Course description

Course Catalog Description:

In this course, learners are introduced to healthcare policy and finance. Special emphasis is placed on examining policies that shape responses to organizational, local, national, and global issues of equity, access, affordability, and social justice in healthcare. Economic competencies needed for professional nursing practice are explored.

Course Student Learning Outcomes (CSLOs): 1. Demonstrate basic knowledge of healthcare policy, finance, and regulatory environments, including local, state, national, and global healthcare trends. 2. Appraise how healthcare is organized and financed, including the implications of business principles, such as patient and system cost factors. 3. Examine the major forms of reimbursement in healthcare. 4. Examine legislative and regulatory processes relevant to the provision of healthcare. 5. Analyze how the roles and responsibilities of regulatory agencies affect patient care quality, workplace safety, and the scope of nurses’ and other health professionals’ practice. 6. Analyze the legal, ethical, and political contexts of healthcare policy. 7. Evaluate the consequences of policy implementation on issues of access, equity, and affordability in healthcare delivery.

Unit 2 Policy Advocacy Project - Part A: Proposal

Policy Advocacy Project Overview: Nurses are important advocates for patients and health policy. For the Policy Advocacy Project you will need to identify a piece of legislation that you would like to advocate for by speaking with an appropriate elected official in your district, state, etc. The project contains two parts that you will submit for grading, the proposal and the report. In the Part A, the proposal, you will explain the legislation you have selected to advocate for and identify the appropriate elected official (or staff member) with whom you will speak. In Part B, the report, you will research the position of the elected official on the legislation you chose. Then, you will summarize the meeting with that elected official. The report component will be due near the end of the course. Proposal Directions: 1. Identify an appropriate piece of legislation that you would like to advocate for as a nurse. 2. There are multiple ways to find your legislation information and the legislator involved: a. To determine your state representatives, visit https://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/ b. Also, provide the names of your US Congressperson and Senator. This person will go to Washington DC to represent your district/state. c. For the US Congress/House of Representatives, visit http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/. d. For the US Senate, visit https://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_index_subjects/Directories_vrd.htm e. Visit Congress.gov to track progress: https://www.congress.gov/ to find the legislation. 3. Follow the brief video tutorial that will show you how to find the legislation: a. https://galen.screencasthost.com/watch/cqioYsOrtW 4. In your assignment submission, please provide the following information: a. Your name b. The full name of the legislation c. Name of the State d. Identify whether the legislation is State or Federal bill/law e. Where will the bill be voted on The House or The Senate f. Identify the name of the legislator to be contacted i. Provide the URL link to the legislator’s website g. Describe the proposed legislation. Explain why you think the legislation is important or relevant. Please note that the elected official or staff member whom you plan on contacting to advocate for this legislation should work at the State (senator or representative) or Federal level. Please include APA citations and references for any cited materials. The proposal should be about 100-200 words in length. Please keep in mind: • You are advocating for pending legislation. You cannot choose something that has already passed because if that is the case, no advocacy is necessary. • You must specify the exact piece of legislation in your proposal. You must refer to this by the appropriate title. For example Title VIII funding, H. R. 952, etc. • The elected official you contact must have the authority to vote for the proposed legislation. The mayor, governor, or assemblyman (woman) of a city would have no legislative authority and therefore would not be appropriate. You are most likely going to contact a state or federal member of Congress (House or Senate).

What will i learn?

• 1. Synthesize knowledge from the arts and sciences to form a foundation for the practice of professional nursing.
• 2. Provide holistic, culturally competent care for individuals, families, and populations through health promotion and disease prevention across the lifespan and healthcare continuum
• 3. Integrate professional values and behaviors when delivering standards-based nursing care to diverse patients and populations.
• 4. Develop leadership skills to provide and continuously improve the delivery of safe, patient-centered quality healthcare
• 5. Incorporate best practices and the most current evidence when using clinical reasoning to make practice decisions
• 6. Incorporate the use of information systems and technology in order to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision-making.
• 7. Integrate effective communication and collaboration skills to improve patient satisfaction and health outcomes.

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