NURS 6050 Discussion: The Role of the RN/APRN in Policy Assessment
In the Module 4 Discussion, you considered how professional nurses can become involved in policy-making. A critical component of any policy design is Assessment 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 Assessment. 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 Assessment.
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To Prepare for NURS 6050 Discussion: The Role of the RN/APRN in Policy Assessment:
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 Assessment.
Write 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.
Week 9 required reading
1 Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Chapter 7, “Health Policy and Social Program Assessment” (pp. 116–124 only)
2 Glasgow, R. E., Lichtenstein, E., & Marcus, A. C. (2003). Why don’t we see more translation of health promotion research to practice? Rethinking the efficacy-to-effectiveness transition. American Journal of Public Health, 93(8), 1261–1267.
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
3. https://class.waldenu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/202050_27/MS_NURS/NURS_6050/artifacts/USW1_NURS_6050_Shiramizu_et_al._2016.pdf
4. Williams, J. K., & Anderson, C. M. (2018). Omics research ethics considerations. Nursing Outlook, 66(4), 386–393. doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2018.05.003
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.
5. https://class.waldenu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/202050_27/MS_NURS/NURS_6050/artifacts/USW1_NURS_6050_Healthcare%20Program-Policy%20Assessment%20Analysis%20Template.doc
Sample Discussion Paper: The Role of the RN/APRN in Policy-Assessment
Introduction
Putting nursing policies into action is a big step toward making health care services better. Nurses and other medical professionals get a clearer sense of who they are and what they do, and relationships in general get better. So, health facilities reach their goals, which include caring about the well-being of the population. Assessment is a very important task that makes health policy work better. Most nurses don’t want to be part of an Assessment process because they think it’s more important to serve patients in a medical facility (Milstead, 2004). But this law might be wrong in some ways, since nurses are the best people to do Assessments. The Assessment process needs a deep understanding of how certain things work in the medical field, so nurses have a great chance. So, nurses have to take part in the Assessment process, which is usually easy for them to do because of the opportunities they have.
Chances to be involved in policy Assessment
Nurses can join organizations that do research and Assessment to take part in the Assessment process. After understanding and appreciating the importance of policy Assessment in the nursing field, the last thing to think about is getting helpful resources. Organizations that care about Assessment, like the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) (Williams & Anderson, 2018), offer these kinds of resources and tools to make the process more effective. The U.S. government has given money to clinical translational research institutes, such as through the Institutional Development Award Infrastructure for Clinical and Translational Research and the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (Shiramizu et al., 2017). The goal of these funding programs is to make it easier for the right people to get the resources they need. Because of these funding programs, a number of programs have been evaluated and found to be good. Because of this, these institutes are a great way for nurses to help evaluate policies because they give them better access to resources.
The RE-AIM Assessment framework gives an example of how to do a review activity well. Nurses have a better chance of speaking up during an Assessment because they have important skills like good communication. But if you don’t know what you’re doing when doing an Assessment, you might end up with wrong data. Because of this, people need to know how to do an Assessment process the right way. RE-AIM is an acronym for Reaching out to a large number of people, Being Effective, Being Adopted, Being Implemented in a Consistent Way, and Being Maintained (Glasgow, Lichtenstein, & Marcus, 2003). This model makes it important for nurses to learn about public health issues, which gives them information about how well a policy is working. If a nurse uses this model or any other relevant model already out there, the Assessment process is almost certain to go well. The role of the RN/APRN in policy Assessment is the topic of discussion for NURS 6050.
Challenges
Even though these things make it easy for nurses to get involved in evaluating policy, they also present some challenges. First of all, nurses don’t have enough access to the Assessment tools they need (“Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” 2016). Most organizations don’t have enough money to help with the process, and federal money might not be enough. This slows down the process because the people involved can’t get to the right and enough data to analyze. Also, nurses can join certain groups, but some of them haven’t made it clear what their role is in the Assessment process. This problem could be solved by getting more money from the government and sponsors who are interested.
On the other hand, nurses are afraid to be a part of the process. Even if there are models that show how to do things, there isn’t enough evidence to prove that they work (“Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” 2016). Also, nurses need to spend some time getting to know the policies and models. Not every nurse is willing to spend time and money learning about the models. So, they evaluate things even though they don’t know much about them. This situation makes it harder to find the right information and get the right results. Nurses should be given training workshops and materials to help them learn what they need to know. Also, workshops and seminars will give them ideas, while letting them buy things on their own won’t.
Recommendations
I would suggest that senior medical officers get involved directly in every institution. When officials are involved, they can tell nurses about available opportunities quickly and have a better chance of getting them to agree. For example, if a nurse doesn’t like the idea of participation because they have more work to do, a senior officer can give those tasks to someone else who can do them well.
I would also like to see a network of connections set up so that everyone in the medical field can talk to each other. This will make it easier to share important information, such as new opportunities. For example, nurses could give their email addresses to a health-related group in order to get updates on a regular basis.
Conclusion
The Assessment process is a big part of figuring out how a health care policy is going as a whole. Information and findings help improve a policy that is already working well or fix one that isn’t. Assessment also helps nurses learn about the parts of their job, which improves the quality of care they give to patients. People who don’t care about Assessments have taken part in the process, which wouldn’t have happened if they weren’t around. So, even though these opportunities have a few problems, they have improved the way healthcare services are delivered. The role of the RN/APRN in policy Assessment is the topic of discussion for NURS 6050. References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). Brief 1: overview of policy Assessment. Step by step—evaluating violence and injury prevention policies.
Glasgow, R. E., Lichtenstein, E., & Marcus, A. C. (2003). Why don’t we see more translation of health promotion research to practice? Rethinking the efficacy-to-effectiveness transition. American journal of public health, 93(8), 1261-1267.
Milstead, J. A. (Ed.). (2004). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Shiramizu, B., Shambaugh, V., Petrovich, H., Seto, T. B., Ho, T., Mokuau, N., & Hedges, J. R. (2017). Leading by success: Impact of a clinical and translational research infrastructure program to address health inequities. Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 4(5), 983-991.
Williams, J. K., & Anderson, C. M. (2018). Omics research ethics considerations. Nursing outlook, 66(4), 386-393.
Assignment: Assessing a Healthcare Program/Policy Assessment
Program/policy Assessment is a valuable tool that can help strengthen the quality of programs/policies and improve outcomes for the populations they serve. Program/policy Assessment answers basic questions about program/policy effectiveness. It involves collecting and analyzing information about program/policy activities, characteristics, and outcomes. This information can be used to ultimately improve program services or policy initiatives.
Nurses can play a very important role assessing program/policy Assessment for the same reasons that they can be so important to program/policy design. Nurses bring expertise and patient advocacy that can add significant insight and impact. In this Assignment, you will practice applying this expertise and insight by selecting an existing healthcare program or policy Assessment and reflecting on the criteria used to measure the effectiveness of the program/policy.
To Prepare:
Review the Healthcare Program/Policy Assessment Analysis Template provided in the Resources.
Select an existing healthcare program or policy Assessment or choose one of interest to you.
Review community, state, or federal policy Assessment and reflect on the criteria used to measure the effectiveness of the program or policy described.
The Assignment: (2–3 pages)
Based on the program or policy Assessment you selected, complete the Healthcare Program/Policy Assessment Analysis Template. Be sure to address the following:
Describe the healthcare program or policy outcomes.
How was the success of the program or policy measured?
How many people were reached by the program or policy selected?
How much of an impact was realized with the program or policy selected?
At what point in program implementation was the program or policy Assessment conducted?
What data was used to conduct the program or policy Assessment?
What specific information on unintended consequences was identified?
What stakeholders were identified in the Assessment of the program or policy? Who would benefit most from the results and reporting of the program or policy Assessment? Be specific and provide examples.
Did the program or policy meet the original intent and objectives? Why or why not?
Would you recommend implementing this program or policy in your place of work? Why or why not?
Identify at least two ways that you, as a nurse advocate, could become involved in evaluating a program or policy after 1 year of implementation.
By Day 7 of Week 10
Submit your completed healthcare program/policy Assessment analysis.
Submission and Grading Information
To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:
Please save your Assignment using the naming convention “WK10Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” as the name.
Click the Week 10 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.
Click the Week 10 Assignment link. You will also be able to “View Rubric” for grading criteria from this area.
Next, from the Attach File area, click on the Browse My Computer button. Find the document you saved as “WK10Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)” and click Open.
If applicable: From the Plagiarism Tools area, click the checkbox for I agree to submit my paper(s) to the Global Reference Database.
Click on the Submit button to complete your submission.
Due to the nature of this assignment, your instructor may require more than 5 days to provide you with quality feedback.
