Assignment: Policy Analysis Paper Guidelines
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 5 to 8 pages long excluding title page and reference pages. Paper must be organized according to the guidelines below and should include all the identified sections as required.
Introduction:
o Generally, define and describe the policy issue to be addressed.
o Identify the purpose of analysis, the targeted level of policy (i.e., clinical practice, health care systems, or public/social health) & significance of topic.
o Identify questions the policy analysis is intended to address.
Background:
o Provide details of the issue or problem, including its nature/scope, relevant literature & history, & the context within which the issue exists.
o Describe existing policy addressing the issue, if any.
o Discuss strengths and shortcomings in existing policy.
o Identify & describe key stakeholders (individuals & groups) that are or will be affected by the policy and why.
Analysis:
o Identify alternative policies to achieve objectives.
o Establish/identify criteria that will be used for selection of "best" policy.
o Evaluate each alternative & its potential impact relative to the healthcare and patient outcomes.
o Assess the trade-offs between alternatives.
Recommendations:
o Based on the analysis, identify the "best" alternative to address the current issue & policy situation.
o Provide rationale for selection.
o Describe possible strategies to implement selected alternative.
o Identify barriers to implementation of selected alternative.
o Describe methods to evaluate policy implementation.
Discussion:
o Discuss analysis & recommendations relative to the original questions identified, and the level of policy it is intended to address (i.e., clinical practice, health care systems, or public).
o Identify limitations of analysis.
o Discuss implications for practice, education, research, & policy-making.
Conclusion:
o Summarize findings & recommendations of analysis.
o Identify questionstobe addressed in future studies or policyanalyses.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
o The answer should be typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), double spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.
o The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
o Also include a reference page. The Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.