NR 708 Week 1: Health Policy Framework part 1
Identify and discuss a problem that you have encountered in your current role. Also, please
identify how the problem can be framed into a policy issue.
As we are heading into the first discussion question, it is important to analyze our current health
policy frameworks. How can you relate this to your current role? What problems have you
encountered? How can obtaining your DNP help with these problems in the current framework?
Nurses’ power of influence on health policy can help promote safe work environments, help safe
guard the nursing scope of practice, and protect patients by providing safe, efficient, and
equitable quality of care (Mason, Gardner, Outlaw, & O’Grady, 2016). The doctorate prepared
nurse is an influential member of the healthcare system. In order to affect the policy making
process, the DNP-prepared nurse must understand how to “successfully analyze the process and
influence it with a high degree of political competence” (Mason et al., 2016, p. 67). From the
current health policy frameworks, The CDC (2015) proposed the Policy Analytical Framework.
This framework can be used for identifying, analyzing, and prioritizing policies to improve
healthcare outcome. The key steps in this framework include identifying the problem or issue,
identifying an appropriate policy solution and developing a strategy for furthering adoption of a
policy solution (CDC, 2015). When describing the issue, the nurse should be as specific as
possible when identifying the characteristics, burden, frequency, severity and scope of the
problem (CDC, 2015).
The problem I have encountered in the urgent care setting is ineffective provider-to-provider
communication for care transition to the emergency department. Patients visit stand-alone urgent
care centers for conditions (cardiac related chest pain) that are not appropriate for the urgent care
setting and sometimes their condition may worsen while they are getting treatment. These type of
urgent care centers are not attached to the hospital and are usually privately owned. The
privately-owned urgent care centers are not mandated to call report to the emergency department
and can just transfer to the patient via ambulance to the nearest emergency department. I have
witnessed providers give report to emergency medical services (EMS) and discharge the patient
without calling the emergency department to give the receiving provider report. Providing
accurate patient information during a transfer enables the receiving providers to immediately
assume responsibility for patient care. When the provider fails to call report to the emergency
room provider, critical care information such as the initial evaluation can get lost and may not
reach the receiving provider. This may cause unnecessary test duplication and time delay for
critical testing (Gardner, Choo, Gravenstein, & Baier, 2015). A policy can be proposed to
enhance effective communication between health providers throughout the continuum of care.
The DNP prepared nurse is conscious about the process and structure of the health policy
frameworks used to change or create a policy (Mason, et al, 2016). The doctorate level nurse is
capable of critiquing research literature and analyzing the health impact, feasibility, economic
and budgetary impacts of selected policy solutions.
This study source was downloaded by 100000836546216 from CourseHero.com on 03-31-2022 10:15:21 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/42481889/NR-708-Week-1-Health-Policy-Framework-part-1docx/
Identify and discuss a problem that you have encountered in your current role. Also, please
identify how the problem can be framed into a policy issue.
As we are heading into the first discussion question, it is important to analyze our current health
policy frameworks. How can you relate this to your current role? What problems have you
encountered? How can obtaining your DNP help with these problems in the current framework?
Nurses’ power of influence on health policy can help promote safe work environments, help safe
guard the nursing scope of practice, and protect patients by providing safe, efficient, and
equitable quality of care (Mason, Gardner, Outlaw, & O’Grady, 2016). The doctorate prepared
nurse is an influential member of the healthcare system. In order to affect the policy making
process, the DNP-prepared nurse must understand how to “successfully analyze the process and
influence it with a high degree of political competence” (Mason et al., 2016, p. 67). From the
current health policy frameworks, The CDC (2015) proposed the Policy Analytical Framework.
This framework can be used for identifying, analyzing, and prioritizing policies to improve
healthcare outcome. The key steps in this framework include identifying the problem or issue,
identifying an appropriate policy solution and developing a strategy for furthering adoption of a
policy solution (CDC, 2015). When describing the issue, the nurse should be as specific as
possible when identifying the characteristics, burden, frequency, severity and scope of the
problem (CDC, 2015).
The problem I have encountered in the urgent care setting is ineffective provider-to-provider
communication for care transition to the emergency department. Patients visit stand-alone urgent
care centers for conditions (cardiac related chest pain) that are not appropriate for the urgent care
setting and sometimes their condition may worsen while they are getting treatment. These type of
urgent care centers are not attached to the hospital and are usually privately owned. The
privately-owned urgent care centers are not mandated to call report to the emergency department
and can just transfer to the patient via ambulance to the nearest emergency department. I have
witnessed providers give report to emergency medical services (EMS) and discharge the patient
without calling the emergency department to give the receiving provider report. Providing
accurate patient information during a transfer enables the receiving providers to immediately
assume responsibility for patient care. When the provider fails to call report to the emergency
room provider, critical care information such as the initial evaluation can get lost and may not
reach the receiving provider. This may cause unnecessary test duplication and time delay for
critical testing (Gardner, Choo, Gravenstein, & Baier, 2015). A policy can be proposed to
enhance effective communication between health providers throughout the continuum of care.
The DNP prepared nurse is conscious about the process and structure of the health policy
frameworks used to change or create a policy (Mason, et al, 2016). The doctorate level nurse is
capable of critiquing research literature and analyzing the health impact, feasibility, economic
and budgetary impacts of selected policy solutions.
This study source was downloaded by 100000836546216 from CourseHero.com on 03-31-2022 10:15:21 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/42481889/NR-708-Week-1-Health-Policy-Framework-part-1docx/
