course materials

1. Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy Assessment
Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy Assessment ON Letter to the
Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy AssessmentWrite 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.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 ed by
evidence. ing 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 for your policy.Assessment InstructionsSCENARIOThroughout 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.INSTRUCTIONSDevelop 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 (https://www.nursingschool.org/ultimate-list-of-nursing-journals/) (in
the Resources) 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. Letter to the Editor: Population
Health Policy Advocacy AssessmentThe 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 document to better understand how each grading criterion will be
assessed.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

2. 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 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 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. Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy
AssessmentADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTSThe 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 guidelines on a separate page at the end of the
document you submit for this assessment.RESOURCESThe resources provided here are
optional. You may use other resources of your choice to prepare for this assessment;
however, you will need to ensure that they are appropriate, credible, and valid. The MSN-
FP6026 – Biopsychosocial Concepts for Advanced Nursing Practice II Library Guide can help
direct your research, and the Supplemental Resources and Research Resources, both linked
from the left navigation menu in your courseroom, provide additional resources to help
you.AdvocacyAllen, D. D., Lauffenburger, J., Law, A. V., Vanderveen, R. P., & Lang, W. G.
(2012). Report of the 2011–2012 standing committee on advocacy: The relevance of
excellent research: Strategies for impacting public policy. American Journal of
Pharmaceutical Education, 76(6), 13–25.Jansson, B. S., Nyamathi, A., Heidemann, G., Bird, M.,
Rogers Ward, C., Brown-Saltzman, K., . . . Kaplan, C. (2016). Predicting levels of policy
advocacy engagement among acute-care health professionals. Policy, Politics, & Nursing
Practice, 17(1), 43–55.Kung, Y. M., & Rudner Lugo, N. (2015). Political advocacy and practice
barriers: A survey of Florida APRNs. Journal of the American Association of Nurse
Practitioners, 27(3), 145–151.Standing up for somebody: What is advocacy and why do we
do it? (2014). The Queensland Nurse, 33(3), 28–29.Biopsychosocial (Population and Public
Health)Richmond, S. A., D’Cruz, J., Lokku, A., MacPherson, A., Howard, A., & MacArthur, C.
(2016). Trends in unintentional injury mortality in Canadian children 1950–2009 and
association with selected population-level interventions. Canadian Journal of Public Health,
107(4/5), e431–e437.Evidence-Based PracticeDoria, J. B. (2014). A culturally congruent
education group: An evidence-based approach to improve prenatal care utilization. Journal
of Nursing Practice Applications & Reviews of Research, 4(2), 94–101.Letters to the
EditorDonzelli, A. (2015). E-cigarettes may impair ability to quit, but other explanations are
possible. American Journal of Public Health, 105(11), 1.Lutwak, N., Dill, C., Blosnich, J. R.,
Bossarte, R. M., & Silenzio, V. M. B. (2012). Improved health care for sexual minority and

3. transgender veterans. American Journal of Public Health, 102(8), E10–
E11.NursingSchool.org. (2017). Ultimate list of nursing journals. Retrieved
from http://nursingschool.org/ultimate-list-of-nursing-…PharmacologyÅkesson, A.,
Larsson, S. C., Discacciati, A., & Wolk, A. (2014). Low-risk diet and lifestyle habits in the
primary prevention of myocardial infarction in men. Journal of the American College of
Cardiology, 64(13), 1299–1306.PolicyOlson, K. (2016). Influence through policy: Four steps
YOU can take. Reflections on Nursing Leadership, 42(2), 1–3.PreventionBerger-Jenkins, E.,
Rausch, J., Okah, E., Tsao, D., Nieto, A., Lyda, E., . . . McCord, M. (2014). Evaluation of a
coordinated school-based obesity prevention program in a Hispanic community: Choosing
Healthy and Active Lifestyles for Kids/Healthy Schools Healthy Families. American Journal
of Health Education, 45(5), 261–270.Institute for Work & Health. (n.d.). What researchers
mean by… primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. Retrieved
from http://www.iwh.on.ca/wrmb/primary-secondary-and-te…Letter to the Editor:
Population Health Policy Advocacy
Assessment attachment_1attachment_2attachment_3Unformatted Attachment
PreviewRunning head: LETTER TO THE EDITOR Letter to the Editor: Population Health
Policy Advocacy Learner’s Name Capella University Biopsychosocial Concepts for Advanced
Nursing Practice II Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy November, 2018
Copyright ©2018 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document are prohibited.
1 LETTER TO THE EDITOR 2 Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy
Current State of Quality of Care for Veterans Affected by Opioid Addiction 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 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 Copyright
©2018 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document are prohibited. LETTER
TO THE EDITOR 3 and nurses would describe the symptoms of an overdose and

4. 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 longterm 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 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 result in significant positive social change. Letter to the Editor: Population Health
Policy Advocacy AssessmentStudies 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,
Kirshner, Dunn, & Bornstein, 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. Copyright
©2018 Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document are prohibited. LETTER
TO THE EDITOR 4 References 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.
http://dx.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.
http://dx.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.
Retrieved from https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4204477/ Copyright ©2018
Capella University. Copy and distribution of this document are prohibited. LETTER TO THE
EDITOR 5 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
publication, and the author of that article will be given the opportunity to respond. Letters
should be no longer than 500 words. Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy
Advocacy AssessmentReferences 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 clarity or length, and letter authors must disclose any competing or conflicting

5. interests, if applicable. All letters are published at the Editor’s discretion. Letters should be
submitted by email to the editorial office. Copyright ©2018 Capella University. Copy and
distribution of this document are prohibited. MSN-FP6026 Assessment 3 Guiding Questions
Guiding Questions Letter 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?
• 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? o Why do you consider policy
development and advocacy necessary? o How will developing a health policy help to
improve the quality of care and outcomes related to your chosen issue and target
population? o 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? o How will your proposed policy help drive
improvements? ? What evidence or best-practices s this? How does the evidence provide ?
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? 1 MSN-FP6026 Assessment 3 Guiding Questions o How will
wider development of policies help to drive improvements related to your chosen issue and
target population? o Ideally, what is the end result of wider policy development and
implementation? Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy
AssessmentAnalyze the ways in which interprofessional aspects of a developed policy will
efficient and effective achievement of desired outcomes for the target population. • What
are the relevant interprofessional aspects of your policy? o How will these interprofessional
aspects efficient achievement of your desired outcomes for your target population? o How
will these interprofessional aspects 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

6. chosen journal? Integrate relevant sources to assertions, correctly formatting citations
and references. • Did you use 3–5 sources (or the number required by your chosen journal)
in your assessment? o 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? o Did you attach the submission and formatting guidelines for your chosen
journal at the end of your assessment submission? 2 3/13/2020 Letter to the Editor:
Population Health Policy Advocacy Scoring Guide Letter to the Editor: Population Health
Policy Advocacy Scoring Guide CRITERIA NON-PERFORMANCE BASIC PROFICIENT
DISTINGUISHED Evaluate the current state of the quality of care and outcomes for a specific
issue in a target population. Does not explain the current state of the quality of care and
outcomes. Explains the current state of the quality of care and outcomes, but the link to the
specific issue in a target population is unclear. Evaluates the current state of the quality of
care and outcomes for a specific issue in a target population. Evaluates the current state of
the quality of care and outcomes for a specific issue in a target population. Identifies
knowledge gaps, unknowns, missing information, unanswered questions, or areas of
uncertainty (where further information could improve the evaluation). 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. Does not explain 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. Explains how the current state of the
quality of care and outcomes necessitates health policy development and advocacy, but the
link to a specific issue in a target population is unclear. Analyzes 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. Analyzes 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. Identifies areas of ambiguity or uncertainty where additional
information could help to improve clarity. Justify why a developed policy will be vital in
improving the quality of care and outcomes for a specific issue in a target population. Does
not justify why a developed policy will be vital in improving the quality of care and
outcomes for a specific issue in a target population. Provides a weak or flawed justification
for why a developed policy will be vital in improving the quality of care and outcomes for a
specific issue in a target population. Justifies why a developed policy will be vital in
improving the quality of care and outcomes for a specific issue in a target population.
Justifies why a developed policy will be vital in improving the quality of care and outcomes
for a specific issue in a target population. Impartially considers other perspectives.
Advocate for policy development in other care settings with regard to a specific issue in a
target population. Letter to the Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy AssessmentDoes
not explain how a policy could be developed in other care settings with regard to a specific
issue in a target population. Explains how a policy could be developed in other care settings
with regard to a specific issue in a target population, but does not truly advocate or call
other to action with regard to developing policy. Advocates for policy development in other
care settings with regard to a specific issue in a target population. Advocates for policy

7. development in other care settings with regard to a specific issue in a target population.
Acknowledges potential challenges to policy development.
https://courserooma.capella.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/MSN-FP/MSN-
FP6026/190400/Scoring_Guides/u03a1_scoring_guide.html 1/2 3/13/2020 Letter to the
Editor: Population Health Policy Advocacy Scoring Guide CRITERIA NON-PERFORMANCE
BASIC PROFICIENT DISTINGUISHED Analyze the ways in which interprofessional aspects of
a developed policy will efficient and effective achievement of desired outcomes for the
target population. Does not explain how interprofessional strategies can efficient and
effective achievement of desired outcomes for the target population. Explains how
interprofessional strategies can efficient and effective achievement of desired outcomes
for the target population, but does not fully relate this to the developed policy. Analyzes the
ways in which interprofessional aspects of a developed policy will efficient and effective
achievement of desired outcomes for the target population. Analyzes the ways in which
interprofessional aspects of a developed policy will efficient and effective achievement of
desired outcomes for the target population. Identifies areas of ambiguity or uncertainty
where additional information could help to improve clarity. Communicate in a professional
and persuasive manner, writing content clearly and logically with correct use of grammar,
punctuation, and spelling. Does not communicate in a way that is clear or persuasive.
Communicates in a professional manner, but the approach is somewhat unclear or is not
very persuasive. There are mechanical writing errors that reduce the effectiveness of
communication. Communicates in a professional and persuasive manner, writing content
clearly and logically with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Communicates
in a professional and persuasive manner, writing content clearly and logically with correct
use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Identifies specific strategies or approaches used
to ensure clear communication. Integrate relevant sources to assertions, correctly
formatting citations and references. Does not integrate relevant sources to assertions;
does not correctly format citations and references. Sources lack relevance or are poorly
integrated, or citations or references are incorrectly formatted. Integrates relevant sources
to assertions, correctly formatting citations and references. Integrates relevant sources to
assertions, correctly formatting citations and references. Citations are free from all errors.
https://courserooma.capella.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/MSN-FP/MSN-
FP6026/190400/Scoring_Guides/u03a1_scoring_guide.html 2/2 …Purchase answer to see
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