Kelly Jewell

Advocacy Assignment- Position Paper

Nursing 492 – Community Health Nursing

 

Purpose of Assignment:

 

The purpose of this assignment is to allow the student the opportunity to 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

 

Approach to Assignment:

 

When completing this assignment, I placed myself in the position of public health nurse. I selected a current health issue that impacts my community and reviewed currently legislation regarding the public health issue I had chosen. I found legislation that was passed over in the Senate which would have allowed trained health professionals to carry and administer Epinephrine via Epipens to patient suffering from sudden onset of anaphylaxis without history of allergies at selected public events. After completing appropriate research to support my claim to reassess the need for this legislature, I wrote a persuasive style letter to my local Senator including all my research and supporting evidence.

 

Reason for Inclusion:

 

This paper is included as an example of my ability to communicate effectively through persuasive writing. It allowed me a chance to review how legislation is passed and all the policies currently under review. This paper allowed me to demonstrate my active role as an advocate for people in my community.  This also allowed me to show accountability and adherence to standards of practice and legal and ethical principles through encouragement of change via development and support legislature.

 

Curricular outcomes:

 

Communication

· Produces clear, accurate, and relevant writing using correct grammar, spelling and punctuation

 

This assignment provides and adequate sample of my ability to communicate clearly and accurately. The writing provided relevant information on the topic discussed. The letter was completed with correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

 

 · Accesses and utilizes data and information from a wide range of sources to enhance patient and professional communication

 

Included in the assignment is information collected from professional nursing journals, nursing blogs, national news reports, national/local organizations, and peer-reviewed research articles to support my rationale for reconsidering my Senate bill from being passed over indefinitely in the senate. The data was collected from multiple sources, including Old Dominion University Library Database to enhance my argument.

 

Teaching

· Uses information technologies and other appropriate methods to enhance one’s own knowledge base

 

Use of peer reviewed articles, data collection, news reports, statistical data review, organization provided information to become informed about background and benefit of passing the bill allowed me to enhance my knowledge base on the topic prior to presenting my case to the senator in this assignment.

 

Research

· Applies research-based knowledge from the arts, humanities and sciences to complement nursing practice.

 

In this assignment, I was able to extract researched based knowledge and share this information to support my argument. The information selected included information from humanities-based organizations for health promotion and education and evidence-based research science to compliment the use of Epipens by health care providers and nurses in a public event setting to help prevent the incidence and risk the of death by anaphylaxis in those experiencing first time allergic reactions.

 

Leadership

· Initiates community partnerships to establish health promotion goals and implements strategies to meet those goals

 

By reaching out to the senator, to advocate for the patients in my community, I initiated a community partnership with an established goal of reducing fatal death by anaphylaxis in public settings. The strategy suggested to meet this goal was by making lifesaving medication available to trained and qualified providers at public events, just like in the school setting for children.

 

· Assumes a leadership role within one’s scope of practice as a designer, manager, and coordinator of health care to meet the special needs of vulnerable populations in a variety of practice settings

 

By writing this letter to my senator, I assumed a leadership position advocating, within my scope of practice, for those future patients at risk for death by first time anaphylaxis. This letter was to meet the special needs of clients who are unaware of need for assistance until the event occurs and should not be made vulnerable to death or irreversible injury due  to lack of a life-saving medication in multiple public event settings.

 

Professionalism

· Advocates for professional standards of practice using organizational and political processes.

 

The assignment allowed me to opportunity to politically advocate for patients in my community and in the state of Virginia by writing a letter in support of a bill to my local Senator. The bill if passed would extend the professional scope of practice Commissioner of Health to establish a list of entities or categories of entities conducting public activities to have standing orders for trained professionals to administer Epinephrine to a person who may be experiencing anaphylaxis. This would make it a standard practice to have additional Epipens on hand in case of anaphylaxis. This political change would potential lead to reduction of lives lost by first time anaphylactic reactions.