The Role of the RN/APRN in Policy Evaluation Discussion Paper

Nurses assume more roles than just primary patient health care. They are also advocates for policy change. It is the role of nurses to identify new policies that would aid the growth of general community health (Ellenbecker, et al, 2017). Change in any policy replicates changes in social and health status. Advocacy for legislation supports policies with positive viability. Change in prevailing conditions sometimes spirals the expected outcomes. Evaluation stamps the viability of a policy in the actual clinical setting. Nurses are responsible for evaluating old and new policies.

The policy of interest is the advocacy to increase the number RN or APRNs in medical establishments. In a general view, the policy is semi-complete. The concerned parties are still promising the complete realization of the policy in the left-out areas. However, in the areas the policy has been practiced the results are promising. When the ratio of patients the nurse has to attend to reduces, patient care status is improving. Trying to have an effective evaluation of such a big-scale policy is complicated. The best way is by joining nursing organizations. An organization such as the Association of Public Health Nurses offers a platform to advocate and evaluate health care policies (Maier, et al, 2017). The Role of the RN/APRN in Policy Evaluation Discussion Paper

ORDER HERE A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER 

A good evaluation is depicted by success. Some policies take time to bear results. When they do bear results, the findings are referenced against control data of when the policy did not exist. Some of these policies are aimed at change in the community. Some social determinants such as the community’s environment are changed by these policies (Lorch, 2017). Good change can be viewed from general public health improvement.

References

Ellenbecker, C. H., Fawcett, J., Jones, E. J., Mahoney, D., Rowlands, B., & Waddell, A.

(2017). A staged approach to educating nurses in health policy. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 18(1), 44-56. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1527154417709254

Maier, C. B., Aiken, L. H., & Busse, R. (2017). Nurses in advanced roles in primary care:

Policy levers for implementation. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/content/paper/a8756593-en

Lorch, S. A. (2017, October). Perinatal legislative policies and health outcomes. In Seminars

in Perinatology (Vol. 41, No. 6, pp. 375-384). WB Saunders. 

In the Module 4 Discussion, you considered how professional nurses can become involved in policy-making. A critical component of any policy design is evaluation of the results. How comfortable are you with the thought of becoming involved with such matters? The Role of the RN/APRN in Policy Evaluation Discussion Paper

Some nurses may be hesitant to get involved with policy evaluation. The preference may be to focus on the care and well-being of their patients; some nurses may feel ill-equipped to enter the realm of policy and political activities. However, as you have examined previously, who better to advocate for patients and effective programs and polices than nurses? Already patient advocates in interactions with doctors and leadership, why not with government and regulatory agencies?

In this Discussion, you will reflect on the role of professional nurses in policy evaluation.

To Prepare:

In the Module 4 Discussion, you considered how professional nurses can become involved in policy-making.
Review the Resources and reflect on the role of professional nurses in policy evaluation.
By Day 3 of Week 9
Select an existing healthcare program or policy evaluation or choose one of interest to you.

Review community, state, or federal policy evaluation and reflect on the criteria used to measure the effectiveness of the program or policy described.

Post an evaluation topic and a brief description of the evaluation. Discuss how social determinants impact this issue. The Role of the RN/APRN in Policy Evaluation Discussion Paper