Title of Paper (top of page 2, centered)
Advocacy and Nurse-Patient Ratios
PAGE 1 HEADING: [Level 1] My Personal/Professional Strategies to Increase My Power ONE PAGE ONLY
Using the Abood article as a reference, describe the strategies and/or the "power(s)" YOU would use professionally and/or personally as a nurse to persuade a busy legislator. Use "I would/will..." terminology," NOT "the nurse/nurses" or "you" terminology (referring to the reader).
How would you prepare YOURSELF, i.e., more education, organization memberships, etc.? Be specific.
How would YOU involve other nurses and potential patients (the public) in your strategies. i.e. petitions, meetings, social media, etc.? Be specific.
2. PAGE 2: HEADING: [Level 1] Legislator Information Sheet ONE PAGE ONLY
Using the above articles as references (Aiken et al.; AFL-CIO; Kinnaird), compose a one (1) page legislator information sheet on nurse-patient ratios for a busy state legislator who will only have time to read bullet points:
Bullet points are brief, pertinent, accurate, research-and/or data based statements that emphasize the advantages to his/her voter constituents (patients). Summarize and paraphrase.
Be convincing! Citations are required for each of the bullet points. NOTE: Bullet points can easily be inserted into a document using MS WORD.
INCLUDE AN INTRODUCTION: To provide context for the legislator, include a short (1-2 sentences) introductory statement at the top of page 2 which addresses the legislator in explaining the purpose for the bullet point statements below.
FOCUS ON PATIENTS/FAMILIES (the legislator's voters): Compose nurse- patient ratio statements that focus on advantages to patients/families, not nurses.
An example: Higher nurse-patient ratios increase nurse burnout. Nurse burnout results in higher attrition and less job satisfaction which impacts the continuity and quality of patient care (Aiken et al., 2010).
APA FORMAT CITATIONS NOTE: Many other research studies are cited in the articles. If you cite these other research studies, they are considered secondary sources (See APA Manual, p. 178, 6.17). For example, the following is an example of a bullet point with a citation from a secondary source:
Patients diagnosed with acute myocardial infarction had a lower mortality rate as the number of registered nurse hours per patient day increased (Sochalski et al. [as cited in Aiken et al., 2010]).
Aiken at al. is then used as the source on the reference list.
d) In-text citations and a reference list MUST be found in your paper. See the Nursing Student Writing Guidelines Checklist for APA formatting.