Policy Analysis Paper
Purpose: To investigate & integrate knowledge of advanced nursing practice, scholarly inquiry, & leadership by examining a policy at the level of clinical practice, health care systems, or public/social health policy.
Students are to submit a paper between 7-10 pages long excluding tide page and reference pages.
Paper must be organized according to the guidelines below and should include all the identified sections as required.
Paper must be completed in APA format and contain current scholarly sources dated from 2010 until current.
Introduction
• Generally define & describe the policy issue to be addressed.
Identify the purpose of analysis, the targeted level of policy (i.e., clinical practice, health care systems, or public/social health) & significance of topic.
Identify questions the policy analysis is intended to address.
Background
• Provide details of the issue or problem, including its nature/scope, relevant literature & history, & the context within which the issue exists.
Describe existing policy addressing the issue, if any. Discuss strengths & shortcomings in existing policy. Identify & describe key stakeholders (individuals & groups) that are or will be affected by the policy & why. Analysis
• Identify alternative policies to achieve objectives.
• Establish/identify criteria that will be used for selection of "best" policy.
• Evaluate each alternative & its potential impact relative to the healthcare & patient outcomes.
• Assess the trade-offs between alternatives.
Recommendations
¦ Based on the analysis, identify the "best" alternative to address the current issue & policy situation.
• Provide rationale for selection.
• Describe possible strategies to implement selected alternative.
• Identify barriers to implementation of selected alternative.
• Describe methods to evaluate policy implementation.
Discussion
• Discuss analysis & recommendations relative to the original questions identified, & the level of policy it is intended to address (i.e., clinical practice, health care systems, or public).
¦ Identify limitations of analysis.
¦ Discuss implications for practice, education, research, & policy-making.
Conclusion
¦ Summarize findings & recommendations of analysis
¦ Identify questions to be addressed in future studies or policy analyses.
References
• List all references cited in paper. Must be completed in APA format.
¦ Table displaying results of analysis, including, for example, a list of alternatives & the degree to which each alternative may be most effective.
Other tables & appendices as needed to support analysis.