Assignment: Agenda Comparison Grid And Fact Sheet Or Talking Points Brief

Assignment: Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet or Talking Points Brief

Each administration in the White House has different agendas based in the healthcare issues and concerns. These concerns and issues become presidential agendas because of their impact on public health system and the wellbeing of individuals. The opioid epidemic is a national public health concern with many presidents making it a component of their agendas. Making the opioid epidemic a presidential issue is important in getting solutions to the problem because of its devastating effects on health outcomes and quality of life for affected individuals. By 2019, over 10 million individuals aged 12 years and above misused opioids while the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH) asserts that close to 92,000 persons died because of drug-related overdose in 2020; these including illicit drugs as well as prescription opioids (Felter, 2021). The purpose of this paper is to compare the presidential policy agendas between the current president, Biden administration, and the previous, Trump administration on the opioid epidemic or crisis

Identify the Population Health concern you selected.	Opioid Epidemic
Describe the Population Health concern you selected.	The opioid epidemic entails the use of prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs and illicit substances. The genesis of the issue is an assurance by pharmaceutical companies that use of opioids for pain relieve does not lead to addiction. However, increased prescription of opioids led to widespread misuse before it became apparent that these medications were highly addictive. The federal government through the Health and Human Service (HHS) department declared opioids a public health emergency and later on an epidemic that requires mitigation measures (DHHS, 2021). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asserts that close to 90,000 individuals died due to opioid-related overdose in 2020 while the epidemic costs the economy over $78 billion annually because of expenses associated with the treatment, healthcare costs, and rehabilitation among other aspects. The DHHS has developed a 5-point strategy to deal with the epidemic by empowering communities to tackle it with the aim of reducing morbidity and mortality.
Administration (President Name)	Current President Biden and His Administration	Previous President Trump and His Administration
Explain how each of the two presidential administrations approached the issue.	The Biden administration through the American Rescue plan (ARP) and expansion of Affordable Care Act (ACA) focuses in improving access to quality health care with emphasis on treatment and rehabilitation of substance use disorder (SUD) as well as mental health (Ellerbeck, 2020). The expansion of health insurance coverage is a core aspect of dealing with the opioid epidemic by the current administration. The administration has also enhanced access to overdose treatment and prevention efforts to improve community response to the issue.	The last administration tackled the issue by increasing border patrols and getting tough on immigrants perceived to getting into the country to engage in illegal and illicit drug trafficking activities. Through the efforts like building of wall on the Mexican border, the amount of heroin seized and arrests by the federal government doubled (Frank & Haffjee, 2019). The administration declared the opioid crisis a national emergency as one of the initiatives to address the problem.
Identify the allocations of resources that the current and previous presidents dedicated to this issue.	The current administration allocated about $125 billion to help address this national concern or issue. These resources are meant to develop prevention programs, treatment interventions, recovery efforts, community empowerment, and education.	The previous administration of Trump has allocated about $13 billion to help law enforcement agencies develop new programs in response to the crisis (Wen & Sadeghi, 2020). The administration gave out another $1.6 billion to states and counties with high prevalence of drug use. The administration also allocated another $23 billion to improve border security and $21 billion for improvement of the infrastructure.

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Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis

Using the information you recorded in Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid, complete the following to document information about the population health/healthcare issue you selected

assignment: agenda comparison grid and fact sheet or talking points brief

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Administration	Biden Administration	Trump Administration
Which administrative agency (like HHS, CDC, FDA, OHSA) would most likely be responsible for helping you address the healthcare issue you selected? Why is this agency the most helpful?	The Biden administration uses the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Health and human services department (HHD) (Robeznieks, 2021). The agency is the most helpful since it collects data and develops interventions as well as coordinates responses to public health emergencies that include pandemics and epidemics. The CDC and its affiliated agencies like the National Institute of Health are useful in the opioid crisis because of the expertise and resources allocated to it to handle public health emergencies and concerns.	The Trump administration was keen on using the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) along the border as well as Border Security under the department of Homeland Security (Frank & Haffjee, 2019). The DEA is responsible for controlling entry of any drugs and illicit substances into the country along its borders. The DEA is a federal agency that deals with enforcement of measures to prevent the transportation of illicit drugs, especially from foreign nations into the United States. Therefore, the Trump administration considered it the most appropriate agency in its war against drugs and the opioid crisis.
How do you think your selected healthcare issue might get on the presidential agenda? How does it stay there?	The healthcare issue is already a national public emergency and an epidemic. Upon its identification, proposals on how to address it arise and forwarded to a representative, mainly a Congressional member who brings the issue through developing a bill. Therefore, the issue becomes a presidential agenda when legislators discuss it and make recommendations on how to address it through a bill which is sent to the president for approval so it becomes law.	The opioid epidemic is a national public health issue that requires attention by all stakeholders, especially those in political positions like presidents and their administrations. Lobbying for effective measures to curb the opioid crisis attracts attention of all players, especially those in the political space. Therefore, getting the issue to be a presidential agenda needs using different aspects of lobbying that include legislators who can present the issue as part of their overall political promises and legislate on measures to address it.
Who would you choose to be the entrepreneur/ champion/sponsor (this can be a celebrity, a legislator, an agency director, or others) of the healthcare issue you selected? An example is Michael J. Fox a champion for Parkinson’s disease.	The opioid epidemic is a health concern that affects millions of American families and individuals. Therefore, the individuals to advance this issues should be those victims who have recovered from the drug addictions; these could be celebrities who once battled drug addictions. Healthcare stakeholders would also be champions for issue as they deal with different people who battle opioids and require interventions.	The opioid crisis is a national emergency that requires effective measures by all stakeholders to address. In this case, I would select elected representatives to champion the issue so that it gets to be a presidential agenda. Lobbying for measures to curb and prevent the opioid crisis is essential in addressing its detrimental effects on populations and individuals. I believe that having elected representatives championing the issue would lead to formulation of relevant bills to be presented to Congress for effective development of strategies to deal with the crisis.

Part 3 Narrative

The opioid epidemic is a critical health concern and public emergency affecting millions of individuals and families across the country and need long-term approaches. The current administration and the previous one by Trump have different approaches and strategies to address opioids a public health issue. The issue is critical because of its adverse effects on individuals, especially those addicted, and the whole communities (Ellerbeck, 2020). Statistics from federal agencies and departments show that close to 90,000 individuals lose their lives every year because of the crisis while many individuals and families bore the brunt of socioeconomic conditions that the epidemic creates in their different spheres of life. It is critical that the issue becomes part of the presidential agenda during any election cycle in the country (Felter, 2021). The opioid epidemic is a national health issue and needs use of evidence-based practice interventions to help mitigate its effects on individuals, homes, and communities.

Recovered or former addicts and healthcare providers like nurses are essential components of addressing the problem because of their unique positions. For instance, nurses are critical healthcare providers and frontline caregivers who interact with patients and carry out some of the interventions recommended by physicians. As care coordinators, they can advocate for patients for better care through the evidence-based practice (EBP) interventions to tackle the problem of opioids (Wen & Sadeghi, 2020). Nurses understand the extent of opioid crisis and effects on individuals. Therefore, working with survivors or recovering and recovered addicts, they can influence the formulation of policies to deliver interventions to reduce the prevalence of the condition. The involvement of nurses and former addicts ensures that they present pertinent issues which affect patients and hinder the delivery of better care, especially through the deployment of evidence-based practice in the opioid epidemic situation. The inclusion of these two stakeholders is critical because their interventions would be based on experience and expertise to develop better mitigations.

Conclusion

The opioid epidemic is a national health concern despite the emergence and reemergence of infectious diseases and needs all administrations at national and state levels to deal with it. The analysis shows the need to have stakeholders who understand and have experience in developing interventions to help reduce the impact on individuals and communities. The emergence of COVID-19 may have exacerbated the situation on how to deal with the epidemic. Stakeholders should support government to create better interventions to mitigate the prevalence of opioid addiction.

References

Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) (2021). 5-Point Strategy to Combat the Opioid Crisis.

https://www.hhs.gov/opioids/about-the-epidemic/hhs-response/index.html

Felter, C. (2021). The U.S. Opioid Epidemic. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-opioid-epidemic

Frank, R. G. & Haffjee, R. L. (2019). The Trump Administration’s Actions to Address the Opioids Public Health Crisis–Reply.

JAMA Psychiatry, 2019;76(1):101-102. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.2761

Ellerbeck, A. (2020). The Health 202: Biden will also have the opioid epidemic to deal with amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Washington Post.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/16/health-202-biden-will-also-have-opioid-epidemic-deal-with-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/

Robeznieks, A. (2021). Biden administration boosts access to overdose prevention, treatment.

https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/opioids/biden-administration-boosts-access-overdose-prevention-treatment

Wen, L. S. & Sadeghi, N. B. (2020). The opioid crisis and the 2020 US election: crossroads for a national epidemic.

Lancet, 396(10259):1316-1318. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32113-9.

Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet or Talking Points Brief Assignment Template for Part 1 and Part 2

Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid

The health of children significantly depends on their access to health care services. Despite the improved health outcomes for children in the U.S. due to decreased rates of communicable diseases, recent economic and social changes have led to challenges to children’s health and their need for health services (Racine et al., 2014). Some of the health needs for children include chronic illness treatment, preventive care, prescription medicine, dental care, glasses, and mental health care. However, most uninsured children and those from low-income families have unmet health needs due to a lack of health insurance. The purpose of this assignment is to compare the administrative agendas of Presidents Trump, Obama, and Bush concerning health insurance for low-income children.

Identify the Population Health concern you selected.	Health insurance for low-income children.
Describe the Population Health concern you selected and the factors that contribute to it.	Low-income children refer to children whose family income is above the eligibility for Medicaid but below the 200% poverty level, which is about $32,000 for a family of four. These children have high rates of uninsurance. Uninsurance inhibits access to care and significantly affects the health outcomes of U.S. children. Among the approximately 47 million uninsured Americans, more than 9 million are uninsured children. High uninsurance rates among low-income children are attributed to low family income, family structure, and racial, ethnic, and cultural factors.
Administration (President Name)	President Trump	President Obama	President Bush
Describe the administrative agenda focus related to this issue for the current and two previous presidents.	· President Trump’s agenda was to repeal and block grants for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program to the states (Saltzman & Eibner 2016).	· President Obama’s administrative agenda was to ensure the health and well-being of children in the U.S (Hern, 2020).	· President Bush’s agenda was to expand public program coverage, particularly for children and low-income individuals and families (Gorin & Moniz, 2007).
Identify the allocations of financial and other resources that the current and two previous presidents dedicated to this issue.	· In 2017, President Trump proposed cutting CHIP by 20%. · In 2018, the Trump administration proposed slashing CHIP $7 billion. · In 2019, the president’s budget included an almost $1.5 trillion cut to Medicaid .	· Obama signed a bill that added $32.8 billion to the CHIP program (Hern, 2020). · The amount allowed coverage of an additional 4.1 million children.	· President Bush increased funding to commit health centers to help individuals that live in underserved and rural areas, including many uninsured people, low-income individuals, migrant farmworkers, homeless individuals, and children (Gorin & Moniz, 2007).
Explain how each of the presidential administrations approached the issue.	· President Trump increased barriers to accessing CHIP benefit programs through increasing burdens and imposing work requirements (Saltzman & Eibner 2016).	· President Obama signed the Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act of 2009 into law (Racine et al., 2014). · The law provided health care coverage for an additional 4 million children and pregnant women, including ‘lawfully residing immigrant’ pregnant with no waiting period (Racine et al., 2014).	· President Bush vetoed two attempts to expand the CHIP program further (Gorin & Moniz, 2007). · However, he helped states extend coverage to approximately 2.6 million low-income Americans eligible under Medicaid and the State Child Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by granting states waivers and approving state plan amendments. · He created an optional program for immigrant children, which improved access to health insurance for 423,000 children.

Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis

Using the information you recorded in Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid, complete the following to document information about the population health/healthcare issue your selected

Administration (President Name)

President Trump

President Obama

President Bush

Which administrative agency would most likely be responsible for helping you address the healthcare issue you selected?

· The Administration for Children & Families (ACF).

· ACF is a division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).

· It would help address the issue since it promotes the economic and social well-being of families, children, and communities that need assistance in funding, strategic partnerships, guidance, and training.

· The Administration for Children & Families (ACF).

· ACF is a division of the U.S. HHS.

· It promotes the economic and social well-being of families, children, and communities that need assistance in funding, strategic partnerships, guidance, and training.

· The Administration for Children & Families (ACF).

· ACF is a division of the U.S. HHS.

· It promotes the economic and social well-being of families, children, and communities that need assistance in funding, strategic partnerships, guidance, and training.

How do you think your selected healthcare issue might get on the agenda for the current and two previous presidents? How does it stay there?

· Trump’s agenda was to block grants for CHIP, which would drastically increase the number of uninsured children (Saltzman & Eibner 2016).

· The issue of healthcare insurance for low-income children might get on President Trump’s agenda by creating a policy that limits the president from cutting funding to the CHIP.

· The issue might get on Obama’s agenda on promoting the health and well-being of children by developing policies that increase CHIP funding to improve access to healthcare for children (Racine et al., 2014).

· The policies can help sustain the CHIP funding and increase the number of children who have medical insurance.

· Bush’s agenda was to expand public program coverage for children and low-income families.

· The issue of health insurance for low-income children can get on Bush’s age by enacting laws that increase children’s insurance coverage through the CHIP (Racine et al., 2014).

Who would you choose to be the entrepreneur/ champion/sponsor of the healthcare issue you selected for the current and two previous presidents?

· I would choose the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to be the sponsor on health insurance for children from low-income families.

· AAP is dedicated to health for all children.

· It offers consultation and technical assistance to individuals seeking to influence state government policy.

· AAP can be a great champion to advocate for investments in U.S children to promote child health and development.

· I would choose the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to be the sponsor on healthcare for children from low-income families.

· AAP is dedicated to health for all children.

· It offers consultation and technical assistance to individuals seeking to influence state government policy.

· AAP can be a great champion to advocate for investments in U.S children to promote child health and development.

· I would choose the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to be the sponsor on healthcare for children from low-income families.

· AAP is dedicated to health for all children.

· It offers consultation and technical assistance to individuals seeking to influence state government policy.

· AAP can be a great champion to advocate for investments in U.S children to promote child health and development.

Part 3 Narrative

The issue of health insurance for low-income children is crucial since children’s access to health care is essential to their families and society. Access to health care significantly influences a child’s growth and development, physical and emotional health, and their capacity to reach their full potential as adults (Racine et al., 2014). Children have a high risk of developing preventable diseases if they do not access appropriate health care when they are sick or injured. Providing state-funded health insurance for these children is crucial to reduce morbidity and mortality rates among children and promote healthier communities. Children without health insurance are six times more likely to go without health care than children with private insurance or Medicaid (Racine et al., 2014). They experience delays seeking health care since their parents are usually concerned about payment. Therefore, it is essential that legislation on increasing coverage of CHIP be considered to provide health coverage to uninsured children in families with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid but too low to afford private coverage.

The role of the nurse in agenda-setting for healthcare issues is to identify issues faced by patients in accessing care and those faced by providers in care delivery. Nurses have a role in presenting these issues to policymakers and proposing solutions to address them to improve access to care and patient care efficiencies (Williams et al., 2018). Besides, nurses can apply their knowledge and experiences to develop a policy proposal to help reduce the common healthcare issues (Williams et al., 2018). In agenda setting, the nurse has a role in advocating for their patients in order to have policies that improve their access to quality care.

Conclusion

Low-income children face numerous problems, with access to health care being the most common and complex. Lack of health insurance is a major barrier in accessing adequate health care for this population in the United States. The Children Health Insurance Program was established to provide child health assistance to uninsured, low-income children effectively and efficiently coordinated with other sources of health benefits coverage for children. Presidents Obama and Bush sought to increase health coverage for low-income children and passed laws that expanded CHIP coverage to millions of children. On the other hand, President Trump’s agenda was to cut funding for CHIP, leading to high rates of uninsured children.

References

Racine, A. D., Long, T. F., Helm, M. E., Hudak, M., Shenkin, B. N., Snider, I. G., … & Committee on Child Health Financing. (2014). Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP): Accomplishments, Challenges, and Policy Recommendations. Pediatrics, 133(3), e784-e793. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2013-4059

Gorin, S. H., & Moniz, C. (2007). Why does President Bush oppose the expansion of SCHIP?. Health & social work, 32(4), 243. DOI:10.1093/hsw/32.4.243

Hern, L. S. (2020). Resisting “Politics as Usual”: The Obama Era of Healthcare Reform. In Single-Payer Healthcare Reform (pp. 127-180). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Saltzman, E., & Eibner, C. (2016). Donald Trump’s health care reform proposals: Anticipated effects on insurance coverage, out-of-pocket costs, and the federal deficit. The Commonwealth Fund, 32, 1-14.

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

It may seem to you that healthcare has been a national topic of debate among political leaders for as long as you can remember.

Healthcare has been a policy item and a topic of debate not only in recent times but as far back as the administration of the second U.S. president, John Adams. In 1798, Adams signed legislation requiring that 20 cents per month of a sailorâ€™s paycheck be set aside for covering their medical bills. This represented the first major piece of U.S. healthcare legislation, and the topic of healthcare has been woven into presidential agendas and political debate ever since.

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As a healthcare professional, you may be called upon to provide expertise, guidance and/or opinions on healthcare matters as they are debated for inclusion into new policy. You may also be involved in planning new organizational policy and responses to changes in legislation. For all of these reasons you should be prepared to speak to national healthcare issues making the news.

In this Assignment, you will analyze recent presidential healthcare agendas. You also will prepare a fact sheet to communicate the importance of a healthcare issue and the impact on this issue of recent or proposed policy. Assignment: Agenda Comparison Grid

To Prepare:

Review the agenda priorities of the current/sitting U.S. president and the two previous presidential administrations.

Select an issue related to healthcare that was addressed by each of the last three U.S. presidential administrations.

Reflect on the focus of their respective agendas, including the allocation of financial resources for addressing the healthcare issue you selected.

Consider how you would communicate the importance of a healthcare issue to a legislator/policymaker or a member of their staff for inclusion on an agenda.

The Assignment: (1- to 2-page Comparison Grid, 1-Page Analysis, and 1-page Fact Sheet)

Assignment: Agenda Comparison Grid Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid

Use the Agenda Comparison Grid Template found in the Learning Resources and complete the Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid based on the current/sitting U.S. president and the two previous presidential administrations and their agendas related to the public health concern you selected. Be sure to address the following:

Identify and provide a brief description of the population health concern you selected and the factors that contribute to it.

Describe the administrative agenda focus related to the issue you selected.

Identify the allocations of financial and other resources that the current and two previous presidents dedicated to this issue.

Explain how each of the presidential administrations approached the issue.

(A draft of Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid should be posted to the Module 1 Discussion Board by Day 3 of Week 1.)

Part 3: Fact Sheet or Talking Points Brief

Based on the feedback that you received from your colleagues in the Discussion, revise Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid and Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis.

Then, using the information recorded on the template in Parts 1 and 2, develop a 1-page Fact Sheet or Talking Points Brief that you could use to communicate with a policymaker/legislator or a member of their staff for this healthcare issue. You can use Microsoft Word or PowerPoint to create your Fact Sheet or Talking Point Brief. Be sure to address the following:

Summarize why this healthcare issue is important and should be included in the agenda for legislation.

Justify the role of the nurse in agenda setting for healthcare issues.

Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis

Using the information you recorded in Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid on the template, complete the Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis portion of the template, by addressing the following:

Which administrative agency would most likely be responsible for helping you address the healthcare issue you selected?

How do you think your selected healthcare issue might get on the agenda for the current and two previous presidents? How does it stay there?

Who would you choose to be the entrepreneur/ champion/sponsor of the healthcare issue you selected for the current and two previous presidents?

By Day 3 of Week 1

Submit a draft of Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid to the Module 1 Discussion Board

Considering the feedback you received in the Module 1 Discussion on Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid, revise and further develop Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid and Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis. Consider how the feedback you received might influence your Fact Sheet or Talking Points and revise as necessary.

NRSE 6050 Week 1 Discussion Agenda Comparison Grids

Regardless of political affiliation, every citizen has a stake in healthcare policy decisions. Hence, it is little wonder why healthcare items become such high-profile components of presidential agendas. It is also little wonder why they become such hotly debated agenda items.

In Part 1 of this moduleâ€™s Assignment, you were asked to begin work on an Agenda Comparison Grid to compare the impact of the current/sitting U.S. president and the two previous presidentsâ€™ agendas on the healthcare item you selected for study. In this Discussion, you will share your first draft with your colleagues to receive feedback to be applied to your final version.

To Prepare:

Review the Resources and reflect on the importance of agenda setting.

Consider how federal agendas promote healthcare issues and how these healthcare issues become agenda priorities.

Review Part 1 of the Module 1 Assignment and complete the requirements for this Discussion.

By Day 7 of Week 2

Submit your final version of Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid, Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis, and Part 3: Fact Sheet or Talking Points Brief.

Submission and Grading Information

To submit your completed Assignment for review and grading, do the following:

Please save your Assignment using the naming convention â€œWK2Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)â€ as the name.

Click the Week 2 Assignment Rubric to review the Grading Criteria for the Assignment.

Click the Week 2 Assignment link. You will also be able to â€œView Rubricâ€ 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 â€œWK2Assgn+last name+first initial.(extension)â€ 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.

Syllabus

Student Support and Calendar Information
So you have all key information available to you off-line, it is highly recommended that you print the following items for your reference:

This Syllabus, including the Course Schedule that is linked on this page as a PDF
Course Calendar
Support, Guidelines, and Policies
Photo Credit: Sam Edwards / Caiaimage / Getty Images

Credit Hours
5 credits in 11 weeks
Walden University assigns credit hours based on the number and type of assignments that enable students to achieve the course learning objectives. In general, each semester credit equals about 42 hours of total student work and each quarter credit equals about 28 hours of total student work. This time requirement represents an approximate average for undergraduate work and the minimum expectations for graduate work. The number and kind of activities estimated to fulfill time requirements will vary by degree level and student learning style, and by student familiarity with the delivery method and course content.

Course Description
In today’s rapidly changing healthcare delivery system, decisions made within the political arena impact the future of health delivery systems, healthcare professionals, and the populations they serve. In this course, students examine the policy process and its impact on healthcare delivery, cost, quality, and access. Students examine the importance of getting healthcare issues on federal and state agenda, investigate governmental response through legislation and regulation, and identify where they can advocate for positive outcomes in program/policy design, implementation, and evaluation. Global health issues are examined for their relevance and impact on the development of the nurse advocate. Through discussions, reflection, case studies, and the application of professional communications techniques as political tactics to influence policy outcomes, students demonstrate integration of policy decision-making into professional nurse practice for the benefit of individuals and populations.

Course Learning Outcomes
By the conclusion of this course, you should be able to:

Evaluate factors that affect nursing practice (such as socioeconomic, political, legal/regulatory, ethical, and global factors).
Evaluate factors that affect healthcare delivery systems (such as socioeconomic, political, legal/regulatory, ethical, and global factors).
Evaluate factors that affect population health (such as socioeconomic, political, legal/regulatory, ethical, and global factors).
Analyze the influence of policy and politics on the cost, quality, and access to healthcare delivery systems.
Apply policy processes including political advocacy skills into professional nursing practice.
Assess tradeoffs between cost, quality, and access inherent in a complex healthcare delivery system.
Analyze global policies for health and healthcare issues.
College of Nursing Alignment of Learner Outcomes
Click on the following link to access the College of Nursing Alignment of Learner Outcomes:

Document: NURS 6050 College of Nursing Alignment of Learner Outcomes (PDF)

Course Materials
Please visit the University bookstore via your Walden student portal to ensure you are obtaining the correct version of any course texts and/or materials noted in the following section. When you receive your materials, make sure that all required items are included.

Course Text
Milstead, J.A., & Short, N.M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Note: If the print edition of these books are referenced here, electronic versions also may be available and may be acceptable for use in this course. If an electronic version is listed, no print version is available.

Other readings (journal articles, websites, book excerpts, etc.) are assigned throughout the course and may be found within each Module.

Note: The following text is required for use throughout your MSN program and should have been purchased in NURS 6002/NURS 6003:

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Media
Assigned course media elements may be found in one or more modules of the course and are available via a streaming media player or a hyperlink to the individual item.

Course Readings List
The Course Readings List contains all the required Walden Library resources for this course. Please click on the following link to access the list:

NURS 6050 Course Readings List

Dedicated Support for Course Media
You may use the following e-mail address and toll-free number for any questions or concerns you have about media in the course.

E-mail: mediasupport@waldenu.edu

Phone: 1-877-238-2963

Primary and Secondary Sources
Review the following information prior to selecting resources for assignments.

Primary: A primary source is an original document that is the first account of what happened. A research report is primary, and you can tell because it includes materials and methods demonstrating how the research was done. Some creative work is also primary, such as poetry, novels, and interviews of people who experienced something firsthand. In nursing, which is an evidence-based discipline, we strive to use primary research that is published in scholarly, peer-reviewed journals.

Scholarly, peer-reviewed journal: Scholarly journals publish papers by professional authors and experts in the field using a peer-review process to review the work and assure quality before publishing. The focus of a scholarly journal is to provide accurate information for scholars and other researchers. The focus is on content rather than advertising, a direct contrast to popular media. Scholarly journals publish both primary and secondary papers, the former usually noted as original research and the latter as reviews and commentaries. Letters to the editor may also be published but should be recognized as opinion pieces.

Note: When selecting articles for course assignments, you are advised (unless you are referencing seminal information) to focus on work published within the past five years.

Secondary: A secondary source is one step removed from the original source. This work interprets and often compiles other work, and it includes review articles, textbooks, fact sheets, and commentaries about a topic. It also includes news reports of original research. Secondary work is more prone to error and bias than primary work because it is being filtered through an additional person or persons. Review papers can be useful to glean information about a topic and to find other sources from the reference list, but it is the original, primary research that should be relied on most heavily in demonstrating scholarship, depth, and validation of factual information.

Course Assignments
Participation in weekly Discussions: The exchange of ideas among colleagues engaged in scholarly inquiry is a key aspect of learning and is a requisite activity in this course. You are expected to participate each week by posting a response to a prompt or question in the weekly Discussion area. In addition, you are expected to respond to your fellow students’ postings. Within the course, your fellow students are referred to as colleagues. To count as participation, responses need to be thoughtful; that is, they must refer to the week’s readings, relevant issues in the news, information obtained from other sources, and/or ideas expressed in the postings of other class members. You may ask questions or offer further information or links about the subject. Please pay attention to grammar and spelling, as consistently poorly written posts will receive grade penalties. In grading the required Discussion postings, your Instructor will be using the Discussion Posting and Response Rubric, located in the Course Information area.

Note: Unless otherwise noted, initial postings to Discussions are due on or before Day 3, and response postings are due on or before Day 6. You are required to participate in the Discussion on at least three different days (a different day for main post and each response). It is important to adhere to the weekly time frame to allow others ample time to respond to your posting. In addition, you are expected to respond to questions directed toward your own initial posting in a timely manner.
Assignments: The Assignments provide you with the opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge gained through the Learning Resources and the practicum experience. See the Assignment area of specific weeks for detailed descriptions of the assignments. In grading the required Assignments, your Instructor will be using rubrics located in the Course Information area.

Note: The course Assignments will require that you completely and accurately demonstrate critical thinking via assimilation and synthesis of ideas when using credible, outside and course specific resources (i.e. video, required readings, textbook), when comparing different points of view, highlighting similarities, differences, and connections, and/or when lending support to your Assignment responses.
Portfolio Assignment: Each course in the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program for the following specializations includes a Portfolio Assignment: Nursing Education, Nurse Executive, Nursing Informatics, and Public Health Nursing. The Portfolio Assignment is designed to measure specific professional knowledge and skills as outlined in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Master’s Essentials. Students submit the Portfolio Assignment in the online classroom and a criterion-based scoring rubric is used to grade the assignment. The rubric is aligned with American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Master’s Essentials and provides specific and informative feedback on your performance. The Portfolio Assignment is evaluated by the course Instructor.
Grading Criteria and Total Components of a Grade
Course grades will be based on participation (postings) and completion of assignments listed below.

Letter grades will be assigned as follows:

90%–100% = A
80%–89% = B
70%–79% = C
< 70% = F

Please see below for the policy on Incomplete (I) grades.

Assignment
Total Points
Percentage
(Weighted)
Discussions
Participation in Discussions*
(6 @ 100 pts. each)
600
35%
Assignments
Module 1 Assignment (100 pts.)
Module 2 Assignment (100 pts.)
Module 3 Assignment (100 pts.)
Module 4 Assignment (100 pts.)
Module 5 Assignment (100 pts.)
Module 6 Assignment (100 pts.)**
600
65%
Total
1200
100%
* Each Discussion requires that you make one initial posting and at least two response postings to colleagues. See the Discussion Posting and Response Rubric for posting details.
**This is the Portfolio Assignment for this course.

Incomplete Grade Policy
Per University policy, Incomplete grades can be granted only to students who have already met the minimum criteria for active weekly participation in a course (including weekly postings in online courses) and have completed at least 80% of other coursework. Incompletes can be awarded when, because of extenuating circumstances, a student has not met additional course requirements, including but not limited to written assignments, group projects, and research papers, as applicable. All Incomplete grades are awarded at the discretion of the course faculty. (Reproduced from Student Catalog)

Students who are eligible for an Incomplete must contact the Course Faculty to request the grade as soon as possible. Students who do not meet the criteria listed above will not be allowed to earn an Incomplete. If the Incomplete is approved, the Faculty Member will work with the student to outline the due date(s) for remaining work. Under no circumstances will the new due dates extend beyond 50 days from the last day of the term. Faculty will then have 10 days to assess the work and post the permanent grade before the University-allotted Incomplete time limit of 60 days expires. All Incomplete grades not resolved within the time allotted will convert to permanent grades of F.

Instructor Feedback Schedule
The Instructor will log in to the course during the week to monitor the weekly Discussion area. Feedback will be provided via the My Grades area, the Discussion area, and/or the Announcements page.

Instructor feedback and explanation is provided whenever full credit is not achieved. Depending on the nature of the feedback, Instructor responses may be posted to the Discussion area or included in the My Grades area. The goal of your Instructor is to act as a discussion and learning facilitator rather than a lecturer. The Instructor will not respond to every posting by every individual, so please feel free to ask your Instructor if you would like some personal feedback on a particular assignment posting or any time you have any questions regarding your assignments or your grade.

For most assignments, you can expect your grades and/or feedback to be posted within five calendar days after the due date. Some assignments may require more than five days for your instructor to provide you with quality feedback.

Course Procedures
All class Discussions take place in the weekly Discussion areas.
You are encouraged to post course-related questions to the Contact the Instructor area as they may be of interest to all; however, if your question is urgent, it is often best to e-mail the Instructor. If your e-mailed question is thought to be of benefit to all, it may be responded to by the Instructor via e-mail to all or posted as an announcement.
Instructor feedback on content and writing issues that is thought to be of benefit to the entire class may be posted to the Contact the Instructor area; however, most personal critique will be done privately in the Grade Center. Be sure to check the Grade Center for comments every week even if you received full credit.
Please feel free to use the Class Café to initiate and participate in conversations not directly related to the course. This is an excellent opportunity to get to know other students better. The Instructor will browse the Class Café occasionally but generally will not respond to conversations posted there unless students have specific questions for him or her.
Check the e-mail account you use for official Walden University business on a regular basis. The expectation is that you are checking this e-mail account daily during the week. If you experience difficulty sending or receiving Walden e-mail, please contact the Student Support Team right away. Contact information for the Student Support Team is located in the Student Support area.
Review all materials in the Course Information area, as well as the materials contained under each of the weekly buttons.
Note: There are Optional Readings located within the Learning Resources section of each week in the course. You are encouraged to explore these readings, as needed, in order to enhance your understanding of the course content.

Preferred Methods for Delivering Assignments
Be sure that you post to the correct Discussion area each week. Do not e-mail postings to the Instructor. For all initial Discussion postings, make sure that the first sentence of your posting reads Main Question Post. For your responses to others’ response postings, make sure that the first sentence of your response reads Response. These actions will ensure easily identifiable subject lines for your postings and responses.
Application Assignments are submitted to the SafeAssign link and named according to the week in which the Assignment is submitted. Directions for naming each Application Assignment are included in each week’s Assignment area. Please be sure that all written Application Assignments are saved and submitted as a “.doc” file.
All e-mail correspondence must contain in the subject line “NURS 6050-XX-NAME” (XX is the section number) followed by a brief description of the subject. This subject line convention ensures that your e-mail will be easily identified and responded to in a timely manner. It is required that the e-mail contain a signature that matches the official name used in the course.
Late Assignment Policy
Students are expected to submit assignments by the due dates noted in the course. In extenuating circumstances, such as illness, the student must contact the Instructor as soon as possible to discuss the situation. In those circumstances, faculty will determine the appropriate course of action for the student. Depending on the situation, these actions may include recommendations to drop the course (if within the University drop/withdrawal period), acceptance of some or all of the overdue assignments with or without penalties, or failure to accept assignments.

Assignments submitted late without prior agreement of the Instructor, outside of an emergency absence, or in violation of agreements for late submission, will receive a grade reduction for the assignment amounting up to 20%. After 5 days, the assignment will not be graded. Students should be aware that late assignments may not receive the same level of written feedback as do assignments submitted on time.

Keeping Your Coursework
You will have access to the course and your coursework from the course start date until 60 days after the course ends. After this time, you will no longer be able to access the course or related materials. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you retain copies of your completed assignments and any documents you wish to keep. The University is not responsible for lost or missing coursework.

Course Evaluation
At or near the end of the course, you will receive an e-mail inviting you to submit an online evaluation of the course and instruction. All submitted course evaluations are confidential, and only aggregate data and comments will be shared with the Instructor and Program Director. Your feedback is vitally important to Walden University in its efforts to continuously improve programs.

Students With Disabilities
Students in this course who have a disability that might prevent them from fully demonstrating their abilities should contact the director of Disability Services at disability@mail.waldenu.edu or at 1-800-925-3368, ext. 312-1205 and +1-612-925-3368 or https://www.waldenu.edu/contact for international toll-free numbers as soon as possible to initiate disability verification and discuss accommodations that may be necessary to ensure full participation in the successful completion of course requirements.

Classroom Participation
In accordance with U.S. Department of Education guidance regarding class participation, Walden University requires that all students submit at least one of their required Week 1 assignments (which includes posting to the Discussion Board) within each course(s) during the first 7 calendar days of class. For courses with two-week units, posting to the Discussion Board by Day 7 meets this requirement. The first calendar day of class is the official start date of the course as posted on your myWalden academic page.

Assignments submitted prior to the official start date will not count toward your participation.

Financial Aid cannot be released without class participation as defined above.

Students who are taking their first class with Walden and do not submit at least one of their required Week 1 assignments (or at least one Discussion post) by the end of the 7th day will be administratively withdrawn from the university.

Students who have already taken and successfully completed at least one or more class(es) with Walden, and who do not participate within the first 7 days, will be dropped from that class.

If you have any questions about your assignments, or you are unable to complete your assignments, please contact your Faculty Member.

Checklist

The module course checklist below outlines the assignments due for the course.

For full assignment details and directions, refer to each module of the course. All assignments are due by 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time (MT) on the day assigned (which is 1:59 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) the next day). The time stamp in the classroom will reflect Eastern Time (ET), regardless of your time zone. As long as your submission time stamp is no later than 1:59 a.m. Eastern Time (ET), you have submitted on time.

To View the Calendar
To view the Course Calendar:

Course Calendar

To View a Printable Course Schedule
For full assignment details and directions, refer to each Module of the course.

Click on the NURS 6050 Course Schedule (PDF) link to access the Course Schedule.

Document: NURS 6050 Course Schedule (PDF)

Checklist
Module
Assignment
Title
Weeks 1-2 (Module 1)
Agenda Setting