Course Resources and Task Tips
Table of Contents
Getting Started in C159 3
Rubric Tips: 4
Section A: Policy Proposal 5
Section B: The Top-Down Approach 5
Section C: The Bottom-Up Approach 7
Section D: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Both Approaches 10
Glossary of Terms 13
Tips for Locating Articles 15
Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) Tips 16
Roles and Responsibilities Tips 17
Sources and Citation Tips 18
APA resources from the Writing Center guide 20
Welcome to C159: Policy, Politics, and Global Health!
Jump Start: We strongly recommend you take time to review the C159 Cohort. When you register for the Recorded Cohort (use the “Explore Cohort Offerings” tab on the front page of the Course of Study), you will receive an email with a link to the Cohort recording. There is also a LIVE Cohort option available!
Course Support: Your assigned Course Instructor is your best resource for questions and other support as you complete the course! Live Chat is also available for your questions! The LiveChat button will be visible whenever there is a Course Instructor immediately available. If the Live Chat button is not visible, please send your quick questions to our course email: nursingUUT2@wgu.edu and the first available Course Instructor will respond to your email. Important Reminder:
C159 Pacing Guide: The Pacing Guide helps you think about how to apply the course content to your paper as you work through the COS. The Pacing Guide is based on 2-3 weeks to complete the course, and you can complete each section as quickly as your time allows!
C159 FAQ: We have included the types of questions students ask most often and provided some suggested resources to support your policy idea.
Rubric Tips with Video Clips: Keep scrolling in this document for a detailed guide to the Performance Assessment rubric which includes notes from your course instructors as well as video clips to help you understand the course content.
-PA Task Rubric Tips-
| Section | Criterion | Course Instructor Tips |
| Section A: Policy Proposal | In this section, the candidate (i.e. student) will explain why the issue/problem is important and provide the rationale for your policy (or bill) proposal. (Video: Quick tips on setting up your paper and APA – 5:01) | |
| A1. Public Policy Issue | The candidate provides a plausible analysis, with substantial detail, of a health or nursing profession public policy issue that impacts a group of people and requires a policy change. | This section serves as a brief introduction to your paper. In a few sentences, describe the problem you are trying to solve. Then clearly state your policy (or bill) idea in a very detailed sentence. The policy (or bill) proposal must have an impact that is larger than one organization (not hospital policy). Typically it should be a state or national policy (or bill), but sometimes city, or county will also work. |
| A1a. Issue selection | The candidate provides a logical discussion, with substantial detail, of why the public policy issue was selected. | In about a paragraph , write about why you selected this issue. Why is it a problem for your community, your state, or the nation? |
| A1b. Issue Relevance | The candidate provides a logical discussion, with substantial support, of the relevance of this public policy issue to health or the nursing profession, using 2 pieces of academically appropriate literature from the last five years. |
In a few paragraphs (2 – 4), write about why this issue is important.
Why should this issue be addressed as a public policy or law? Be sure to use at least two citations from academically appropriate literature. (Appendix A describes how to identify academically appropriate literature) |
|
A1c. Financial Impact | The candidate provides an accurate description, with substantial detail, of the financial impact of the public policy on an organization or on a community. | Discuss what types of things would cost money (and time and effort) and then discuss the positive impact the policy would have on healthcare. For example, if your policy (or bill) idea is to improve staffing, you can discuss how it would cost money to hire more nurses; however, the positive financial impact, over time, would be: reduced turnover, improved job satisfaction, and better patient outcomes. As a result, money will be saved and reimbursements will increase. |
| A2. Personal Values | The candidate provides a plausible analysis, with substantial detail, of how the candidate’s values impact the candidate’s position on the public policy issue. | Discuss how your own personal/professional values relate to this policy (or bill) idea. [Why are you passionate about this topic]. You may write in 1st person language in this section and in other sections that ask you for your perspective. |
| A2a. Ethical Principle or Theory | The candidate provides a logical discussion, with substantial detail, of the ethical principle or theory that underpins the candidate’s perspective. | In about a paragraph, discuss an ethical principle or theory that could apply to your policy (or bill) topic. You can find a list of nursing ethical principles and theories here: https://web5.wgu.edu/aap/content/ana%20resource%20short%20ethics%20definitions.pdf |
| Section B: The Top-Down Approach to Policy Advocacy |
In this section, the candidate
(i.e. the student) will discuss your plan for going directly to a
decision-maker and asking them to pass a mandate (a bill, regulation,
ordinance, etc.) for policy change or passing of a law. (Video: Quick tips on the Top-Down Policy Advocacy Process – 7:11) | |
| B1. Decision-Maker | The candidate identifies the appropriate decision maker (name and title) who will receive the policy brief. | Select a decision-maker for the proposed policy (or bill). You must identify a real name and actual title of the person who has either influence or authority to set policy. For more guidance view the video clip (linked above). |
| B1a. Explanation | The candidate provides a logical explanation, with substantial detail, of why the public policy requires the decision maker’s attention, using substantial relevant nursing research from the last five years to support the position. |
Describe why this policy (or bill) is important (summarize the main
points from Part A). Then explain why the decision-maker is a good fit for
the proposed policy (or bill). Be sure to use at least two nursing research articles to support why this policy idea is important. (Appendix A describes how to determine if the article is research and also how to investigate authorship) |
| B2. Challenges | The candidate provides a logical discussion, with substantial detail, of the main challenges of addressing the selected public policy issue. | Discuss some of the challenges you think the decision-maker may face in trying to get the policy implemented or the bill passed into law. These are often objections raised by lobbyists, groups, and members of the public. To brainstorm potential challenges, ask yourself, “why isn’t this idea already a policy or law?” |
| B3. Options/Interventions | The candidate provides a logical discussion, with substantial detail, of the primary options and/or interventions for the decision maker, including why they are tangible. | Anticipate choices the decision-maker will have related to taking on your proposal. The first option to consider is that the decision-maker may decide to leave things as they are (the status quo). If the decision-maker would decline to move forward, what would the outcome be? Also explain why they might choose this option (think politics). A second option could be that the decision-maker accepts the proposal with some modifications or compromise. A third option for the decision-maker is to adopt and support the policy (or bill) proposal and carry it forward through the change process. Students must cover all three options. |
| B4. Course of Action | The candidate provides an appropriate proposal, with substantial support, for a persuasive course of action for the decision maker, including ways to avoid the challenges identified in part B2. | Discuss the challenges of the decision maker that you discussed in B2 from their perspective. How would the decision maker address each of these challenges in a persuasive way? Keep in mind that your decision maker may or may not be a legislator depending on your policy. If they are a legislator you will want to keep in mind that he or she might be making these persuasive discussions during the debate portion of the bill of the legislative process. If not a legislator the decision maker would likely be making these persuasive discussions during a meeting of members of the deciding committee (school board, nursing board, etc). Legislative example: The general public and other lawmakers may not understand the health risks and importance of vaccines. Persuasive action: The decision-maker could invite the State Epidemiologist to the public committee hearing to present testimony about risks of disease and benefit of immunizations. The emphasis is on the action of the decision-maker to persuade, not on what you do. Keep in mind the timeliness of action. The decision-maker can describe what has been done or share evidence to support their opinion that the bill should pass, but they will not conduct research or provide expert testimony. Non legislative example: The general public and other school board committee members might not understand the importance of decreasing child obesity in their county. Persuasive action: the decision maker could invite a nutritionist to a meeting to discuss the importance of a healthy diet and exercise in preventing and reducing childhood obesity rates. Again the emphasis is on the action of the decision-maker to persuade. |
| B5. Success of Policy Brief | The candidate provides a logical discussion, with substantial detail, of how the candidate will evaluate the success of the policy brief (a top-down approach). |
Anticipate what success will look like at each stage in the process
and what you would like to see as the long term outcome of your policy or
bill change. Process successes for the top-down approach happen at each stage of the policy (or bill) process. For example, if you are trying to get a bill passed, your first success is when a legislator agrees to sponsor a bill, the next success is when the bill passes committee hearings, etc. Long-term success describes what happens after your policy or law is implemented. After your policy (or law) passes, what would be different? What is your SMART goal? For example, if we were changing childhood immunization requirements, a long term success might look like this: “One year after the new immunization law is passed, the incidence of vaccine-preventable illnesses decreases by 20%”. |
| Section C: The Bottom-up Approach to Policy Advocacy | In this part of the paper, the candidate (i.e. student) will describe a plan for working with a relevant stakeholder organization (such a professional or community organization) and developing a work-group to educate others about the issue and to advocate for a policy (or bill) change. (Video: Quick tips on the bottom-up approach – 4:29) | |
| C1. Identified Organization or Community | The candidate identifies an organization or community that has expressed interest in the selected health or nursing profession public policy issue. | Identify an entity to serve as a collaborating organization. This organization will not do all the work but if they back your idea they can share resources, help you make connections, and lend their name to give your work-group credibility. (Video: Choosing and working with a collaborating organization – 9:35 ) |
| C1a. Summary of Expressed Interest | The candidate provides a logical summary, with substantial detail, of evidence supporting why the organization or community has expressed interest in the selected public policy issue. |
How do you know this collaborating organization would be aligned with
your policy (or bill) proposal idea? Do they have information on their
website? Printed materials? Have they discussed this issue at conferences? Cite your source, such as the
organization’s website address, monthly newsletter, or personal
communications at a meeting. |
| C2. CBPR Principles | The candidate accurately identifies 3 CBPR principles the candidate could use to work with the organization or community to address a policy change for the public policy issue. | List three CBPR principles (Appendix B) that the work-group could apply in the advocacy process. You do not need to expand on the principles or explain your rationale in this section. That will come later in section C2E. (Video: CBPR in the bottom-up approach – 6:08) Find CBPR citation tips in Appendix D |
| C2a. Approach and Collaboration | The candidate provides a logical explanation, with substantial detail, of how the candidate could approach and collaborate with the organization or community. | Describe exactly how you would approach the collaborating organization to discuss your policy (or bill) idea. Approach: Who would you contact? How would you ask for their support [via email, phone, etc.? Collaboration: How will you recruit contacts from that organization to work with you on the policy (or bill) change? This is where you begin to build your work-group for the bottom-up approach. Ideas for networking and collaboration: Present a poster at a conference, write something about your idea in an organizational newsletter or email, ask to speak at a regular meeting of members. |
| C2b. Goal Alignment | The candidate provides a logical discussion, with substantial detail, of how the goal of the community or organization aligns with the candidate’s goal for the selected public policy issue. | Discuss how you know that the collaborating organization has a philosophy that would support your policy or bill. Have they done work with this issue before? Is there something in their mission or values statement that demonstrates goal alignment? Be sure to cite a source for this information. |
| C2c. Action Steps | The candidate provides a logical discussion, with substantial detail, of the action steps that need to be taken to achieve the candidate’s goal from part C2b. |
List 3-5 important action steps that the work-group will take to
educate others about the issue, to advocate for your policy, and to gain
support from stakeholders. Would you have a town hall meeting? Would you have a sub-committee of your work-group do some research on the subject? Would you arrange for meetings with other organizations or individuals who may be interested in supporting your idea? Remember that the last step in a successful policy (or bill) change would generally be presenting your proposal to a decision-maker who can move the policy (or bill) forward to a formal change. |
| C2d. Roles and Responsibilities | The candidate provides a logical discussion, with substantial detail, of the possible roles/responsibilities of community or organization members, including problem-solving and capacity-building roles. |
Identify 3 – 5 important roles for your work-group members. It helps
to think about what you need the work-group to do. Then identify specific
individuals to take on those functions. For example, someone will need to
serve as the facilitator of your meetings; the MSN is often the best person
to take on this role since the initial idea is yours. If you have planned a
town hall meeting you may want to include a subject matter expert from your
collaborating organization to lead the public session. Be sure to include the
fact that some of these roles will be assumed by either members of your
collaborating organization (C1) or people that you have met through
networking within that organization. The important part is to identify what your work-group needs people to do in order to accomplish your goal, and then identify group members (by position or area of expertise) who have the knowledge, skills, or experience to take on those roles. For each role, be sure to include how that role will help the group meet your goal (getting the policy changed). You also need to identify how each role contributes to problem solving (addressing challenges) and capacity building. Additional Guidance in Appendix C (Video: Roles and Responsibilities 8:42) (Video: Capacity building 2:41) |
| C2e. Key Elements of Evaluation Plan | The candidate provides a logical discussion, with substantial detail, of key elements of developing a collaborative evaluation plan, using CBPR principles. |
In a few sentences, discuss how you would use each of the three CBPR
principles (C2) as you work with your work-group. Provide an example of how
your group might use this principle in your work. Be sure to specifically
address how the process will use the CBPR principles to plan for the evaluation,
since there is no implementation required in this assignment.
How might you use each principle to evaluate the effectiveness of
your work-group? The details of the
evaluation plan are in the next section (C2F) so here you just need to write
about applying these principles to your plan.
This might look like: The first CBPR principle we selected to use is _______. Our group will use this principle by doing ____________. This principle applies to the evaluation plan because ___________________________. Example: In the article linked below, Page 42, paragraphs 3 and 4 give some examples of how one group evaluated their CPBR plan. See if you can use this as an example and apply it to the principles that you selected for your paper. http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/pdf_files/CBPR_final.pdf Additional Resource for Explanation of CBPR Principles: http://www.policylink.org/sites/default/files/CBPR.pdf Tip: See video in C2 |
|
C2f. Community/ Organization Plan | The candidate provides a logical discussion, with substantial detail, of how the success of the community or organization plan will be evaluated (bottom-up approach). |
Describe how you will evaluate each of the action steps from C2c. For
example, if you hold a town hall meeting, you might count how many people
came to the meeting and how many agreed to support your policy idea. A long term success would be evidence of actual change that you expect to see if the policy is adopted. You just need to identify one indicator for long term success. (SMART goals are best!) Tip: See video in C2 |
| Section D: Evaluating the Effectiveness of the two Approaches | In this section, you’ll discuss the pros and cons of the top-down and bottom-up approaches to policy (or bill) advocacy. | |
| D1. Strengths of Each Approach | The candidate provides a logical discussion, with substantial detail, of the strengths of each approach to implement change for the selected public policy issue. | Describe at least 2 strengths of the top-down approach (the approach you developed in Part B) and 2 strengths of the bottom-up approach (the approach you discussed in Part C). Be sure to discuss how the strengths relate back to your policy. |
| D2. Challenges of Each Approach | The candidate provides a logical discussion, with substantial detail, of the challenges of each approach to implement change for the selected public policy issue. | Describe at least 2 challenges (weaknesses/negatives) of the top-down approach, and 2 challenges of the bottom-up approach. Be sure to discuss how the challenges of each approach would relate to your policy. |
| D3. Most Effective Approach | The candidate provides a logical discussion, with substantial detail, of which approach the candidate would recommend as the most effective to address the selected public policy issue. | In about a paragraph, discuss which approach you would recommend, based on your analysis of each approach. Be sure to pick only one approach (either Top-down or Bottom-up) to recommend and provide your rationale for why you would recommend it. |
| E. Sources | When the candidate uses sources, the candidate provides appropriate in-text citations and references with no readily detectable deviations from APA style, OR the candidate does not use sources. |
Double-check your paper for appropriate APA, especially in your
citations and references. Be sure to check for spelling and grammatical
errors.
Be sure that you are citing the resources used both in-text and on the reference page. It is vital to your Turnitin score that you are paraphrasing (putting in your own words) what the references say. Citing a sources in not enough to prevent it from being triggered on the originality report. Ensure that your paper score is in the ‘green’ (less than 30%). (For some examples of common sources used in this course see Appendix D on page 15 of this document) (Video: Quick tips on setting up your paper and APA – 5:01) |
Glossary of Terms
bottom-up approach: A community-based or grassroots effort to build support for a policy or bill proposal among relevant stakeholders
candidate: The student who is writing the paper, as in “the candidate for graduation”
capacity-building: Ability of the group to deliver the mission both now and in the future; involves a reciprocal communication process [video] [example]
collaborating organization: A reputable and established group that the student will choose to partner with in the bottom-up approach to policy advocacy
community-based participatory research: A collaborative process that equitably involves all partners in the research process and recognizes all strengths that each brings. CBPR begins with a research topic of importance to the community with the aim of combining knowledge and action for social change to improve community health and eliminate health disparities
decision-maker: A person with influence or authority to enact changes or introduce a policy or a bill
law: The system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties. For purposes of this assignment, a bill is proposed at the level of state or national government in which a legislative body meets and votes on enacting a bill to become a law.
persuasive: To move by argument, position, or course of action (transitive verb, requires action)
policy: A standard, or mandate that is enacted with the intent of regulating a practice. For purposes of this assignment, the policy must be at the level of being endorsed by government or standard of practice that is regulated by an organization or industry. It must be larger than organizational policy and procedure or at a local level.
substantial: Ample; significant; considerable in importance; more than adequate
tangible: Capable of being perceived, realized, or appraised as substantially real
top-down approach: A process by which the candidate (student) designs a plan to approach a decision-maker with an idea for policy change. The student’s role is in convincing the decision-maker to agree to promote the policy. The active part of the policy change process is then done by the decision-maker, not the student or a community organization.
work group: A collection of
people who will work together to advocate for the policy and build interest in
the policy topic. Many, but not all, roles should be filled by those affiliated
with the collaborating organization.
Appendix A
Tips for Locating Nurse-Authored Articles and Nursing Research
1) Begin with evaluating a source. There are a few ways of evaluating a source. Does it come from a peer-reviewed journal? (See: What’s a peer-reviewed journal?) If so, that means it is academically appropriate. If not, consider whether the source is professional and backed with solid research (i.e. ANA, NCSBN) or government data (i.e. the NIH, CDC).
2) Not every peer-reviewed article is research. Read the article to determine if it is an editorial or informational. These sources are valid and considered academically appropriate if they come from a reputable source, but do not meet criteria as true research. Research articles should provide a summary of the study including methods, sampling, results, limitations, etc.
3) Consider if it is a nursing journal or nursing-specific resource. If it comes from a peer-reviewed journal with nurse or nursing in the title, that is a pretty good indicator that at least one author is an RN. (Example; American Journal of Nursing, Nursing Education Perspectives, etc.).
4) Consider who the authors are in the article. Sometimes in other journals (medical, public health, etc.), you will find that a contributing author is a nurse. Browse within the article. Sometimes there is an “about the authors” section that tells you more about their credentials. Sometimes it will say where the author works (perhaps a university) and you might find information about the author’s credentials on that university’s website. If your article is not directly from a nursing journal it can take a bit of detective work to figure this out, but usually, the information is out there somewhere.
5) One great way to narrow down your search to credible sources is to use the WGU library for your search, since most sources are available for free to students. Here is that link: http://wgu.libguides.com.wgu.idm.oclc.org/libhome If you do use a search engine like Google Scholar then use the library to gain access to full text or to verify the source. Do not pay for articles!
6) Keep in mind that the article does not have to be exactly about your topic. For AEDs in schools, you may find some supportive information in an article about EpiPens in schools, or about practice guidelines for school nurses. It may relate but not be directly the same topic.
Also keep in mind these best-practice parameters:
· Sources published in the last 5 years
· U.S. Journals should be the priority when considering U.S. healthcare policy (International journals only if the topic matter applies to a global problem)
· Include a retrievable link to the source in the reference whenever possible
Reference
Guerrieri, R. (2012). What is a peer reviewed journal? Nursing Management, 43(8), 47-50. DOI: 10.1097/01.NUMA.0000415494.28202.9d
Also, here is a link to some guidance from the WGU Writing Center: https://www.hippocampus.org/HippoCampus/?user=WritingCenter&playlist=Using+Sources+and+APA
Appendix B
Community-Based Participatory Research Principles
Choose 3 of these (C2) to incorporate into your evaluation plan (C2E)
CBPR principles are evidence-based principles for group process. Research on community groups has shown that groups which use at least some of these principles (strategies) for working together are most successful in achieving the group’s goals and purpose.
For more on these principles, access these articles: https://www.policylink.org/sites/default/files/CBPR.pdfand
And this video: CBPR in the bottom-up approach (6:08)
For the section on C2E Evaluating CBPR:
In the article linked below, Page 42, paragraphs 3 and 4 give some examples of how one group evaluated their CPBR plan. See if you can use this as an example and apply it to your policy advocacy process: http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/pdf_files/CBPR_final.pdf
Appendix C
C2D – Roles and Responsibilities
[Video: 8:42]
It can be helpful to use a table to organize your workgroup. Then, use these details to write your narrative.
| Role/Title | Responsibilities | Problem-Solving | Capacity-Building |
| MSN Nurse Leader | |||
In your narrative describe:
Options for presenting C2D in your C159 paper
Option 1) Leave all aspects in the table and import the table into your paper. IMPORTANT: If you leave your narrative in a table, be sure to format your table according to APA guidelines. For more information about this format click here: Formatting your paper in APA style: Construction of tables and figures.
Option 2) Present a narrative explanation of the aspects that you used the table to organize. Write one paragraph for each role/title, explaining their responsibilities as well as how each individual contributes to problem-solving and/or capacity-building.
Option 3) Present a narrative in one paragraph including information about all of the roles and responsibilities for those in the work-group. Then, write an additional paragraph discussing problem solving and noting how each role will contribute to problem-solving. In a final paragraph for this section discuss capacity-building and write about how each role will contribute to capacity-building.
Appendix D
Sources in C159 and APA Tips
Tips on citation of an interview:
An interview is not considered recoverable data, so no reference should be provided in the reference list. You should, however, cite the interview within the text as a personal communication.
Examples:
How to cite city/county ordinances:
When citing city or county code, list the city (if applicable), state, code name, and section
Example:
When citing state statutes (law), list the state, then the code and section number and then the date
Example:
How to cite court cases:
Supreme Court Example:
Court of Appeals Example:
Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Example:
District Court Example:
How to cite the articles from the course tips on the CBPR principles:
Ethics resource document linked in A2a.
In text first use (American Nurses Association [ANA], 2015)
In text subsequent use: (ANA, 2015)
In reference list:
APA checklist from the WGU Writing Center:
Active links to the Writing Center’s APA guide:
Struggling with any citations?
Please reach out to the mentors at the WGU Writing Center helpline @
(877) 435-7948 ext.2967
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