Advocacy Assignment
NURS 492 – Community Health Nursing
Purpose of Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to allow the student the opportunity to individually complete an in-depth analysis of a health issue in order to serve as an expert witness advocating for community health nursing and consumers. An issue involves controversy and therefore may include positive and negative aspects. Students are expected to present a sound logical argument regarding the issue assigned.
Student Approach to Assignment
I began this assignment by looking for a bill that was relevant and I found that “telemedicine” or “telehealth” had been progressing during the past decade. I did not know much about this topic, so I used the project to help me become acquainted with it. I was surprised with telehealth’s applications as a way to give care and that it had been successful in other states. At the time of writing, I could not think of many examples of telehealth in my experience, so I thought that perhaps it has not been well implemented in Virginia. A bill had proposed starting a pilot telemedicine program, and I thought it would be the perfect bill to advocate. Also, my experience with politics and politicians has been limited, so the project was also an opportunity to become more familiar with who my representatives in government were.
Reason for Inclusion of this Assignment in the Portfolio
This assignment has been included because it involves an interaction with a political figure for a bill related to health and nursing. It allowed me to practice my duty to advocate as a nurse at a community level. I was also able to learn about professional correspondence and business letter format while the process of writing the paper allowing me to proceed through a peer-editing process.
Core Competencies
Critical Thinking
Nursing Practice
Communication
Research
Leadership
Professionalism
How My Understanding of Political Processes Changed
This assignment gave me the opportunity to delve into the process of law-making systems, which I did not expect nurses to have much involvement in. However, I can see now that it is in my scope of practice to advocate for a bill that I think is valuable. I was able to research bills in my community and many were related to health care and nursing. Bills must be pushed to the attention to our political representatives so that we can see change. My position as a nurse gives my word a little weight about health and nursing-related issues. If I provide a case for a bill that I am advocating, then a project like telemedicine can receive funding to develop health care. Conversely, if there is a bill that I am against, I am able to argue against the bill. A bill that enables health-care studies like telemedicine has potential to enhance health promotion. This is one way to be outspoken in the community and wield my power as nurse.
The purpose of this assignment is to allow the student the opportunity to individually complete an in-depth analysis of a health issue in order to serve as an expert witness advocating for community health nursing and consumers. An issue involves controversy and therefore may include positive and negative aspects. Students are expected to present a sound logical argument regarding the issue assigned.
Student Approach to Assignment
I began this assignment by looking for a bill that was relevant and I found that “telemedicine” or “telehealth” had been progressing during the past decade. I did not know much about this topic, so I used the project to help me become acquainted with it. I was surprised with telehealth’s applications as a way to give care and that it had been successful in other states. At the time of writing, I could not think of many examples of telehealth in my experience, so I thought that perhaps it has not been well implemented in Virginia. A bill had proposed starting a pilot telemedicine program, and I thought it would be the perfect bill to advocate. Also, my experience with politics and politicians has been limited, so the project was also an opportunity to become more familiar with who my representatives in government were.
Reason for Inclusion of this Assignment in the Portfolio
This assignment has been included because it involves an interaction with a political figure for a bill related to health and nursing. It allowed me to practice my duty to advocate as a nurse at a community level. I was also able to learn about professional correspondence and business letter format while the process of writing the paper allowing me to proceed through a peer-editing process.
Core Competencies
Critical Thinking
- Uses decision-making skills in making clinical or professional judgements
- Revises actions and goals based on evidence rather than conjecture
Nursing Practice
- Performs direct and indirect therapeutic interventions that incorporate principles of quality management and proper safety techniques based upon assessment findings
Communication
- Expresses oneself and communicates effectively with diverse groups and disciplines using a variety of media in a variety of contexts
- Produces clear, accurate, and relevant writing using correct grammar, spelling and punctuation
Research
- Applies research-based knowledge from nursing as the basis for culturally sensitive practice
- Evaluates research that focuses on the efficacy and effectiveness of nursing interventions
Leadership
- Initiates community partnerships to establish health promotion goals and implements strategies to meet those goals
Professionalism
- Differentiates between general, institutional, and specialty-specific standards of practice to guide nursing care
- Understands the effect of legal and regulatory processes on nursing practice and health care delivery, as well as limits to one’s own scope of practice
- Advocates for professional standards of practice using organization and political processes
How My Understanding of Political Processes Changed
This assignment gave me the opportunity to delve into the process of law-making systems, which I did not expect nurses to have much involvement in. However, I can see now that it is in my scope of practice to advocate for a bill that I think is valuable. I was able to research bills in my community and many were related to health care and nursing. Bills must be pushed to the attention to our political representatives so that we can see change. My position as a nurse gives my word a little weight about health and nursing-related issues. If I provide a case for a bill that I am advocating, then a project like telemedicine can receive funding to develop health care. Conversely, if there is a bill that I am against, I am able to argue against the bill. A bill that enables health-care studies like telemedicine has potential to enhance health promotion. This is one way to be outspoken in the community and wield my power as nurse.
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