Assignment Information Before beginning political advocacy, one must identify a problem that needs to be addressed through health care policy. Sometimes, political advocacy is needed when established health care policies are not adequate for solving a problem, or when the legislation creates new problems. This assignment is the first in a three-part project. The purpose of this three-part project is to guide you through the process of selecting a problem, identifying evidence-based solutions, and designing a political advocacy plan to address the problem with those solutions. In this first assignment, you will select a consumer challenge related to equity, access, affordability, and/or social justice in health care, and you will analyze how existing policies address this challenge. Completion of this assignment will demonstrate your achievement of the following course outcome: 6. analyze the impact of sociocultural, economic, and environmental influences on health care policies to understand consumer challenges related to equity, access, affordability, and social justice in health care Assignment Guidelines Identify a nursing or health care issue that relates to a current health policy or political issue pertaining to equity, access, affordability, and/or social justice in health care. In a 3–4-page paper, complete the following: Identify the problem, noting its relationship to equity, access, affordability, and/or social justice in health care. Describe the population most affected by this problem, noting whether this is a vulnerable population. Describe health care and health disparities that may be related to this problem and population. Summarize legislation and/or political activities that relate to the identified problem. Analyze the effect that this legislation has had on the consumer challenge. Uses APA style for your citations and references. Part 2 Literature Review and Evidence-based Practice Recommendations Assignment Information In the first part of this project, you identified a consumer challenge related to equity, access, affordability, and/or social justice in health care and analyzed the impact of legislation on the problem. Now, you will be searching the literature to identify potential solutions and ways of recommending them. Searching for evidence is a critical step in evidence-based practice. You must perform this step to be prepared to offer evidence-based solutions. In this assignment, you will conduct a literature review to find evidence-based approaches to address your identified issue. Completion of this assignment will demonstrate your achievement of the following course outcomes: 4. analyze the impact of sociocultural, economic, and environmental influences on health care policies to understand consumer challenges related to equity, access, affordability, and social justice in health care 5. evaluate the political advocacy process to identify opportunities for nursing professional involvement Assignment Guid.

1. Assignment Information
Before beginning political advocacy, one must identify a
problem that needs to be addressed through health care policy.
Sometimes, political advocacy is needed when established
health care policies are not adequate for solving a problem, or
when the legislation creates new problems. This assignment is
the first in a three-part project.
The purpose of this three-part project is to guide you through
the process of selecting a problem, identifying evidence-based
solutions, and designing a political advocacy plan to address the
problem with those solutions.
In this first assignment, you will select a consumer challenge
related to equity, access, affordability, and/or social justice in
health care, and you will analyze how existing policies address
this challenge. Completion of this assignment will demonstrate
your achievement of the following course outcome:
6. analyze the impact of sociocultural, economic, and
environmental influences on health care policies to understand
consumer challenges related to equity, access, affordability, and
social justice in health care
Assignment Guidelines
Identify a nursing or health care issue that relates to a current
health policy or political issue pertaining to equity, access,
affordability, and/or social justice in health care.
In a 3–4-page paper, complete the following:
Identify the problem, noting its relationship to equity, access,
affordability, and/or social justice in health care.
Describe the population most affected by this problem, noting
whether this is a vulnerable population.
Describe health care and health disparities that may be related
to this problem and population.
Summarize legislation and/or political activities that relate to
the identified problem.

2. Analyze the effect that this legislation has had on the consumer
challenge.
Uses APA style for your citations and references.
Part 2
Literature Review and Evidence-based Practice
Recommendations
Assignment Information
In the first part of this project, you identified a consumer
challenge related to equity, access, affordability, and/or social
justice in health care and analyzed the impact of legislation on
the problem. Now, you will be searching the literature to
identify potential solutions and ways of recommending them.
Searching for evidence is a critical step in evidence-based
practice. You must perform this step to be prepared to offer
evidence-based solutions. In this assignment, you will conduct a
literature review to find evidence-based approaches to address
your identified issue.
Completion of this assignment will demonstrate your
achievement of the following course outcomes:
4. analyze the impact of sociocultural, economic, and
environmental influences on health care policies to understand
consumer challenges related to equity, access, affordability, and
social justice in health care
5. evaluate the political advocacy process to identify
opportunities for nursing professional involvement
Assignment Guidelines
Identify at least five sources pertinent to the consumer
challenge you identified in the first part of this project. At least
three of the sources must be articles from professional peer-
reviewed publications.
In a 5–6-page paper, complete the following:

3. Synthesize your findings from the literature.
Based on your findings, identify evidence-based solutions to the
problem.
Describe methods of advocacy that you could use to present
your recommendations.
Use APA style for your citations and references.
Part 3
Advocacy
plan/Presentation
Assignment Information
You have made it to the final part of the social justice project.
In this part of the project, you will present a plan to politically
advocate on behalf of the population plagued with the health
care problem you identified in part 1 of this project. You will
be taking this opportunity to propose the evidence-based
solutions that you identified in part two of the project.
Of the many possible ways to advocate, you will choose those
strategies that you feel are most appropriate and that will be
most effective. This is the most exciting part—very similar to
developing a plan of care once you have assessed your patient
and decided on which evidence-based interventions to deliver!
Completion of this assignment will demonstrate your
achievement of the following course outcomes:
5. evaluate the political advocacy process to identify
opportunities for nursing professional involvement
6. delineate strategies that nurses can use to engage in advocacy
for health care policy to support equity, access, affordability,
and social justice for consumers and in support of the nursing

4. profession
Assignment Guidelines
Develop a PowerPoint presentation with speaker notes that
includes the following:
summary of the problem
identification of the consumer challenge and its relationship to
equity, access, affordability,and/or social justice in health care
identification of the population most affected by this problem,
and whether it is a vulnerable population
identification of any healthcare or health disparities related to
the problem or population
summary of legislation and/or political activities that relate to
the identified problem
analysis of impact of legislation
summary of the evidence-based recommendations
list of evidence-based solutions with in-text citations of
supporting sources
summary of political advocacy strategies that could be used to
advocate for the implementation of the evidence-based solutions
plan for political advocacy
identification of the audience you plan to address regarding this
challenge. Will you speak out to the workplace or workforce,
legislative representatives, professional organizations, the
community, or a combination of these entities? Give your
rationale for choosing this audience.
identification and description of the strategies you will use to
communicate your recommendations. Examples include writing
letters, using the media, and building coalitions. This is where
you get to be creative!
description of what you learned on this project and how you can
apply the lessons in your work
reference list in APA formatting
Upload your PowerPoint presentation to the specified discussion
forum

5. Part 4
Letter to the Legislator
Assignment Information
This assignment provides you with the opportunity to use a
specific political advocacy strategy: communication with a
legislator via a letter. Expressing your support or lack of
support for proposed legislation (bills) can be a powerful way to
speak up about an issue. In this assignment, you will identify a
proposed bill and voice your support for, or argument for not,
passing that particular bill.
Completion of this assignment will demonstrate your
achievement of the following course outcomes:
describe the impact of health care policies on nursing practice
and health care work environments to determine the financial
and regulatory influences on patient care
evaluate the political advocacy process to identify opportunities
for nursing professional involvement
delineate strategies that nurses can use to engage in advocacy
for health care policy to support equity, access, affordability,
and social justice for consumers and in support of the nursing
profession
Assignment Guidelines
Select a piece of legislation proposed either in your state or at
the national level.
Identify your state representative at the level of the bill—this
will be either your state, House of Representatives, or Senate
representative, depending on the bill that you selected.
Conduct a literature review to identify evidence pertaining to
the issue addressed in the bill. Find at least three sources.
Develop a letter to send to your state legislator. This letter
should integrate the evidence supporting your position. The
following websites offer templates, examples, and/or guidelines
for letters to legislators that you may want to consider.

6. https://www.ncsbn.org/APRN_formletter_Legislator_web.pdf
http://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/how-write-your-
402285.html
http://www.aacn.org/wd/practice/content/publicpolicy/legislator
s.pcms?menu
=
Grading Criteria
Follow these guidelines in writing your letter.
Write the letter in a business letter format.
Include the following:
introduction of self and professional position
overview of the bill you want to address
clear argument in support of or not in support of the bill
integration of evidence from scholarly literature to support your
position
legal name, credentials, and contact information
Proofread the letter so that it is free of grammatical, spelling,
and syntax errors.