Advocacy Through Legislation

Advocacy Through Legislation

Nurses often become motivated to change aspects within the larger health care system based on their real-world experience. As such, many nurses take on an advocacy role to influence a change in regulations, policies, and laws that govern the larger health care system.

For this assignment, identify a problem or concern in your state, community, or organization that has the capacity for advocacy through legislation. Research the issue and use the “Advocacy Through Legislation” template to complete this assignment.

You are required to cite a minimum of three sources to complete this assignment. Sources must be published within the last 5 years, appropriate for the assignment criteria, and relevant to nursing practice.

While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide,
Advocacy Through Legislation
Identify a problem or concern in your state, community, or organization that has the capacity to be advocated through legislation. Research the issue and complete the sections below. For each topic that requires the listing of criteria, a minimum of two criteria should be identified and discussed. Add more rows as is appropriate for the topic/proposal.

Problem

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In no more than 250 words, describe the problem, who is affected, and the current ramifications. Explain the consequences if the issue continues.

Idea for Addressing Solution
In no more than 250 words, outline your idea for addressing the issue and explain why legislation is the best course for advocacy.

Research the Issue
Perform research and compile information for your idea. Present substantive evidence-based findings that support your idea for addressing the problem (studies, research, and reports). Include any similar legislation introduced or passed in other states.
Evidence 1
Evidence 2

Stakeholder Support
Discuss the stakeholders who would support the proposed idea and explain why they would be in support.
Stakeholder(s) Supporting 1
Stakeholder(s) Supporting 2

Stakeholder Opposition
Discuss the stakeholders who would oppose the proposed idea. Explain why they would be in opposition and how you would prepare to debate or converse about these considerations.
Stakeholder(s) Opposed 1
Stakeholder(s) Opposed 2

Financial Incentives/Costs
In no more than 250 words, summarize the financial impact for the issue and the idea (added costs, cost savings, increased revenue, etc.). Provided support.

Legislature: Information Needed and Process for Proposal
Discuss the how to advocate for your proposal using legislation. Include the following:
Provide the name and complete contact information for the legislator.
Describe the steps for how you would present this to your legislator.
Outline the process if your legislator chooses to introduce your idea as a bill to congress.
Christian Principles and Nursing Advocacy
In no more than 250 words, discuss how principles of a Christian worldview lend support to legislative advocacy in health care without bias. Be specific as to how these principles help advocate for inclusiveness and positive health outcomes for all populations, including those more vulnerable, without regard to gender, sexual orientation, culture, race, religion/belief, etc.

 

Advocacy through Legislation

Identify a problem or concern in your state, community, or organization that has the capacity to be advocated through legislation. Research the issue and complete the sections below. For each topic that requires the listing of criteria, a minimum of two criteria should be identified and discussed. Add more rows as is appropriate for the topic/proposal.

Problem In no more than 250 words, describe the problem, who is affected, and the current ramifications. Explain the consequences if the issue continues.
The nurse shortage has been a serious issue in healthcare in recent decades and this has brought negative patient outcomes as well poor working conditions among healthcare providers (Haddad, Annamaraju & Toney-Butler, 2022). The effects of the nurse shortage hit the world the most during the outbreak of the novel coronavirus where the little number of nurses were left to tackle the huge number of patients due to COVID-19 as well as patient with the other normal diseases. Due to the shortage of nurse, the available staff is forced to attend to a large patient population which contributes to burnout, poor patient outcomes due to medical errors and nurse turnover.   Therefore, besides poor patient outcomes, nurse shortage has a negative implication on the health of nurses because it increases job related stress which results in many nurses quitting the profession for alternative profession. Due to the large nurse turnover due to poor working conditions, there has been an increase in mortality from preventable causes. The negative patient outcomes have led to a lose in trust in some healthcare facilities as people attribute such facilities with poor quality and hence a low patient turnout which leads to poor financial outcomes in the affected facilities.
Idea for Addressing Solution In no more than 250 words, outline your idea for addressing the issue and explain why legislation is the best course for advocacy.
The most effective approach to solve the nurse shortage is through policy implementation because the problem has been felt widely with the effects spreading far and wide. The use of policy in addressing the issue will be effective because through policy, healthcare facilities will have a minimum number of nurses that will be assigned a specific number of patients and this will e influenced by the capacity of the facility. To ensure that a policy has been implemented, there is need for healthcare providers to use advocacy to ensure the issue reaches policy makers.   One strategy that will guide the implementation of the policy is the use of a staffing matrix. A staffing matrix is a tool that is used by the leadership to determine the number of healthcare providers that are required to effectively serve a specified number of patients (Blume et al., 2021). A staffing matrix in healthcare is based on the number of patients that a specific healthcare department holds at any given time. The staffing matrix will help in identifying the correct nurse-patient ration therefore reducing the burden of work healthcare providers are forced to tackle at any given point.
Research the Issue Perform research and compile information for your idea. Present substantive evidence-based findings that support your idea for addressing the problem (studies, research, and reports). Include any similar legislation introduced or passed in other states.
Evidence 1	According to Griffiths et al., (2019), poor nurse staffing ration is associated with negative patient outcomes including high patient mortality and increase in medical errors. The study revealed that the hazard of mortality increased with a margin of 3 percent daily when patent experience a staffing shortage below the required ward average. In essence, there is a direct relationship between nurse shortage and patient mortality.
Evidence 2	According to a study by Moloney et al., (2018), the nurse shortage influences the intention to leave their profession. A decrease in the number of staff within a facility increases the workload among the remaining healthcare providers which increases their intentions to leave due to poor working conditions such as long working hours.
Stakeholder Support Discuss the stakeholders who would support the proposed idea and explain why they would be in support.
Stakeholder(s) Supporting 1	The nurses are the first stakeholders that are likely to support the idea because they are most affected by the nurse shortage. With the shortage spreading globally, the remaining nurses in the workforce are subjected to long working shifts which drains them leading to occupational stress. Most of the nurses are forced to work for extra hours to compensate on the small number of providers available to serve the large number of patients. For this reason, nurses will support the idea and will try to advocate for implementation of staffing matrix as a policy in healthcare.
Stakeholder(s) Supporting 2	Healthcare facility managers will also support the idea because they are equally affected by the nurse shortage. Facility managers suffer financial losses as a result of the low number of nurses because the few available nurses can only manage very few patients leading to a low turnup of patients in such healthcare facilities. Also, in case of medical errors, facility managers suffer financial loses due to law suits filed by affected patients.
Stakeholder Opposition Discuss the stakeholders who would oppose the proposed idea. Explain why they would be in opposition and how you would prepare to debate or converse about these considerations.
Stakeholder(s) Opposed 1	Due to their executive role such as making financial decisions, the board of management in the various healthcare facilities is likely to oppose the implementation of the policy citing financial burden. The board of management will always oppose policies that seem to affects their facilities financially.
Stakeholder(s) Opposed 2	The nurse leaders may also oppose the initiative because an increase in the number of nurses in their facilities will increase their duties to manage the large number of nurses. Besides, the nurse leaders may be opposed to the policy due to fears of financial implications.
Financial Incentives/Costs In no more than 250 words, summarize the financial impact for the issue and the idea (added costs, cost savings, increased revenue, etc.). Provided support.
One of the direct implications of the policy is increase in healthcare costs by the healthcare facilities. Many facilities will be subjected to increased costs because the issue of nurse increase does not lead to reimbursement by the federal government. Besides, nurse shortage leads to medical errors which leads to increased hospital stay or increased chances of mortality both of which have negative financial implications to the patients. Healthcare facilities can also suffer financial loses if patients sue them for medication errors (Rappaport & Selbst, 2019).
Legislature: Information Needed and Process for Proposal Discuss the how to advocate for your proposal using legislation. Include the following:
Provide the name and complete contact information for the legislator.
Describe the steps for how you would present this to your legislator.		To present this idea to a legislator, I will first introduce myself and indicate my political similarities with them. I will also recommend them for a specific legislative issue they took part and them present my idea. I will finally thank them and leave.
Outline the process if your legislator chooses to introduce your idea as a bill to congress.		If the Bill is introduced in the congress, it will undergo the following steps. v A txt will be developed for the bill. v The Bill will be introduced in the house and the legislature will be the sponsor v The Bill will be assigned a number v The Bill will be subjected to debate and voting.
Christian Principles and Nursing Advocacy In no more than 250 words, discuss how principles of a Christian worldview lend support to legislative advocacy in health care without bias. Be specific as to how these principles help advocate for inclusiveness and positive health outcomes for all populations, including those more vulnerable, without regard to gender, sexual orientation, culture, race, religion/belief, etc.
Based on Christian worldview principles, the issue f advocacy is an essential aspect that Christians can advocate for the challenges that are affecting the less fortunate in the society including the sick. Patients are a vulnerable group in society who do not have a voice or even the knowledge to advocate and propel their issues to appropriate entities including legislators. As a healthcare provider who well conversant with patient issues, it is helpful to advocate for improved quality of healthcare for better patient outcomes. According to the Christian teaching and the bible, all people ae created in the image and likeness of God hence, we should embrace one another as a command from God.

References

Blume, K. S., Dietermann, K., Kirchner‐Heklau, U., Winter, V., Fleischer, S., Kreidl, L. M., … & Schreyögg, J. (2021). Staffing levels and nursing‐sensitive patient outcomes: Umbrella review and qualitative study. Health services research, 56(5), 885-907.

Griffiths, P., Maruotti, A., Saucedo, A. R., Redfern, O. C., Ball, J. E., Briggs, J., … & Smith, G. B. (2019). Nurse staffing, nursing assistants and hospital mortality: retrospective longitudinal cohort study. BMJ quality & safety, 28(8), 609-617.

Haddad, L. M., Annamaraju, P., & Toney-Butler, T. J. (2022). Nursing shortage. In StatPearls [Internet]. StatPearls Publishing.

Moloney, W., Boxall, P., Parsons, M., & Cheung, G. (2018). Factors predicting Registered Nurses’ intentions to leave their organization and profession: A job demands‐resources framework. Journal of advanced nursing, 74(4), 864-875.

Rappaport, D. I., & Selbst, S. M. (2019). Medical errors and malpractice lawsuits: impact on providers—part 2 of 6. Pediatric Emergency Care, 35(6), 440-442.