I - Trends Influencing Access and Equity in Health Care
Select a trend that is influencing access or equity in the health care system negatively and summarize how it is impacting the delivery of health care. Include a discussion of the disparities in the health care system. Include a brief history of the trend, the current status, and your thoughts regarding what needs to be done to address it.
Write a 2- to 3-page paper using the following guidelines and evaluation criteria. Use a minimum of five references from the professional nursing literature in the assigned course readings and other references in the Walden Library. If they are relevant, you may use one or two professional web sites in addition to the literature references.
Use the following headings for the rest of the paper.
Access or Equity Trend -
State the trend you have selected that is influencing access or equity in the health care system negatively. Provide a one-paragraph overview about the background and history of the trend.
Influence on the delivery of health care -
Discuss at least two specific ways in which the trend you selected in the previous section is impacting the current status of health care. This will be one paragraph for each of the two ways.
Creation of health care disparities -
Discuss how the effects of access or equity in health care based on this trend help to create or maintain disparities in health care. This will be one paragraph.
Strategies to address inadequate access or inequity -
Discuss at least two specific ways you think nurses and the nursing profession can address inadequate access to health care or inequity in health care. Each of the two ways will be one paragraph.
Summary -
Provide a one-paragraph summary of the main points in the paper.
II - The Cost of Health Care
Choose one of the two topics below:
- Discuss the issue of uncompensated care (the uninsured) in the U.S. and its impact on the health care system, the cost of care, and on health. Discuss the history of the trend, describe the extent of uninsured care, and the current status of this problem. Include in your discussion what you think the role of nursing needs to be in relation to health care of the uninsured.
- Discuss the issue of health care cost inflation. Describe the forces influencing the increase in health care costs. Select one strategy currently used by nursing, or that could be used by nursing, to control costs and discuss why you think it would be effective.
Use the headings below for each option for the rest of the paper.
Option A: Uncompensated care in the U.S. -
Discuss the history of the trend, the extent of uninsured care, and the current status of this problem.
Impact of uncompensated care -
Discuss the impact of caring for the uninsured on the health care system, the cost of care, and on health.
Nursing and care for the uninsured -
Discuss at least two strategies nursing could use to provide care or influence the provision of care for the uninsured. Describe the reasons why you think these strategies would be effective.
Summary -
Provide a one-paragraph summary of the main points in the paper.
Option B: Health care cost inflation -
Discuss the history of inflation of health care costs and the current status of this problem.
Factors influencing health care cost inflation -
Discuss at least two factors influencing the increase in health care costs. Describe nursing's role in increasing health care costs.
Nursing and reducing health care costs -
Discuss at least two strategies nursing could use to help in the effort to reduce health care cost inflation. Describe the reasons why you think these strategies would be effective.
Summary -
Provide a one-paragraph summary of the main points in the paper.
III - Improving Quality of Health Care Services -
Select one initiative used to improve quality and/or safety of health care. Summarize the initiative and provide your views on the effectiveness of this initiative and how it can be improved.
Use the following headings for the rest of the paper.
A quality and/or safety initiative -
Describe a quality and/or safety initiative currently being used in any health care setting. This will be a one-paragraph overview of the main points of the initiative.
Reasons for the initiative -
Discuss at least two reasons supporting why this initiative was developed. This will be one paragraph discussing each of the two reasons.
Strengths and limitations of the initiative -
Discuss one strength and one limitation of the initiative in having an impact on the quality or safety of health care. This will be one paragraph for the strength identified and one paragraph for the limitation.
Role of nursing -
Discuss a contribution that nursing could make to improving the effectiveness of this initiative. This will be one paragraph.
Summary -
Provide a one-paragraph summary of the main points in the paper.
IV - Policy Issue Analysis
Analyze a piece of health legislation, a regulation, or a policy issue with significance to nursing. You may identify an issue from media reports, the professional literature, or from personal interest. Include how historical, personal values, social, financial, and other influences have shaped the policy. Though the one you develop will not be as detailed, one of the course texts, Mason, Leavitt & Chaffee (2007) has information about the content of each of the policy issue analysis section headings below as well as a very detailed example of a policy issue analysis on pages 83 -91.
Write a 4-5 page policy issue analysis using the following guidelines and evaluation criteria. Use a minimum of seven references from the professional nursing literature in the assigned course readings and other references in the Walden Library. If they are relevant, you may use one or two professional web sites in addition to the literature references.
Since this is a policy issue analysis, there is no introductory paragraph in this assignment. Use the title of your policy issue analysis for the main heading on the cover page and the first page of the analysis. Use the following headings for the rest of the analysis.