NURS-FPX6026 Assessment 3 Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy

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NURS-FPX6026 Assessment 3 Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy – Step-by-Step Guide

The first step before starting to write the NURS-FPX6026 Assessment 3 Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy, it is essential to understand the requirements of the assignment. The first step is to read the assignment prompt carefully to identify the topic, the length and format requirements. You should go through the rubric provided so that you can understand what is needed to score the maximum points for each part of the assignment. 

It is also important to identify the audience of the paper and its purpose so that it can help you determine the tone and style to use throughout. You can then create a timeline to help you complete each stage of the paper, such as conducting research, writing the paper, and revising it to avoid last-minute stress before the deadline. After identifying the formatting style to be applied to the paper, such as APA, you should review its use, such as writing citations and referencing the resources used. You should also review how to format the title page and the headings in the paper.

How to Research and Prepare for NURS-FPX6026 Assessment 3 Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy

The next step in preparing for your paper is to conduct research and identify the best sources to use to support your arguments. Identify the list of keywords from your topic using different combinations. The first step is to visit the university library and search through its database using the important keywords related to your topic. You can also find books, peer-reviewed articles, and credible sources for your topic from PubMed, JSTOR, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, and Google Scholar. Ensure that you select the references that have been published in the last words and go through each to check for credibility. Ensure that you obtain the references in the required format, for example, in APA, so that you can save time when creating the final reference list. 

You can also group the references according to their themes that align with the outline of the paper. Go through each reference for its content and summarize the key concepts, arguments and findings for each source. You can write down your reflections on how each reference connects to the topic you are researching about. After the above steps, you can develop a strong thesis that is clear, concise and arguable. Next you should create a detailed outline of the paper so that it can help you to create headings and subheadings to be used in the paper. Ensure that you plan what point will go into each paragraph.

How to Write the Introduction for NURS-FPX6026 Assessment 3 Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy

The introduction of the paper is the most crucial part as it helps to provide the context of your work, and will determine if the reader will be interested to read through to the end. You should start with a hook, which will help capture the reader’s attention. You should contextualize the topic by offering the reader a concise overview of the topic you are writing about so that they may understand its importance. You should state what you aim to achieve with the paper. The last part of the introduction should be your thesis statement, which provides the main argument of the paper.

How to Write the Body for NURS-FPX6026 Assessment 3 Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy

The body of the paper helps you to present your arguments and evidence to support your claims. You can use headings and subheadings developed in the paper’s outline to guide you on how to organize the body. Start each paragraph with a topic sentence to help the reader know what point you will be discussing in that paragraph. Support your claims using the evidence conducted from the research, ensure that you cite each source properly using in-text citations. You should analyze the evidence presented and explain its significance and how it connects to the thesis statement. You should maintain a logical flow between each paragraph by using transition words and a flow of ideas.

How to Write the In-text Citations for NURS-FPX6026 Assessment 3 Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy

In-text citations help the reader to give credit to the authors of the references they have used in their works. All ideas that have been borrowed from references, any statistics and direct quotes must be referenced properly. The name and date of publication of the paper should be included when writing an in-text citation. For example, in APA, after stating the information, you can put an in-text citation after the end of the sentence, such as (Smith, 2021). If you are quoting directly from a source, include the page number in the citation, for example (Smith, 2021, p. 15). Remember to also include a corresponding reference list at the end of your paper that provides full details of each source cited in your text. An example paragraph highlighting the use of in-text citations is as below:

The integration of technology in nursing practice has significantly transformed patient care and improved health outcomes. According to Smith (2021), the use of electronic health records (EHRs) has streamlined communication among healthcare providers, allowing for more coordinated and efficient care delivery. Furthermore, Johnson and Brown (2020) highlight that telehealth services have expanded access to care, particularly for patients in rural areas, thereby reducing barriers to treatment.

How to Write the Conclusion for NURS-FPX6026 Assessment 3 Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy

When writing the conclusion of the paper, start by restarting your thesis, which helps remind the reader what your paper is about. Summarize the key points of the paper, by restating them. Discuss the implications of your findings and your arguments. End with a call to action that leaves a lasting impact on the reader or recommendations.

How to Format the Reference List for NURS-FPX6026 Assessment 3 Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy

The reference helps provide the reader with the complete details of the sources you cited in the paper. The reference list should start with the title “References” on a new page. It should be aligned center and bolded. The references should be organized in an ascending order alphabetically and each should have a hanging indent. If a source has no author, it should be alphabetized by the title of the work, ignoring any initial articles such as “A,” “An,” or “The.” If you have multiple works by the same author, list them in chronological order, starting with the earliest publication. 

Each reference entry should include specific elements depending on the type of source. For books, include the author’s last name, first initial, publication year in parentheses, the title of the book in italics, the edition (if applicable), and the publisher’s name. For journal articles, include the author’s last name, first initial, publication year in parentheses, the title of the article (not italicized), the title of the journal in italics, the volume number in italics, the issue number in parentheses (if applicable), and the page range of the article. For online sources, include the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) or the URL at the end of the reference. An example reference list is as follows:

References

Johnson, L. M., & Brown, R. T. (2020). The role of telehealth in improving patient outcomes. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 35(2), 123-130. https://doi.org/10.1097/NCQ.0000000000000456

Smith, J. A. (2021). The impact of technology on nursing practice. Health Press.

NURS-FPX6026 Assessment 3 Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy Instructions

  • Write a letter to the editor of a scholarly journal. The length and format of the letter is dictated by your choice of journal.

Introduction

Note: Each assessment in this course builds on the work you completed in the previous assessment. Therefore, you must complete the assessments in this course in the order in which they are presented.

Advocating for new policies is an important aspect of the master’s-prepared nurse. For new policies to be compelling they need to be supported by evidence. Supporting data can be used to illustrate why new policies and interventions are needed to help address a specific health issue. Compelling data can help sway the stakeholders and gain support for your policy.

Another aspect of advocacy is disseminating new policies and interventions outside of the immediate care environment. This can be done by reaching out to professional organizations as well as academic and professional journals. A letter to the editor is one strategy for disseminating information to a wider audience and to potentially enlist support throughout the wider professional community.

Professional Context

Nurses have the opportunity to use their skills and develop programs to keep individuals and communities healthy. Health is complex, however, and the nurse needs to possess strong advocacy skills to successfully support a cause or interest. The American Nurses Association’s (2015) code of ethics describes the responsibility of a nurse to include working through and with appropriate stakeholders to advocate for the health of people in and out of the work environment. To be an effective advocate, there are several important abilities a nurse must possess, including problem-solving, communication, and influencing others. One way a nurse can advocate to a broader population is through effective letter writing, both to legislators and through the media, such as with editorials and research articles.

Reference

American Nurses Association. (2015). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNurses/Code-of-Ethics-For-Nurses.html

Scenario

Throughout this course, you have focused on a specific health issue occurring within a specific population. You researched position papers regarding this health concern, and you developed a health policy proposal to positively impact the health of the affected individuals. It is now time to reach a greater audience regarding your policy proposal.

You are going to write a letter to the editor of a peer-reviewed nursing journal. Choose from one of the journals in the Ultimate List of Nursing Journals and go to the journal’s Web site to find out the requirements for submitting an editorial, such as format requirements, topics, and word counts. Make sure you select a nursing journal that covers the topic about which you are going to write. If you want to use another journal that is not on this list, please make sure the journal does address health care, because this is the purpose of the assessment.

Instructions

For this assessment, you will write a letter to the editor of a scholarly journal. Your goal is to be informative about the policy that you developed for your previous Biopsychosocial Population Health Policy Proposal assessment, while also being persuasive about the need for and benefit of similar policies in other health care settings. The bullet points below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide. Be sure that your assessment submission addresses all of them. You may also want to read the Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy Scoring Guide and Guiding Questions: Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy [DOC] to better understand how each grading criterion will be assessed.

  • Evaluate the current state of the quality of care and outcomes for a specific issue in a target population.
    • Look back to the data or scenario you used in your previous assessment to address this criterion.
  • Analyze how the current state of the quality of care and outcomes for a specific issue in a target population necessitates health policy development and advocacy.
  • Justify why the developed policy will be vital in improving the quality of care and outcomes for a specific issue in a target population.
  • Advocate for policy development in other care settings with regard to a specific issue in a target population.
  • Analyze the ways in which interprofessional aspects of the policy will support efficient and effective achievement of desired outcomes for the target population.
  • Communicate in a professional and persuasive manner, writing content clearly and logically with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
  • Integrate relevant sources to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references using APA style (or the journal’s preferred style).

Example assessment: You may use the Assessment 3 Example [PDF] to give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the scoring guide would look like.

Submission Requirements

The submission requirements for your editorial will depend on the journal you choose. To find out the requirements, go to the journal’s Web site. There should be a section regarding submissions that will address how to format letters to the editor, and whether there is a word count limit (there usually is a limit).

  • If the journal does not have submission guidelines for the number of resources required, use 3–5 sources.
  • To be sure that your faculty knows the submission and formatting requirements for your letter, include the journal’s guidelines on a separate page at the end of the document you submit for this assessment.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

  • Competency 1: Design evidence-based advanced nursing care for achieving high-quality population outcomes.
    • Evaluate the current state of the quality of care and outcomes for a specific issue in a target population.
    • Justify why a developed policy will be vital in improving the quality of care and outcomes for a specific issue in a target population.
  • Competency 2: Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of interprofessional interventions in achieving desired population health outcomes.
    • Analyze the ways in which interprofessional aspects of a developed policy will support efficient and effective achievement of desired outcomes for the target population.
  • Competency 3: Analyze population health outcomes in terms of their implications for health policy advocacy.
    • Analyze how the current state of the quality of care and outcomes for a specific issue in a target population necessitates health policy development and advocacy.
    • Advocate for policy development in other care settings with regard to a specific issue in a target population.
  • Competency 4: Communicate effectively with diverse audiences, in an appropriate form and style, consistent with organizational, professional, and scholarly standards.
    • Communicate in a professional and persuasive manner, writing content clearly and logically with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
    • Integrate relevant sources to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and references.

NURS-FPX6026 Assessment 3 Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy Example

[Your Name]

[Your Address]

[City, State, ZIP Code]

[Email Address]

[Phone Number]

[Date]

The Editor

Journal of Community Health Nursing

 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.

Subject: The Prescription Drug Affordability Program for Elderly Individuals (PDAPEI) – A Policy to Improve Quality of Care and Outcomes

Dear Editor,

The Current State of the Quality of Care and Outcomes

I am writing to urge the adoption of The Prescription Drug Affordability Program for Older Individuals (PDAPEI) as a critical policy measure to address the current status of the older population’s quality of treatment and results in light of the escalating cost of prescription medications. Health policy must be developed to ensure that this vulnerable group has greater access to required pharmaceuticals and better health outcomes. It concerns how the older population is now being cared for, especially in light of how affordable prescription medications are. Obtaining necessary therapies is significantly hampered by the rising expense of pharmaceuticals, resulting in subpar health outcomes (Bhatt, 2022). The entire health and quality of life of senior people, who frequently take many drugs to treat chronic diseases and maintain their health, are impacted by this issue.

The PDAPEI policy comprehensively solves the problems that the aged population has getting access to reasonably priced prescription medications. The policy’s guidelines call for the extension and streamlining of current medication aid programs and government-led negotiations with pharmaceutical companies to reduce medicine prices. They also call for the safe importation of prescription pharmaceuticals. These tactics are intended to lessen the financial burden on elderly people and boost their access to essential medications, ultimately resulting in better health results.

Justification

The PDAPEI policy must be put into effect if the aged population is to receive better care and have better outcomes. The policy makes sure that pharmaceuticals become more accessible and inexpensive by negotiating reduced rates for prescription drugs that are regularly used by the elderly. As elderly people are more likely to follow their prescribed therapies when they can afford them, cost plays a critical role in medication adherence (Rajkumar, 2020). Further improving affordability and medication adherence among the elderly will be the policy’s emphasis on promoting generic drugs and facilitating simpler access to pharmaceutical assistance programs.

Advocacy for Policy Development

To effectively address the specific issue of escalating prescription drug prices among the senior population, it is crucial to advocate for policy reform in other care settings as well. This issue is not unique to any one group of people or industry. As a result, the PDAPEI policy’s concepts and recommendations can be modified and put into practice in a variety of care settings, including long-term care facilities, home healthcare, and community health centers. Regardless of where they receive their care, we can ensure that older adults have consistent and affordable access to their needed medications by lobbying for policy changes in these contexts.

Interprofessional Aspects

The interprofessional components of the PDAPEI strategy are essential to achieving the goals for the aged population effectively and efficiently. The strategy supports thorough medication management and customized treatment programs by fostering interprofessional collaboration among healthcare professionals, including doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and social workers (Huber, 2022). With the help of this cooperative method, prescription regimens can be evaluated holistically while considering both clinical and budgetary factors. Pharmacists can offer invaluable expertise, particularly in managing drug interactions, finding cost-effective substitutes, and ensuring medication compliance.

The Prescription Drug Affordability Program for Older Individuals (PDAPEI) must be implemented to address the existing situation of the quality of treatment and results for the older population affected by the rising cost of prescription pharmaceuticals. With the help of this program, senior people will be able to manage their medications more affordably, more efficiently, and with better health outcomes. The target population’s desired results will be efficiently and effectively attained through fostering interprofessional collaboration and pushing for policy change in various care settings. I appreciate you considering my viewpoint on this crucial issue. The PDAPEI policy, in my opinion, has the potential to significantly impact senior citizens’ lives and raise the standard of care provided by our healthcare system as a whole. 

Sincerely,

Your Name

References

Bhatt, P. (2022). The Impact of Rising Prescription Drug Costs on the Elderly in the United States. Master of Public Health Capstone Presentations. https://jdc.jefferson.edu/mphcapstone_presentation/418/

Huber, C. (2022). Interprofessional Collaboration in Health Care. Praxis, 110(1), 3-4. https://europepmc.org/article/med/34983202

Rajkumar V. S. (2020). The high cost of prescription drugs: causes and solutions. Blood Cancer Journal, 10(6), 71. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41408-020-0338-x