1 11 Document Format: Margins are 1 in. (2.54 cm) on all sides. All text in the document should be double-spaced. The font is 12-point Times New Roman. Other choices are 11-point Arial and 11-point Calibri. The title page is page 1. There is no running head for learner assignments. (See Academic Writer: Publication Manual §§ 2.1–2.24 for paper requirements.)Full Title of Your Paper Comment by Author: APA Style: Sample Papers shows the title page for a student paper. Learner’s Full Name (no credentials) School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Capella University Course Number: Course Name Instructor’s Name Month, Year Comment by Author: The due date Abstract An abstract is useful in professional papers, but not always in learner assignments. In fact, unless you are instructed by your faculty or in the course syllabus, do not expect to use abstracts very often at Capella. If you are submitting for publication, remember to check with the journal or professional organization about their criteria for an abstract. The abstract tells your reader about the article, is brief, and stands alone, so no citations are included. The format for an abstract is a single paragraph (not indented on the first line) that follows the title page and is less than 250 words in length. A structured abstract will have a single paragraph without indentation but having labels (e.g., Objective, Method, Results, and Conclusions) on the same line as the text and bold. For published works, the publishing organization will give you guidance on these. However, for student papers, no abstract is needed unless the faculty request one or the assignment requires it. Remember, no citations. Comment by Author: See Academic Writer: Publication Manual §§ 2.9–2.10 (p. 38 in the APA manual) for more information on abstracts. Keywords: include keywords in the abstract—they should be labeled like this, with the words all in lowercase and separated by commas. Only the first line is indented, like a regular paragraph. No period at the end. APA Style Seventh Edition Paper Template: A Resource for Academic Writing Comment by Author: New in APA seventh style—this heading is a regular Level 1 and should be bold. American Psychological Association (APA) style is one of the most popular methods used to cite sources in the social sciences, but it is not the only one. When writing papers in the programs offered at Capella University, you will likely use APA style. This document serves as an APA style resource for the seventh edition guidelines, containing valuable information that you can use when writing academic papers. For more information on APA style, refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, also referred to as the APA manual (American Psychological Association, 2020b). Comment by Author: Another important resource for Capella learners is Academic Writer. The first section of this paper shows how an introduction effectively introduces the reader to the topic ...

1. 1
11
Document Format: Margins are 1 in. (2.54 cm) on all sides.
All text in the document should be double-spaced.
The font is 12-point Times New Roman. Other choices are 11-
point Arial and 11-point Calibri.
The title page is page 1.
There is no running head for learner assignments. (See
Academic Writer: Publication Manual §§ 2.1–2.24 for paper
requirements.)Full Title of Your Paper Comment by Author:
APA Style: Sample Papers shows the title page for a student
paper.
Learner’s Full Name (no credentials)
School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Capella University
Course Number: Course Name
Instructor’s Name
Month, Year Comment by Author: The due date
Abstract
An abstract is useful in professional papers, but not always in
learner assignments. In fact, unless you are instructed by your
faculty or in the course syllabus, do not expect to use abstracts
very often at Capella. If you are submitting for publication,
remember to check with the journal or professional organization
about their criteria for an abstract. The abstract tells your reader
about the article, is brief, and stands alone, so no citations are
included. The format for an abstract is a single paragraph (not
indented on the first line) that follows the title page and is less
than 250 words in length. A structured abstract will have a
single paragraph without indentation but having labels (e.g.,
Objective, Method, Results, and Conclusions) on the same line
as the text and bold. For published works, the publishing
organization will give you guidance on these. However, for
student papers, no abstract is needed unless the faculty request

2. one or the assignment requires it. Remember, no citations.
Comment by Author: See Academic Writer: Publication
Manual §§ 2.9–2.10 (p. 38 in the APA manual) for more
information on abstracts.
Keywords: include keywords in the abstract—they should be
labeled like this, with the words all in lowercase and separated
by commas. Only the first line is indented, like a regular
paragraph. No period at the end.
APA Style Seventh Edition Paper Template: A Resource for
Academic Writing Comment by Author: New in APA seventh
style—this heading is a regular Level 1 and should be bold.
American Psychological Association (APA) style is one of the
most popular methods used to cite sources in the social
sciences, but it is not the only one. When writing papers in the
programs offered at Capella University, you will likely use APA
style. This document serves as an APA style resource for the
seventh edition guidelines, containing valuable information that
you can use when writing academic papers. For more
information on APA style, refer to the Publication Manual of
the American Psychological Association, also referred to as the
APA manual (American Psychological Association, 2020b).
Comment by Author: Another important resource for
Capella learners is Academic Writer.
The first section of this paper shows how an introduction
effectively introduces the reader to the topic of the paper. In
APA style, an introduction never gets a heading. For example,
this section did not begin with a heading titled “Introduction,”
unlike the following section, which is titled “Writing an
Effective Introduction.” The following section will explain in
greater detail a model that can be used to effectively wri te an
introduction in an academic paper. The remaining sections of
the paper will continue to address APA style and effective
writing concepts, including section headings, organizing
information, the conclusion, and the reference list. Comment by
Author: See also Academic Writer: Introduction.Writing an
Effective Introduction Comment by Author: Level 1 section

3. heading
An effective introduction often consists of four main
components, including (a) the position statement, thesis, or
hypothesis, which describes the author’s main position; (b) the
purpose, which outlines the objective of the paper; (c) the
background, which is general information needed to understand
the content of the paper; and (d) the approach, which is the
process or methodology the author uses to achieve the purpose
of the paper. This information will help readers understand what
will be discussed in the paper. It can also serve as a tool to grab
the reader’s attention. Authors may choose to briefly reference
sources that will be identified later in the paper as in this
example (American Psychological Association, 2020a;
American Psychological Association, 2020b). The Writing
Center has developed the acronym POETS to help describe the
proper writing style for submissions. POETS is the acronym for
purpose, organization, evidence, tone, and sentence structure
(Capella Writing Center, n.d.). There will be more on this later.
Comment by Author: This is the format for a complex list
within a sentence. The items begin with lowercase letters and
are separated by appropriate punctuation.
Related items can also be set off from the text and presented as
numbered or bulleted lists. For more information on lists, see
Academic Writer: Lists. Comment by Author: When you have
two sources with the same author and date, use a lowercase a, b,
c, after the year and alphabetize the sources in the reference list
according to the title. For the same author but no date, use n.d.-
a and n.d.-b as the date. See Academic Writer: Alphabetizing
the Reference List for more information.
In an introduction, the writer will often present something of
interest to capture the reader’s attention and introduce the issue.
Adding an obvious statement of purpose helps the reader know
what to expect, while helping the writer to focus and stay on
task. For example, this paper will address several components
necessary to effectively write an academic paper, including how

4. to write an introduction, how to write effective paragraphs, and
how to effectively use APA style. Level 1 Section Heading Is
Centered, Bold, and Title Case Comment by Author: Something
new in APA seventh style—all headings are double-spaced,
bold, and written in title case. See Academic Writer: Heading
Levels.
Using section headings can be an effective method of
organizing an academic paper. Section headings are not required
according to APA style; however, they can significantly
improve the quality of a paper by helping both the reader and
the author, as will soon be discussed. Comment by Author:
In POETS, this is the O for organization. See Writing Center:
Organization.
Level 2 Section Heading Is Aligned Left, Bold, and Title Case
The heading style recommended by APA consists of five levels
(APA, 2020b, pp. 47–48). This document contains multiple
levels to demonstrate how headings are structured according to
APA style. Immediately before the previous paragraph, a Level
1 section heading was used. That section heading describes how
a Level 1 heading should be written, which is centered, bold,
and using uppercase and lowercase letters (also referred to as
title case). For another example, see the section heading
“Writing an Effective Introduction” on page 3 of this document.
The heading is centered and bold and uses uppercase and
lowercase letters. If used properly, section headings can
significantly contribute to the quality of a paper by helping the
reader, who wants to understand the information in the
document, and the author, who desires to effectively describe
it.Section Heading Purposes Comment by Author: This is a
Level 3 heading. Notice it is aligned left, bold, italic, and title
case. The paragraph begins on a new line. See Academic Writer:
Heading Levels.
Section Headings Help the Reader. Section headings serve
multiple purposes, including helping the reader understand what
is being addressed in each section, maintain an interest in the

5. paper, and choose what they want to read. For example, if the
reader of this document wants to learn more about writing an
effective introduction, the previous section heading clear ly
states that is where information can be found. When subtopics
are needed to explain concepts in greater detail, different levels
of headings are used according to APA style. Comment by
Author: This is a Level 4 heading—it is indented, bold, and title
case. The heading ends in a period, and the text begins on the
same line as the heading.
Section Headings Help the Author. Section headings not only
help the reader; they also help the author organize the document
during the writing process. Section headings can be used to
arrange topics in a logical order, and they can help an author
manage the length of the paper. In addition to an effective
introduction and the use of section headings, each paragraph of
an academic paper can be written in a manner that helps the
reader stay engaged. Comment by Author: Level 4 heading
Section Headings Can Demonstrate Fine Detail. Short papers
and assignments may not require or need a Level 5 heading, but
these will be indented, bold, italic, and title case and end with a
period. Note the text starts on the line at the end of the heading
following the period. Comment by Author: Level 5
headingHow to Write Effective Paragraphs Comment by
Author: The Writing at Capella multimedia presentation will
help you understand the POETS model.
Capella University’s Writing Center (n.d.) has adopted a new
set of writing standards to assist learners in their goals to
improve their scholarly writing. It is based on five skills known
by the mnemonic POETS. In other words, a well-developed
Capella paper will demonstrate the following standards. The
paper will have a clear purpose statement, be logically
organized, utilize current and appropriate evidence that is
properly cited, maintain a scholarly tone, and demonstrate
proper grammar and writing mechanics in the sentence structure
(Capella Writing Center, n.d.). Academic writing is sometimes
considered dry and boring. A learning experience may need that

6. formula to encourage learning in different ways as the learner
moves from passive learner to active scholar. This growth,
according to Gilmore et al. (2019), requires the writer to not
only think but also to write differently. Comment by Author:
Notice the et al. here—this article has four authors. In APA
seventh style, any source with three or more authors will use et
al. for every citation, eliminating the need to remember when
this appropriate. For more information, see Academic Writer:
Citing References in Text.Bias-Free Language
In the seventh edition of the APA manual, another focus is on
eliminating bias in language in order to provide a more
inclusive tone in scholarly writing. While long considered a
grammar issue, it is acceptable in APA to utilize they as a
singular pronoun (APA, 2020b). In fact, there is an entire
chapter of the manual dedicated to ways to reduce bias in
scholarly writing. It is important to use an appropriate level of
specificity in descriptions and use sensitivity with the use of
labels. Other sections include guidelines on age, disability,
gender, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic
status, and participation in research. Be aware of
intersectionality, a term used to describe a person based on their
identified multiple identities, interconnectivity, social context,
power relations, complexity, social justice, and inequalities that
can result in oppression (Cole, 2019; Hopkins, 2017).
Comment by Author: See Academic Writer:
Intersectionality for the guidelines. Comment by Author: Note
the two citations—in a single set of parentheses and separated
by a semicolon. The citations are listed
alphabetically.Considering Direct Quotations
Another important point to consider is the use of direct
quotations in papers. While plagiarism is considered an
academic integrity issue, many learners are concerned with
issues such as self-plagiarism and unintentional plagiarism, and
there are others who may go as far as purchasing papers for
submission (Colella & Alahmadi, 2019). As a learner travels
along their chosen academic pathway, their writing skills and

7. mechanics are expected to improve. It is imperative that the
learner transition from finding information and quoting the
author word for word to using the information to support an
idea, paraphrase, and then synthesize and express the findings
in one’s own words. Having said that, there are situations in
which quotations may be appropriate, so it is important to cite
them properly. According to the seventh edition of the APA
manual, “When quoting directly, always provide the author,
year, and page number of the quotation in the in-text citation in
either parenthetical or narrative format” (APA, 2020b, p. 270).
If there are not page numbers, identify the location in another
manner (such as a paragraph number). Comment by Author:
Notice the quotation marks around the quoted text and the
placement of the punctuation after the parenthetical citation.
See Academic Writer: Quotation Marks for more on the use of
quotation marks.
Notice that the above quote contains fewer than 40 words. There
is a different style for quotes containing 40 words or more.
These longer quotes use a block quotation format:
Do not use quotation marks to enclose a block quotation. Start a
block quotation on a new line and indent the whole block 0.5 in.
from the left margin. If there are additional paragraphs within
the quotation, indent the first line of each subsequent paragraph
an additional 0.5 in. Double-space the entire block quotation; do
not add extra space before or after it. Either (a) cite the source
in parentheses after the quotation’s final punctuation or (b) cite
the author and year in the narrative before the quotation and
place only the page number in parentheses after the quotation’s
final punctuation. Do not add a period after the closing
parenthesis in either case. (APA, 2020b, p. 272) Comment by
Author: Notice there is no period after this citation in a block
quote—it looks odd, but it is APA style. See Academic Writer:
Quotation Marks. Conclusion
A summary and conclusion section, which can also be the
discussion section of an APA style paper, is the final
opportunity for the author to make a lasting impression on the

8. reader. The author can begin by restating opinions or positions
and summarizing the most important points that have been
presented in the paper. For example, this paper was written to
demonstrate to readers how to effectively use APA style when
writing academic papers. Various components of an APA style
paper that were discussed or displayed in the form of examples
include a title page, introduction section, levels of section
headings and their use, the POETS format, bias-free language,
in-text citations, a conclusion, and the reference list.
References Comment by Author: Remember all headings are
bold.
American Psychological Association. (2020a). Ethical
principles of psychologists and code of conduct (2002, amended
effective June 1, 2010, and January 1, 2017).
https://doi.org.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx
American Psychological Association. (2020b). Publication
manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
Comment by Author: This is something new in APA
seventh style—you no longer need the location of the publisher
for print books. Also note that if the author is the publisher, it
is only listed as the author. This guideline is found on page 324
of the APA manual.
Capella University. (n.d.). Writing Center.
https://campus.capella.edu/writing-center/home
Cole, N. L. (2019, October 13). Definition of intersectionality:
On the intersecting nature of privileges and oppression.
ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/intersectionality-
definition-3026353
Colella, J., & Alahmadi, H. (2019). Combating plagiarism from
a transformation viewpoint. Journal of Transformative Learning,
6(1), 59–67. https://jotl.uco.edu/index.php/jotl/article/view/184
Gilmore, S., Harding, N., Helin, J., & Pullen, A. (2019).
Writing differently. Management Learning, 50(1), 3–10.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507618811027
Hopkins, P. (2017). Social geography I: Intersectionality.
Progress in Human Geography, 43(5), 937–947.

9. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132517743677
Appendix Comment by Author: See Academic Writer:
Publication Manual § 2.14 for more on appendices.Tips for the
Reference List
· Always begin a reference list on a new page. It should be
placed before any appendices, figures, or tables and titled
References.
· Set a hanging indent that starts with the second line and is
double-spaced. You can look in the Paragraph menu of
Microsoft Word for formatting the hanging indent so that you
will not have to tab the indent. It gives the text a smoother l ook
that remains consistent, even if you make edits.
· The reference list is in alphabetical order by the first author’s
last name. A reference list only contains sources that are cited
in the body of the paper, and all sources cited in the body of the
paper must be included in the reference list. If you did not cite
it, do not list it.
· The reference list above contains an example of how to cite a
source when two documents are written in the same year by the
same author.
· The lowercase letters are used after the date to differentiate
the sources. The “a” reflects the alphabetical order in the
reference list—not whether it appeared first in the text.
· The year is also displayed using this method for the
corresponding in-text citations, as in the following sentence:
The author of the first citation (American Psychological
Association, 2020b) is also the publisher; therefore, the word
Author is no longer used in the seventh edition.
· DOI is the digital object identifier.
· It can be found on the first page of an article, on the copyright
page of a book, in the database record of a work, or by
searching Crossref.
· Even if the book is in print, if there is a DOI, use it.
· Always use the hyperlink format for a DOI—it will always
start with https://doi.org/ and will be followed by a number. If
the DOI is not in this format, convert it. Do not alter this

10. format, and do not add a final period.
· There is a short DOI service at http://shortdoi.org/.
· URL is the uniform resource locator.
· If there is no DOI, the URL should be used in the reference.
· Copy and paste the URL directly into your list.
· Do not add a period at the end.
· Do use “Retrieved from” before a URL.
· The Colella and Alahmadi reference is an example of how to
cite a source using a URL. Please note that you will not use the
Capella link that is often provided in the courseroom. If the
URL contains a database title, such as EBSCO or ProQuest, or
the name Capella, do not use that in your citation as it will only
work for Capella learners and faculty.
· For examples and further information on references go to:
· Academic Writer: Sample References.
· Academic Writer: Reference List.
MSN-FP6026 Assessment 3 Guiding Questions
MSN-FP6026 Assessment 3 Guiding QuestionsGuiding
QuestionsLetter to the Editor: Population Health Policy
Advocacy
This document is designed to give you questions to consider and
additional guidance to help you successfully complete the Letter
to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy assessment.
You may find it useful to use this document as a pre-writing
exercise or as a final check to ensure that you have sufficiently
addressed all the grading criteria for this assessment. This
document is a resource to help you complete the assessment. Do
not turn in this document as your assessment submission.
Evaluate the current state of the quality of care and outcomes
for a specific issue in a target population.
· Based on the data that you used to identify your chosen issue
in Assessment 1, what is the current state of the quality of care
and outcomes?

11. · To what degree does the current state of the quality of care
and outcomes need to be improved?
· How does the current performance compare to any relevant
benchmarks?
· How does the current performance adversely impact the health
of the target population?Analyze how the current state of
the quality of care and outcomes for a specific issue in a target
population necessitates health policy development and
advocacy.
· How does the current state of the quality of care and outcomes
related to your chosen issue and target population illustrate the
need for improvements?
· Why do you consider policy development and advocacy
necessary?
· How will developing a health policy help to improve the
quality of care and outcomes related to your chosen issue and
target population?
· Why is advocating for health policy development necessary to
drive improvements?Justify why a developed policy will be
vital in improving the quality of care and outcomes for a
specific issue in a target population.
· Why will your proposed policy (from Assessment 2) be vital
in improving the quality of care and outcomes related to your
chosen issue and target population?
· How will your proposed policy help drive improvements?
· What evidence or best-practices supports this? How does the
evidence provide support?Advocate for policy development in
other care settings with regard to a specific issue in a target
population.
· Why is it important that policy development focused on your
chosen issue and target population take place in care
environments and settings beyond that for which you proposed
the policy?

12. · How will wider development of policies help to drive
improvements related to your chosen issue and target
population?
· Ideally, what is the end result of wider policy development
and implementation?Analyze the ways in which
interprofessional aspects of a developed policy will support
efficient and effective achievement of desired outcomes for the
target population.
· What are the relevant interprofessional aspects of your policy?
· How will these interprofessional aspects support efficient
achievement of your desired outcomes for your target
population?
· How will these interprofessional aspects support effective
achievement of your desired outcomes for your target
population?Communicate in a professional and persuasive
manner, writing content clearly and logically with correct use of
grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
· Is your writing clear and professional?
· Is your writing free from errors?
· Is your writing persuasive?
· Does your submission conform to the format and length
requirements of your chosen journal?Integrate relevant sources
to support assertions, correctly formatting citations and
references.
· Did you use 3–5 sources (or the number required by your
chosen journal) in your assessment?
· Are the sources you used no more than five years old?
· Are your sources cited in APA format (or the journal’s
preferred style) throughout your letter?
· Have you included an attached reference list?
· Did you follow the formatting guidelines of your chosen
journal?
· Did you attach the submission and formatting guidelines for

13. your chosen journal at the end of your assessment submission?
1
2
https://www.nursingschool.org/ultimate-list-of-nursing-
journals/
Assessment 3 Instructions: Letter to the Editor: Population
Health Policy Advocacy
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
· PRINT
· Write a letter to the editor of an academic or professional
journal. The length and format of the letter is dictated by your
choice of journal.
Introduction
Note: Each assessment in this course builds on the work you
completed in the previous assessment. Therefore, you must
complete the assessments in this course in the order in which
they are presented.
Advocating for new policies is an important aspect of the
master’s-prepared nurse. For new policies to be compelling they
need to be supported by evidence. Supporting data can be used
to illustrate why new policies and interventions are needed to
help address a specific health issue. Compelling data can help
sway the stakeholders and gain support for your policy.
Another aspect of advocacy is disseminating new policies and
interventions outside of the immediate care environment. This
can be done by reaching out to professional organizations as
well as academic and professional journals. A letter to the
editor is one strategy for disseminating information to a wider
audience, and to potentially enlist support throughout the wider
professional community.
Preparations
As you prepare to complete this assessment, you may want to
think about other related issues to deepen your understanding or

14. broaden your viewpoint. You are encouraged to consider the
questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work
associate, an interested friend, or a member of your professional
community. Note that these questions are for your own
development and exploration and do not need to be completed
or submitted as part of your assessment. You may use
the Locating Letter Submission Guidelines for Journals library
guide for additional assistance.
· Looking at your health care issue from a prevention
standpoint, what are the relevant levels of prevention?
1. What would be the benefits and challenges of applying a
specific level of prevention to your chosen issue and
population?
1. How might one or more approaches to prevention improve the
care and outcomes?
2. How could your policy be leveraged, or revised, to support
the relevant levels of prevention?
· What are relevant strategies that you could use to help
advocate for the policy you are proposing?
. How could these strategies help you advocate for your policy
proposal?
. How does evidence from the literature support the benefits of
your proposed policy?
2. How does citing evidence help lend credibility to your
advocacy?
· What academic or professional journal would be the best
forum to advocate for your policy?
. Why is your chosen journal an appropriate forum?
. Which advocacy strategies would be most effective in this
forum?
. How will you craft your message to best appeal to the likely
audience of your chosen journal?
Assessment 3 will build upon the work you have done for your
previous two assessments. For this assessment, you will be
writing a letter to the editor of an academic or professional
journal as a means to advocate for adoption or development of

15. policies that will improve the quality of care and outcomes
around your chosen health care issue and vulnerable population.
Refer to the resource listed below.
· Guiding Questions: Letter to the Editor: Population Health
Policy Advocacy [DOC].
Scenario
Throughout this course, you have focused on a specific health
issue occurring within a specific population. You researched
position papers regarding this health concern, and you
developed a health policy proposal to positively impact the
health of the affected individuals. It is now time to reach a
greater audience regarding your policy proposal.
Instructions
Develop a letter to the editor of a peer-reviewed academic or
professional nursing journal based on the policy proposal that
you created for Assessment 2. Choose from one of the journals
on the Ultimate List of Nursing Journals here is the website
https://www.nursingschool.org/ultimate-list-of-nursing-
journals/
and go to that journal’s Web site to find out the requirements
for submitting a letter to the editor, such as format
requirements, topics, and word counts. Make sure you select a
nursing journal that covers the topic about which you are going
to write. If you want to use another journal that is not on this
list, please make sure the journal does address health care,
because this is the purpose of the assessment.
The goal of your letter is to be informative about the policy that
you developed for Assessment 2, while also being persuasive
about the need for and benefit of similar policies in other health
care settings. The bullet points below correspond to the grading
criteria in the scoring guide. Be sure that your submission
addresses all of them. You may also want to read the Letter to
the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy Scoring Guide
and Guiding Questions: Letter to the Editor: Population Health
Policy Advocacy [DOC] document to better understand how
each grading criterion will be assessed.

16. · Evaluate the current state of the quality of care and outcomes
for a specific issue in a target population.
. Look back to the data or scenario you used in Assessment 1 to
address this criterion.
· Analyze how the current state of the quality of care and
outcomes for a specific issue in a target population necessitates
health policy development and advocacy.
· Justify why a developed policy will be vital in improving the
quality of care and outcomes for a specific issue in a target
population.
· Advocate for policy development in other care settings with
regard to a specific issue in a target population.
· Analyze the ways in which interprofessional aspects of a
developed policy will support efficient and effective
achievement of desired outcomes for the target population.
· Communicate in a professional and persuasive manner, writing
content clearly and logically with correct use of grammar,
punctuation, and spelling.
· Integrate relevant sources to support assertions, correctly
formatting citations and references using current APA style (or
the journal's preferred style).
Example Assessment: You may use the assessment example,
linked in the Assessment Example section of the Resources, to
give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the
scoring guide would look like.
Additional Requirements
The submission requirements for your editorial will depend on
the journal you choose. To find out the requirements, go to the
journal's Web site. There should be a section regarding
submissions that will address how to format letters to the editor,
and whether there is a word count limit (there usually is a
limit).
· If the journal does not have submission guidelines for the
number of resources required, use 3-5 sources.
· To be sure that your instructor knows the submission and
formatting requirements for your letter, include the journal's

17. guidelines on a separate page at the end of the document you
submit for this assessment.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will
demonstrate your proficiency in the following course
competencies and assessment criteria:
· Competency 1: Design evidence-based advanced nursing care
for achieving high-quality population outcomes.
. Evaluate the current state of the quality of care and outcomes
for a specific issue in a target population.
. Justify why a developed policy will be vital in improving the
quality of care and outcomes for a specific issue in a target
population.
· Competency 2: Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of
interprofessional interventions in achieving desired population
health outcomes.
. Analyze the ways in which interprofessional aspects of a
developed policy will support efficient and effective
achievement of desired outcomes for the target population.
· Competency 3: Analyze population health outcomes in terms
of their implications for health policy advocacy.
. Analyze how the current state of the quality of care and
outcomes for a specific issue in a target population necessitates
health policy development and advocacy.
. Advocate for policy development in other care settings with
regard to a specific issue in a target population.
· Competency 4: Communicate effectively with diverse
audiences, in an appropriate form and style, consistent with
organizational, professional, and scholarly standards.
. Communicate in a professional and persuasive manner, writing
content clearly and logically with correct use of grammar,
punctuation, and spelling.
. Integrate relevant sources to support assertions, correctly
formatting citations and references using APA style.

18. 1
Copyright ©2018 Capella University. Copy and distribution of
this document are prohibited.
Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy
Learner’s Name
Capella University
NURS-FPX6026: Biopsychosocial Concepts for Advanced
Nursing Practice II
Instructor’s Name
November 1, 2021
2
Copyright ©2018 Capella University. Copy and distribution of
this document are prohibited.
Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy
Current State of Quality of Care for Veterans Affected by
Opioid Addiction

19. Veterans have been affected by the opioid crisis
disproportionately. The rates of opioid
abuse and misuse among veterans are higher than among
civilians. Veterans commonly present
with post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse
disorder. The presence of these
behavioral issues in combination with chronic pain is likely to
lead to misuse. Individuals may
attempt to soothe emotional or psychological pain with opioids,
incorrectly associating the
physical relief or euphoria that opioids provide with
psychological relief (Sullivan & Howe,
2013).
The Necessity of Health Policy Development for Opioid
Addiction
Currently, there are policies that deal with maximum dosages
and verifying dosage refills
through state prescription drug monitoring programs. However,
the policy currently being
proposed will address the lack of awareness about opioids and
opioid addiction. Childers and
Arnold even found that many clinicians do not believe they
possess the knowledge or the skills

20. required to treat patients with addiction (as cited in Snow &
Wynn, 2018).
Improving the Quality of Care in Treating Patients with Opioid
Addiction
By adopting policy that requires making active efforts toward
raising awareness about the
risks associated with opioids, health care organizations would
empower individuals with
knowledge that could potentially help them and those close to
them. Misconceptions about
opioid use will be clarified if the public is well -informed.
Forming a committee composed of
pain management specialists, psychiatrists, and senior nurses to
oversee the organization of such
programs would ensure that the programs are organized
effectively and regularly. At these
programs, trained physicians would talk about the risks
associated with opioid use and misuse
3
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this document are prohibited.

21. and nurses would describe the symptoms of an overdose and
demonstrate correct procedure in
such situations.
Further, it is important to monitor patients who have been
prescribed long-term opioid
treatment to ensure that they are not abusing their medication or
allowing for it to be diverted or
misused. To address this, the policy mandates that individuals
who have been prescribed long-
term opioids regularly meet with a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist
would be required to update the
attending physician if any potential concerns arose.
How the Policy will Support Achievement of Desired Outcomes
The proposed policy would require significant expenditure to
effectively implement
programs to raise awareness and educate individuals. Further, it
could also be argued that the
expenses incurred on the patients’ side would be significant.
These arguments raise important
concerns on the practical application of the policy being
suggested; however, these costs could
potentially benefit the patients’ overall well-being as well as

22. result in significant positive social
change. Studies by Rydell and Everingham and the National
Institute on Drug Abuse indicate
that every dollar spent toward the prevention of drug abuse and
treatment would result in
significant savings at the national level (as cited in Crowley et
al., 2017).
Policy Development Advocacy
This policy would provide individuals with knowledge that can
be applied outside of the
hospital setting. At home or among friends, these individuals
could save lives because they
recognize potentially harmful patterns of behavior and are
aware of how to proceed in such
contexts. Further, such policy would build trust and garner more
positive change in time.
4
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this document are prohibited.
References

23. Crowley, R., Kirschner, N., Dunn, A. S., & Bornstein, S. S.
(2017). Health and public policy to
facilitate effective prevention and treatment of substance use
disorders involving illicit
and prescription drugs: An American College of Physicians
position paper. Annals of
Internal Medicine, 166(10), 733–736.
https://doi.org/10.7326/M16-2953
Snow, R., & Wynn, S. T. (2018). Managing opioid use disorder
and co-occurring posttraumatic
stress disorder among veterans. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing
and Mental Health
Services, 56(6), 36–42. https://doi.org/10.3928/02793695-
20180212-03
Sullivan, M. D., & Howe, C. Q. (2013). Opioid therapy for
chronic pain in the US: Promises and
perils. Pain, 154(Suppl 1), S94–100.
https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4204477/
https://doi.org/10.7326/M16-2953
https://doi.org/10.3928/02793695-20180212-03
https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4204477/
5

24. Copyright ©2018 Capella University. Copy and distribution of
this document are prohibited.
Appendix
Journal Guidelines
Journal Name: Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental
Health Services
Submission Guidelines for Letters to the Editor: Letters to the
Editor are correspondence
regarding articles previously published in the Journal of
Psychosocial Nursing and Mental
Health Services or other topics relevant to practicing
psychiatric-mental health nurses. If the
letter is regarding a previously published article, it must be
submitted within 12 months of the
article’s publication to be considered for possible public ation,
and the author of that article will
be given the opportunity to respond. Letters should be no longer
than 500 words. References are
not necessary, but if included, should be kept to a maximum of
three. All letters must contain a
clear message or point for readers. Letters may be edited for

25. clarity or length, and letter authors
must disclose any competing or conflicting interests, if
applicable. All letters are published at the
Editor’s discretion. Letters should be submitted by email to the
editorial office.
Current State of Quality of Care for Veterans Affected by
Opioid AddictionThe Necessity of Health Policy Development
for Opioid AddictionImproving the Quality of Care in Treating
Patients with Opioid AddictionHow the Policy will Support
Achievement of Desired OutcomesPolicy Development
Advocacy