gathered at the beginning will come in handy. Integrating the ideas of the authors with your own will ensure that you produce a comprehensive paper. Also, follow the given citation format. In most cases, APA 7 is the preferred format for nursing assignments.
How to Write the Conclusion for NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS
After completing the main sections, write the conclusion of your paper. The conclusion is a summary of the main points you made in your paper. However, you need to rewrite the points and not simply copy and paste them. By restating the points from each subheading, you will provide a nuanced overview of the assignment to the reader.
How to Format the References List for NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS
The very last part of your paper involves listing the sources used in your paper. These sources should be listed in alphabetical order and double-spaced. Additionally, use a hanging indent for each source that appears in this list. Lastly, only the sources cited within the body of the paper should appear here.
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Sample Answer for NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS
Current President’s Agenda
According to the Washington D.C. post report dated April 21, 2022, President Biden addressed the issue of reducing the supply of drugs, especially fentanyl (WH.gov, 2021). President Biden’s aim was intended to bring an action, a whole-of-government approach to conquer the drug overdose epidemic. President Biden proposed a target action of expanding access to evidence-based prevention, reducing harm, provision of treatment and services while decreasing the supply of medication such as fentanyl (WH.gov, 2021). In Arizona, the issue of drug overdoses has become an enormous problem that is always in the news. I have been working with substance abuse patients in rehab facilities for the last four years, and it always breaks my heart when I hear of any of my patients who have either died or overdosed. This makes me feel like I failed them and did not do enough to educate them. Approximately 2,000 residents in Arizona were reported to have died due to opioid overdoses in 2021, and fentanyl was attributed as the reason behind these overdose deaths (ADHS.gov, 2021).
Previous President’s Agenda
In 2017, President Trump acknowledged the raging abuse of opioid painkillers as a national health emergency and his bipartisan commission detailed recommendations for combating the drug and addiction crisis. Trump’s administration followed this proposal by securing $6 billion to fight opioid abuse through the creation of a plan which would reduce prescription refills and improve addiction treatment support services (Jaffe, 2020).
My Agenda
If I were in power, I would examine why providers prescribe pain medication. Many of the patients I have cared for at one time or another came into contact with prescription drugs because they were in some pain. Pain is exclusive to everyone and is a subjective experience. Pain treatment is utilized by specialties in almost all disciplines across the medical field. In 2012 alone, 259 million prescriptions were written for opioid pain medications, enough for every adult in the United States to have a bottle of pills (Gross & Gordon, 2019). As the president or someone in power, I would look at pain as a public health problem requiring policy at the national and local levels. I would make it mandatory for all healthcare providers to undergo strict pain management programs so that they can learn how pain is perceived, assessed, and treated and when and how long to prescribe opioids. I would put restrictions on both providers and pharmacies regarding the tracking of controlled prescription medications.
References:
Arizona Department of Health Services. gov (ADHS). (2021) Opioid Overdoses Surveillance
Report available for 2020-2021. Retrieved on 11.28/2022 from; https://directorsblog.health.azdhs.gov/opioid-overdoses-surveillance-report-available-for-2020-2021/Links to an external site.
Gross J,& Gordon DB (2019). The Strengths and Weaknesses of Current US Policy to Address
Pain. Am J Public Health. 2019 Jan;109(1):66-72. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2018.304746. Epub 2018 Nov 29. PMID: 30495994; PMCID: PMC6301412.
Jaffe S. US election 2020: Public Health. Lancet. 2020 Oct 3;396(10256):946-947. doi:
10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32036-5. PMID: 33010827; PMCID: PMC7529368.
The White House (WH.gov) (2021). President Biden Releases National Drug Control Strategy
to Save Lives, Expand Treatment, and Disrupt Trafficking. Washington Post. Retrieved on 11.28.2022 from; https://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/briefing-room/2022/04/21/president-biden-releases-national-drug-control-strategy-to-save-lives-expand-treatment-and-disrupt-trafficking/Links to an external site.
A population health topic that continues to rise to the presidential agenda is hospice care and end of life planning. Growing up, my grandfather served as a strong role model, emphasizing the importance of organization and planning. He imparted lessons on hard work, career growth, utilization of retirement accounts, and even end-of life planning. He maintained a folder in his office containing essential documents like power of attorney, living will, funeral plans, and a pre-written obituary. The value of this folder became evident when he suffered a massive stroke and was placed in hospice care for three days. The experience of my grandfather’s hospice care was instrumental in both my personal and professional life.
Hospice care was started in 1967 by Dame Cicely Saunders in England with the purpose of alleviating suffering for those dying of cancer (Odejide & Aldridge, 2023). Over the years, hospice has evolved to provide increased quality of life by addressing the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of patients and their families. According to the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization (2022), 1.72 million Medicare recipients had access to hospice care in 2020, increasing from 1.61 million in 2019.
Most often, access to healthcare and socioeconomic status are social determinants that affect this health issue. One of the biggest challenges in my experience with access to hospice care is a timely referral from the patients’ primary care provider. In a recent report to Congress, MedPAC (2023) data suggested that 35% of hospice beneficiaries received hospice services for less than 7 days. This proves that the late referral to hospice means there is limited time to deliver comprehensive services to the patient and family.
During the past two presidential administrations, hospice and end-of-life legislation has been a topic of health care policy. During the Obama administration from 2009 to 2017, there were several advancements within the Affordable Care Act. During the Trump administration, there were continued efforts for patient choice in hospice and decreasing the regulatory burden for hospice providers. Most notably, the expansion of patient choice for their attending provider to include a Physician Assistant to provide and manage the patient care (Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2021). By expanding the role of the physician assistant, this gave increased access to hospice care to patients.
One area where I can continue to advocate for end-of-life planning with my Nurse Practitioner degree is through supporting conversations about end-of-life preferences. These conversations can clarify the goals and values of patients, while guiding the provider on treatment options. Johansson et al. (2022) identifies the importance of these conversations to encourage reflection and interaction for future decision making.
In conclusion, access to end-of-life planning and access to hospice care continues to be a population health topic requiring policy reform. The advancing age of the population will continue to require specialized care for management of symptoms for patients with a terminal disease. Thanks to my grandfather’s foresight, our family could honor his wishes during his final days, demonstrating the priceless lesson that proactive planning allows for clear decision making. My goal is to advocate for conversations related to advanced care planning with every patient encounter as a Nurse Practitioner.
The population health topic I am choosing is the opioid epidemic. I chose this because it affects such a large population in today’s world. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022), drug overdose deaths have increased by nearly 5% from 2018 to 2019 and quadrupled since 1999. Over 70% of the 70,630 deaths in 2019 involved an opioid. In 2020, 91,799 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States. The number continues to rise, and drugs seem to be more accessible.
Regarding social determinants, people from low socio-economic classes have poorer health. They are more likely to use tobacco, drink alcohol at high risk, and use illicit drugs. Drug-dependent people are particularly likely to be unemployed and to experience marginalization, both of which can exacerbate their problems and prevent seeking or benefiting from treatment (Spooner,2017). Drug abuse is not shy when it comes to whom it affects. People in low socioeconomic classes happen to get slammed with drug abuse as we have not provided the right accessibility for them.
One of President Trump’s solutions was to build a wall. Theoretically, the wall would stop illegal drugs from coming in, and this wall was supposed to be built on the Mexican border. He also said he would enhance access to addiction services, end Medicaid policies that obstruct inpatient treatment, and expand incentives for state and local governments to use drug courts and mandated treatment to respond to the addiction crisis (Kaiser Family Foundation,2017). Although some think the wall may help, it is not the solution to the epidemic. In some cases, working from the outside inward works, but in this case, I think this epidemic needs to be approached from the inside out.
In this case, I would have started the solution on the inside. I would have targeted what we can control right now. Stopping Illegal drugs from coming in will help in the long run, but you must focus on what illegal drugs are happening in the US. Building a wall doesn’t stop the use, trading, selling, or buying we are currently dealing with. I would work to eliminate those issues, do more research on who this affects the most, and start there. We know people from low socio-economic classes struggle the most, so I start there and work my way out. Maybe we start focusing on getting these people out of this low-income rut. We provide schooling, daycare, and opportunities some people will never receive. Even starting there seems small, but I would further it with Trump’s plan to enhance access to drug addiction services like counselors. I would hold more doctors accountable and pharmaceutical companies pushing these opioids for money.
According to the Democrat National Committee (2020), President Biden’s solution includes holding people accountable such as big pharmaceutical companies, executives, and others, responsible for their role in triggering the opioid crisis. Biden will create effective prevention, treatment, and recovery services available to all through a $125 billion federal investment. Most importantly, we will stop overprescribing pain medication to citizens. I think Biden’s solutions to this epidemic were much better; these solutions start inward and target the people in the US struggling. I believe the solutions listed will help the country see a decline in opioid deaths, but they won’t solve the issue altogether.
As much as I agree with this approach, I don’t think the primary producers of these drugs are being held accountable enough. I would figure out a way other than fines to serve these companies. Possibly suspending their production may be a helping solution. The problem is these companies are laced with money, so half the time, they don’t even blink at the request to hand over money due to fines. I wouldn’t change much to Biden’s policy otherwise. I think his approach gives people accessibility, and that’s truly what we need to end this epidemic.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022). Death Rate Maps & Graphs. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved August 30, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/deaths/index.html
Democrat National Committee. (2020). The Biden plan to end the opioid crisis. Joe Biden for President: Official Campaign Website. Retrieved August 30, 2022, from https://joebiden.com/opioidcrisis/
Kaiser Family Foundation. (2017, January 9). President-elect Donald Trump stands on six health care issues – election 2016: The issues. KFF. Retrieved August 30, 2022, from https://www.kff.org/report-section/where-president-elect-donald-trump-stands-on-six-health-care-issues/#opioid
Spooner, C. (2017). SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF DRUG USE. National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC). Retrieved August 30, 2022, from https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/
Also Read:
AGENDA COMPARISON GRID AND FACT SHEET
POLITICS AND THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
LEGISLATION GRID AND TESTIMONY/ADVOCACY STATEMENT
Professional Nursing and State-Level Regulations
REGULATION FOR NURSING PRACTICE STAFF DEVELOPMENT MEETING
THE ROLE OF THE RN/APRN IN POLICY-MAKING
ADVOCATING FOR THE NURSING ROLE IN PROGRAM DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION
THE ROLE OF THE RN/APRN IN POLICY EVALUATION
ASSESSING A HEALTHCARE PROGRAM/POLICY EVALUATION
GLOBAL HEALTHCARE COMPARISON MATRIX AND NARRATIVE STATEMENT
Sample Response for NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS
Hello Hannah, great topic choice. There has been an increase on Fentanyl related deaths as of lately. According to the CDC overdose deaths which includes fentanyl and fentanyl analogs increased over 56% from 2019 to 2020. (CDC, 2022). From what I have observed personally at work, there has also been a lot of cocaine overdose in much younger populations. In terms of drugs being accessible, I had a 23 yr old patient on the ICU who overdosed on cocaine because it was being shared at a party. I work in NYC, with a lot of minority populations, I deal with a lot of cases like this, most of which end up fatal, they result in cardiac arrest and end in death. I agree with your point Regarding the building of the wall during former President Trumps term. I believe the wall being built was to serve a different Agenda and not necessarily to prevent drugs from being brought across the border. A wall is not the answer, working from inside out to address the issue and hold the main culprits responsible will be a much better approach. In the USA, there have been recent legislative shifts towards less punitive policing, with the former President Obama’s bill expanding access to naloxone, the implementation in the Washington State of Good Samaritan Laws aimed at empowering community members to prevent overdose. (Vashishtha et al., 2017). I believe these are ways that we can continue to help combat these issues from the inside out like you mentioned.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, June 1). Fentanyl. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved August 30, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/opioids/basics/fentanyl.html
Vashishtha, D., Mittal, M. L., & Werb, D. (2017, May 12). The North American opioid epidemic: Current challenges and a call for treatment as prevention – harm reduction journal. BioMed Central. Retrieved August 30, 2022, from https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12954-017-0135-4
Sample Response for NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS
I agree that primary producers of opioids are not being held accountable enough. However, I disagreed with suspending their production. I believe there is a clinical need for short-term use of opioids. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided an opioid prescribing guideline that helps determine when to initiate or continue opioids for chronic pain, opioid selection, dosage, duration, follow-up, and discontinuation, and assessing risk and addressing the harms of opioid use. Thus, delivering safe and effective pain treatment and reducing misuse or overdose of opioids (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.). What if primary opioid producers had to pay a percentage of their profits to fund education programs about the danger of opioid use and recovery support and treatment programs for opioid addiction?
Tara Tillman
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About CDC’s Opioid Prescribing Guideline. Retrieved August 31, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/opioids/providers/prescribing/guideline.html
Sample Answer 2 for NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS
One of the global pandemics that has reached the presidential level is COVID-19. This is a viral infection that started in Wuhan, China, in 2019. It is caused by SARS-COV-2, and its symptoms include fever, tiredness, sore throat, loss of sense of taste, among others (Shereen et al., 2020). The two U.S. presidents that have managed the pandemic are former President Trump and President Biden. These two presidents had two different management strategies ranging from communication to the use of masks.
Instead of a coordinated national plan to implement public health preventive measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, the Trump Administration rested the primary responsibility of corresponding to COVID-19 with the states. The federal government came in as a backup plan. This was a downside since a lack of a coordinated national plan led to worsening community spread, lack of supplies, and ineffective policies. During the early stages of the pandemic, the President focused on closing U.S. borders to prevent the virus’s entry. However, the community spread the virus, and this policy was not effective.
After taking office from Donald Trump, President Biden focused on consistent information to restore trust and credibility. He shifted into a national COVID-19 emergency response plan and eliminated cost barriers in COVID-19 care. He scaled up COVID-19 testing, contact tracing, and distribution of critical COVID-19 supplies. The President focused on mask-wearing as a preventive measure. He called on governors and mayors to oversee mask-wearing campaigns. Biden has also focused on mass vaccinations to prevent severe COVID-19. Currently, 70% of adult Americans are fully vaccinated.
Primary prevention measures are essential in the control of COVID-19. These measures include hand washing, wearing a mask, and social distancing (Sellner et al., 2021). As a president, I would have invested in primary prevention measures to slow down community spread at the beginning of the pandemic.
References
Sellner, J., Jenkins, T. M., Von Oertzen, T. J., Bassetti, C. L., Beghi, E., Bereczki, D., Bodini, B., Cavallieri, F., Di Liberto, G., Helbok, R., Macerollo, A., Maia, L. F., Oreja‐Guevara, C., Özturk, S., Rakusa, M., Sauerbier, A., Soffietti, R., Taba, P., & Pisani, A. (2021). Primary prevention of COVID‐19: Advocacy for vaccination from a neurological perspective. European Journal of Neurology, 28(10), 3226-3229.
Shereen, M. A., Khan, S., Kazmi, A., Bashir, N., & Siddique, R. (2020). COVID-19 infection: Emergence, transmission, and characteristics of human coronaviruses. Journal of Advanced Research, 24, 91-98.
Sample Answer 3 for NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS
Opioid Abuse:
According to the CDC, the number of drug overdose deaths increased by nearly 5% from 2018 to 2019 and has quadrupled since 1999. Over 70% of the 70,630 deaths in 2019 involved an opioid. From 2018 to 2019, there were significant changes in opioid-involved death rates (CDC, 2017).
Opioids are highly addictive, and opioid abuse has become a national crisis in the United States. Statistics highlight the severity of the epidemic, with the National Institute on Drug Abuse reporting that more than 2 million Americans abuse opioids and that more than 90 Americans die by opioid overdose every day, on average (NIH, 2020).
The U.S. presidents that have managed the abuse are President Joe Biden and Donald Trump. They both having different approaches to this matter.
Joe Biden approach is to tackle this crisis by making sure people have access to high quality health care – including substance use disorder treatment and mental health services. That’s what Obamacare did by designating substance use disorder treatment and mental health services as essential benefits that insurers must cover, and by expanding Medicaid, the nation’s largest payer for mental health services which also plays an increasingly growing role as a payer for substance use disorder services. Biden’s plan to tackle the opioid epidemic and substance use disorders is to defeat Trump and then protect and build on Obamacare (CNN, 2020).
President Trump wants to repeal Obamacare, including its Medicaid expansion. Repeal would be disastrous for communities and families combating the opioid crisis (CNN, 2020)
As president, I would invest in making sure that primary care providers are prescribing opioids to patient that .have chronic issues, drug testing monthly to make sure patients are not using other drugs. I have patient to give feedback as in if the prescribed dose is helping.
References:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, March 17). Understanding the epidemic. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/opioids/basics/epidemic.html.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). National Institutes of Health. Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://www.nih.gov/.
Vazquez, M. (2020, February 2). What Trump’s drug policies have meant for America’s opioid epidemic. CNN. Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/02/politics/opioid-epidemic-donald-trump-drug-policy/index.html.
Sample Response for NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS
Hi Tamika,
It was great reading your discussion post. It is fact that Obamacare’s approach to the opioid epidemic is similar to the Biden administration. Providing high-quality substance abuse treatment and mental health services.
Working in psychiatry and mental health I work with a lot of people whom before the pandemic was able to manage and cope with day-to-day stressors however and as a direct result, I have found the number of substance abuse cases has grown exponentially. Thus there are not enough places for us to refer patients to that require substance abuse services. Often times than not patients are dually diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder coupled with a substance abuse disorder.
Your suggestion as president is ideal and functions similar to methadone/suboxone clinics. They are established to treat opioids and pain management. However, this is a system that is often taken for granted and easily overwhelmed. I would suggest an alternative to opioids as the only line of help for chronic pain. For instance non-Westernized forms of treatment acupuncture, meditation, and herbs.
Reference
Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Barrett Learning p. 17- 36.
Sample Response for NURS 6050 PRESIDENTIAL AGENDAS
Hi Tamika
Access to high quality care is the key! One of the strategies of the current president is to achieve universal coverage which will help provide more people with substance use disorders with the care they need. We all know that people with substance use disorders have faced stigma and other barriers inside and outside of health care and addiction services (The White House, n.d). The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) is essential to integrating treatment for substance use disorder into mainstream health care and improving the quality of care.
According to the current regime, education on preventing youth substance use, including the use of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs, is essential to young people’s healthy growth and development. Delaying use until after adolescence also decreases the likelihood of developing a substance use disorder (The White House, n.d).
Multiple stressors during the pandemic – isolation, sickness, grief, job loss, food instability and loss of routines – have devastated many Americans and presented unprecedented challenges for behavioral health providers across the nation. In view of this, The Biden administration has increased federal funding to address the opioid crisis. In March 2021, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that the American Rescue Plan would include $4 billion to enable the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to expand vital behavioral health services, sustain the use of telehealth, reduce inequities, and even offer mental health services (Le & Rosen, 2021).
While the legislative response is primarily non-punitive, most opioid-specific policy does not explicitly address the intersection of opioid misuse and addiction with salient social factors such as economic disinvestment and social isolation (Bowen & Irish, 2019).
References
Bowen, E. A., & Irish, A. (2019). A policy mapping analysis of goals, target populations, and punitive notions in the U.S. congressional response to the opioid epidemic. International Journal of Drug Policy, 74, 90–97.
Le, A. B., & Rosen, J. D. (2021). It Is Time to Implement Primary Prevention in the Workplace to Ameliorate the Ongoing U.S. Opioid Epidemic. NEW SOLUTIONS: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, 31(3), 210–218.
The American Psychiatric Association (n.d) defines mental illness as health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking, behavior, or a combination of these. Mental illnesses can be associated with distress and problems functioning in social, work, or family activities. The high rise in mental illness, especially since the covid 19 pandemic, has garnered much attention even at the presidential level. Research shows that Americans’ mental health has suffered during the COVID-19 lockdowns and isolative periods affecting many, especially the vulnerable population. According to the CDC (2021), 1 in 5 Americans will experience a mental illness in a given year. Social distancing practices and extended isolation periods contributed to the reports of increased substance use, limited access to addiction treatment services, and increased thoughts of suicide.
The Trump administration took an approach to sign executive orders to address the negative impact of prolonged shutdowns on mental/behavioral health and increase suicide prevention efforts. They formulated a working group within the cabinet to assess the mental health needs of the most vulnerable while focusing on providing grant funding to support mental health treatment services, including telehealth, peer-to-peer, and safe in-person therapeutic services. The administration even allocated $425 million in emergency funds to address mental, and substance use disorders.
The Biden-Harris administration has also noted the increasing need for mental health services. It has mentioned putting several incitive of their own after more than two years of a pandemic. They have realized it has severely disrupted the lives of many, especially our children. The pandemic created new norms for several people; individuals experienced sudden unforeseen loss and increased isolation. The Biden administration has prioritized the mental health crisis of the youth. It uses funds allocated from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA), an anti-gun violence law passed this summer by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden in June, to add more mental health services to schools. The administration’s increase in the number of school-based health professionals increased mental health staffing, strengthened crisis care and suicide prevention infrastructure, and promoted the mental well-being of our frontline health workforce. Pre–pandemic healthcare workers faced high burnout levels. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Biden Administration plans to expand access to mobile crisis services in needy communities by launching a Partnership Pilot Program for Mental Health Crisis Response.
As a working professional in specialty psychiatry, I agree and support the plans put in place by both the previous and the current administration for mental illness. I would have taken some of the same strategies. In addition, I would want to do my part in ending the stigma associated with mental illness if I could allocate funding and add to the school curriculum to educate the youth about possible symptoms to look out for concerning the different mental illnesses and ways to manage them. Individuals must understand that mental illness, in most cases not the fault of the individual and is quite like many other acute or chronic illnesses. If not consistent treatment, which may include lifestyle changes as well as medication, it won’t get better. Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. It is a medical problem, just like heart disease or diabetes. (American Psychiatric Association, n.d )
NURS 6050 Discussion 1 Evidence Base in Design
The recent law to ban abortion in Texas sent shock waves across the state and outside, bringing fear of the repo effect as policymakers interfered with a human right. The right to women’s health services. The law put forth restrictions on abortion as early as six weeks and even gave the power for ordinary citizens to sue health care providers found to break this law in the state (Najmabadi, 2021).
To prevent the passing of the outrageous law in California, Rep. Chu, Judy (D-CA-27) introduced the bill H.R.3755- Women’s Health Protection Act of 2021. The bill persuaded Congress to protect the right of individuals, in this case, women, when it is time to make an informed decision to terminate the unwanted pregnancy and the protection of providers involved in performing abortion procedures under standardized protocols (Congress.gov, 2021). The Women’s Health Protection Act bill is currently under the Senate review, and it has been used to bring public awareness and to the legislatures on the impact of anti-abortion rules, which through informed evidence, its consequences have been found to perpetuate decreased access to safe abortions, as evidenced by a review of the literature completed by Espinoza et al. (2020), which showed an increased rate of infection and mortality amongst 22 million adolescent girls globally.
Also, increased service cost has hindered women from participating in economic and social developments, leaving women vulnerable to socio-economic exploitations from the opposite sex. Last, the sharp increase in mental health disorders and health disparities in minority ethnics have been associated with limited access to women health services and has continued to affect other preventative vital health services that include screenings, contraceptive services, sexually transmitted disease services, prenatal care, and adaptation services (Congress.gov).
The fourteenth amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives rights to all American citizens, thus protecting a woman’s right to make adequately informed and educated health decisions and abortion being part of them.
References
Congress.gov. (2021). H.R.3755 – Women’s Health Protection Act of 2021 . Retrieved from CONGRESS.GOV: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3755/text
Espinoza, C., Samandari, G., & Andersen, K. (2020, April). Abortion knowledge, attitudes and experiences among adolescent girls: a review of the literature. Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 28(1); PMC7888105. doi: 10.1080/26410397.2020.1744225.
Najmabadi, S. (2021). Gov. Greg Abbott signs into law one of nation’s strictest abortion measures, banning procedure as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. THE TEXAS TRIBUNE.