NURS 8100 Week Discussion Policy Brief

Walden University NURS 8100 Week Discussion Policy Brief – Step-By-Step Guide

This guide will demonstrate how to complete the Walden University NURS 8100 Week Discussion Policy Brief 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 8100 Week Discussion Policy Brief

Whether one passes or fails an academic assignment such as the Walden University NURS 8100 Week Discussion Policy Brief 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 8100 Week Discussion Policy Brief

The introduction for the Walden University NURS 8100 Week Discussion Policy Brief 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.

How to Write the Body for NURS 8100 Week Discussion Policy Brief

After the introduction, move into the main part of the NURS 8100 Week Discussion Policy Brief 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 8100 Week Discussion Policy Brief

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 8100 Week Discussion Policy Brief

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 1 for NURS 8100 Week Discussion Policy Brief

The professional nursing organization that I will be discussing is Michigan Nurses Association (MNA).  MNA has influenced the policy agenda on “Safe Patient Care Act”.  This bipartisan plan includes RN-to-patient ratios, limits on forced RN overtime, and hospital transparency.  During this week’s Discussion, as a doctoral student, the writer is considering the policy proposal on safe staffing.  

Brief Summary of Policy Proposal and IOM 

            The bipartisan Safe Patient Care Act is a plan to increase the safety of patients in Michigan hospitals and retain our nurses in an already stressful environment.  The issue at hand is that there is no law that limits the number of patients a registered nurse can be assigned to take care of in the hospital. This is not only alarming nut is very unsafe for both the patient and nurse.  There is also no law to prevent hospitals from making nurses work unlimited hours (leading to shifts of 14, 16 or even 20 hours).  Nurses are becoming exhausted and stressed which increases the risk of mistakes and errors which is a very dangerous situation.  Quality care and patient advocacy is a priority of the registered nurse.  Understaffing and being overworked leads to unplanned events such as falls, infections, medication errors and deaths.  There is a solution to lowering these risks and making a safer environment for our patients and registered nurses.  “The Michigan Safe Patient Care Act is a 3-part bipartisan package in the state House and Senate that addresses rampant RN understaffing and excessive forced RN overtime. It will force administrators to make decisions based on patients’ needs, rather than misguided cost-cutting in the hospital industry” (MI Nurse Association, 2021). 

Ways MNA Support the Safe Staffing Act 

            MI Nurse Association is a voice by nurses for nurses who carefully evaluate candidates for elective office and make recommendations of which candidates have earned the endorsement for Michigan nurses.  This endorsement is specifically around healthcare issues that affect nurses and patient’s direction and not based on political parties.  MNA is always working to add leaders that are on that positively affect our profession, practice and patients.  

References: 

MI Nurse Association. (2021). The bipartisan Safe Patient Care Act. https://www.misaferhospitals.org/uploads/7/7/1/1/7711851/with_bill_numbers_2021_spca_bills_cheat_sheet.pdf 

Sample Answer 2 for NURS 8100 Week Discussion Policy Brief

Hello! This is an outstanding post on the policy brief. Although nurses can greatly influence policy on a global scale, professional nursing organizations play a big role in the realization of this nursing policy influence (Williams et al., 2018). As such, when nurses advance policy agendas such as the Safe Patient Care Act, professional nursing organizations such as the Michigan Nurses Association (MNA) are crucial in realizing the success of the agenda. Organizations such as MNA have various opportunities for their members to shape the influence of nurses on healthcare policy (Lewinski & Simmons, 2018). Professional nursing organizations can engage in various activities to advance the policy agenda including writing letters to push their state representatives to pass this healthcare policy, deploying lobbyists that can take nursing issues to Capitol Hill, participating in political action committees, and meeting with legislators (Chiu et al., 2021). Through these organizations, nurses can also interact with colleagues from various regions, share insights, and bring together their empirical evidence to generate a watertight, collective argument for the proposed policy.  

References 

Chiu, P., Cummings, G. G., Thorne, S., & Schick-Makaroff, K. (2021). Policy advocacy and nursing organizations: A scoping review. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 22(4), 276-296. https://doi.org/10.1177/15271544211050611 

Lewinski, A. A., & Simmons, L. A. (2018). Nurse knowledge and engagement in health policymaking: Findings from a pilot study. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 49(9), 407-415. https://doi.org/10.3928/00220124-20180813-06 

Williams, S. D., Phillips, J. M., & Koyama, K. (2018). Nurse Advocacy: Adopting health in all policies approach. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 23(3). https://doi.org/10.3912/OJIN.Vol23No03Man01 

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Sample Answer 3 for NURS 8100 Week Discussion Policy Brief

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) Future of Nursing Report Brief addresses four very important elements of nursing practice that are in need of change. According to Kershaw (2011), the four areas of needed change include nurses practicing to the fullest scope of their license, nurses engaging in seeking and attaining higher levels of education, nurses being considered as equals with their physician colleagues when taking the initiative to redesign health care, and nurses creating a foundation of data through research and evidence-based practice to support policies and procedures in nursing practice.  

The area of specific interest to me is item number three. This initiative focuses on nurses becoming full partners with physicians when redesigning healthcare in the United States (Kershawm 2011). The reason this initiative is important to me is that I work in an acute care setting where physicians are still revered as gods by the hospital leadership and nurses are considered the handmaiden to the physician. It is a large hospital but set in a rural community and the founding fathers who opened the community hospital 16 years ago (Now part of a larger system) were very physician-focused. The bylaws do not promote employing mid-level practitioners, they do not recognize that certified nurse-midwives can practice independently, and have a strong working relationship with a Kaiser Permanente group that feels very threatened by the thought of utilizing mid-level providers and advance practice nurses (APNs). According to Abraham et al. (2019), APNs are far more cost-effective than physicians, and they increase patient experience scores and clinical outcomes. Constable et al. (2022) describe an increase in provider communications scores from 69% to 85% when APRNs were used in the acute care setting. This specific article also outlined a reduction in endotracheal tube-associated pressure injuries by 50% because of the care the APN provided to this population. The reason for this is that APNs are trained to treat patients holistically and not be solely focused on a diagnosis or disease. Physicians are trained with a primary focus on disease. Collaboration between these two groups is essential when health care reform is being considered. 

The IOM report brief nailed this issue on the head. There is a need to include APNs in health care reform and the recommendation in the article suggests this will happen through leadership training and the attainment of leadership competencies by all APNs. The American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) offers leadership training for all levels of nurse leaders. The sole focus of the AONE is to promote leadership excellence among nurses, advance the practice, increase the engagement of research by nurses, and facilitate the preparation of nurses who will influence legislation and public policy (www.aha.org). For far too long the shape of health care has been formed by only a select portion of the population who provides it. Now is the time to think globally about healthcare reform and invite all of the contributors to the table. 

References: 

Abraham, C. M., Norful, A. A., Stone, P. W., &Poghosyan, L. (2019). Cost-Effectiveness of Advanced Practice Nurses Compared to Physician-Led Care for Chronic Diseases: A Systematic Review. Nursing Economic$, 37(6), 293–305. 

American Organization of Nurse Executives. (February, 2022). AHA releases 2022-2024 strategic plan and updates to vision and mission statements. Retrieved: https://www.aha.org/special-bulletin/2022-02-08-aha-releases-2022-2024-strategic-plan-and-updates-vision-and-mission 

Constable, M., Mulkey, M., &Aucoin, J. (2022). Hospital value–based purchasing: How acute care advanced practice nurses demonstrate value. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 34(1), 12–17. https://doi.org/10.1097/JXX.0000000000000606 

Kershaw, B. (2011). The future of nursing – leading change, advancing health. Nursing Standard, 26(7), 31–31. https://doi.org/10.7748/ns2011.10.26.7.31.b1274 

Sample Answer 4 for NURS 8100 Week Discussion Policy Brief

Hello Tonya! You have provided and detailed and impeccable post on the policy brief. Policy advocacy is a primary element of nursing social mandate and also become a fundamental function of professional nursing organizations. Professional nursing organizations internationally have obligations and processes for nurses to involve at a certain level in policy development. The nursing profession has a long history of involving in policy advocacy to strengthen and improve the nursing profession, health systems, patient care, and public policy (Chiu et al., 2020). Therefore, when nurses advocate for policies in full partnership with physicians when redesigning healthcare in the United States, professional nursing organizations can provide opportunities for policy agenda through political processes to instigate, enact, and implement structural and policy transformations (Chiu et al., 2021). Overall, policy advocacy is a core component in realizing the social mandate of the nursing profession. However, despite the efforts by nursing organizations to push nursing policy agendas, it is challenging to motivate nurses to be politically proactive and participate in policy advocacy for various reasons such as lack of understanding of the value of the policy or lack of political awareness. 

References 

Chiu, P., Cummings, G. G., Thorne, S., & Schick-Makaroff, K. (2021). Policy advocacy and nursing organizations: A scoping review. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 22(4), 276-296. https://doi.org/10.1177/15271544211050611 

Chiu, P., Duncan, S., & Whyte, N. (2020). Charting a research agenda for the advancement of nursing organizations’ influence on health systems and policy. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 52(3), 185-193. https://doi.org/10.1177/0844562120928794

Sample Answer 5 for NURS 8100 Week Discussion Policy Brief

The unpredictability of scope-of-practice regulations across states may hinder advanced practice nurses from giving care they were trained to provide and contribute to innovative health care delivery solutions. Though most nurses are registered nurses, over a quarter million are advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), who hold master’s or doctoral degrees and have passed national certification examinations. APRNs include nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurse anesthetists, and nurse midwives. Although some states have regulations that allow nurse practitioners to see patients and prescribe medications without a physician’s supervision, most states do not. The federal government is well suited to promote reform of states’ scope-of-practice laws by sharing and providing incentives for the adoption of best practices (IOM, 2010).

First recommendation is to remove Scope of Practice Barriers. Advanced practice registered nurses should be able to practice to the full extent of their education and training. To achieve this goal, the committee recommends actions for the following entities: State Legislatures, Congress, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Office of Personnel Management, Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, which has long sought to eliminate anticompetitive behavior in the health care industry, including restrictions on health care providers’ business practices and policies that could operate as a barrier to entry for new competitors (IOM, 2010).

In conclusion, the country has an opportunity to transform its health care system, and nurses are in the forefront and should play a critical role. However, the ability to improve current regulatory, business, and organizational conditions does not rest only with nurses; government, corporations, health care organizations, professional associations, and the insurance industry all have a role to play (IOM, 2010).

References

Committee for Assessing Progress on Implementing the Recommendations of the Institute of Medicine

Report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health; Institute of Medicine; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Altman SH, Butler AS, Shern L, editors.

Assessing Progress on the Institute of Medicine Report The Future of Nursing. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2016 Feb 22. 2,

Removing Barriers to Practice and Care. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK350160/

Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future

of Nursing, at the Institute of Medicine. The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health.

Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2011. 1, Key Messages of the Report.

Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK209881/

Sample Answer 6 for NURS 8100 Week Discussion Policy Brief

The policy proposal the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommends for furthering healthcare is “Nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training.” Licensing and practice rules for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) scope of practice varies in each state and is determined not by their education and training but by the state laws. APRNs are essential in today’s healthcare system to solve the increasing shortages of primary care providers in rural and urban areas. Therefore, policy and regulatory changes recommend that all states allow APRNs to practice to the full extent of their education and license with full practice authority. According to the article written by Hudspeth and Klein (2019), IOM got it right in proposing that state legislators, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and Congress allow APRNs can practice to the full extent of their education and training; therefore,, decreasing the primary care provider shortage.

 One of the IOM report messages is that “nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training.” This message is driven by the need for nurses to transform practice to ensure that all Americans receive healthcare services ( Kershaw, 2019). In addition, nurses should maximize their contribution to the healthcare team. Also, insurance companies and federals should ensure they follow regulations and policies that protect patients’ rights. Several barriers prevent nurses from practicing to the full extent of their education and training. Some obstacles include state laws, federal policies, out-of-date insurance models, and institutional practices and cultures. The healthcare system is evolving. Between the years 1750 and 2000, there have been drastic changes in healthcare. There has been a shift from simple home remedies to complex technological systems. There are actions that the federal state should undertake to ensure the promotion of patient safety and the implementation of nursing recommendations. It provides provision of healthcare services to vulnerable populations. It should ensure the regulation of healthcare markets and support the acquisition of knowledge by nurses(Kershaw, 2019).

References

Hudspeth, R. S., & Klein, T. A. (2019). Understanding nurse practitioner scope of practice: Regulatory, practice, and employment perspectives now and for the future. Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 31(8), 468-473.

Kershaw, B. (2011). The future of nursing – leading change, advancing Health. The future of  nursing – Leading change, advancing health. Nursing Standard, 26(7), 31- 31. https://doi.org/10.7748/ns2011.10.26.7.31.b1274

NURS 8100 Advocacy Area Sample

NURS 8100 Advocacy Area  

African Americans (AAs) with chronic conditions are a vulnerable population, and they often face challenges accessing preventive, curative, and rehabilitative healthcare services due to racial and social injustice (Yearby, 2022). AAs are considered the least healthy ethnic group in the US. The purpose of this paper is to discuss an important advocacy issue related to this population and how the issue can be addressed through policy. 

Advocacy Issue 

AAs face challenges with accessing preventive health services for chronic illnesses. Ellis et al. (2020) explain that AAs face high incidence rates and poor health outcomes for many common chronic illnesses, and many AA families are often concurrently managing multiple chronic diseases. Singh et al. (2023) found that AA communities have a higher risk and burden of chronic illnesses, including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and stroke, at a younger age than other ethnic groups. 

The issue can be mitigated by enacting policies that foster preventive and screening services for AAs. Preventive health care is a proactive tactic to increase health care utilization. It comprises primary (health promotion and education), secondary (screenings and short-term treatment), and tertiary levels (long-term and rehabilitation treatment). According to Jordan et al. (2024), early detection and increased engagement with preventive health care have demonstrated an impact on morbidity and mortality rates among AA men. By increasing early detection of chronic illnesses and promoting better disease prognosis, preventive health care can reduce health disparities and increase the life expectancy of AAs with chronic illnesses. 

Conclusion 

AAs have a higher risk of chronic disease mortality and disability and experience chronic diseases younger than their White counterparts. The health disparity among AAs can be addressed through a policy approach of improving preventive health care to increase health care utilization. This can promote early detection and treatment and increase life expectancy for AAs with chronic illnesses.  

References 

Ellis, K. R., Hecht, H. K., Young, T. L., Oh, S., Thomas, S., Hoggard, L. S., Ali, Z., Olawale, R., Carthron, D., Corbie-Smith, G., & Eng, E. (2020). Chronic disease among African American families: A systematic scoping review. Preventing Chronic Disease, p. 17. https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd17.190431 

Jordan, H., Jeremiah, R., Watson, K., Corte, C., Steffen, A., & Matthews, A. K. (2024). Exploring Preventive Health Care Utilization Among Black/African American Men. American Journal of Men’s Health, 18(1), 15579883231225548. https://doi.org/10.1177/15579883231225548 

Singh, H., Fulton, J., 4th, Mirzazada, S., Saragosa, M., Uleryk, E. M., & Nelson, M. L. A. (2023). Community-Based Culturally Tailored Education Programs for Black Communities with Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, Hypertension, and Stroke: Systematic Review Findings. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 10(6), 2986–3006. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-022-01474-5 

Yearby, R. (2022). The Social Determinants of Health, Health Disparities, and Health Justice. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics: A Journal of the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 50(4), 641–649. https://doi.org/10.1017/jme.2023.3