NRS 428 Benchmark Policy Brief GCU

Sample Answer for NRS 428 Benchmark Policy Brief GCU Included After Question

Assessment Description

Research public health issues on the “Climate Change” or “Topics and Issues” pages of the American Public Health Association (APHA) website. Investigate a public health issue related to an environmental issue within the U.S. health care delivery system and examine its effect on a specific population.

Write a 750-1,000-word policy brief that summarizes the issue, explains the effect on the population, and proposes a solution to the issue.

Follow this outline when writing the policy brief:

Describe the policy health issue. Include the following information: (a) what population is affected, (b) at what level does it occur (local, state, or national), and (c) evidence about the issues supported by resources.
Create a problem statement.
Provide suggestions for addressing the health issue caused by the current policy. Describe what steps are required to initiate policy change. Include necessary stakeholders (government officials, administrator) and budget or funding considerations, if applicable.
Discuss the impact on the health care delivery system.

Include three peer-reviewed sources and two other sources to support the policy brief.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. A link to the LopesWrite technical support articles is located in Course Resources if you need assistance.

Benchmark Information

Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing

The benchmark assesses the following competencies:

1.4 Participate in health care policy development to influence nursing practice and health care.

A Sample Answer For the Assignment: NRS 428 Benchmark Policy Brief GCU

Title: NRS 428 Benchmark Policy Brief GCU

Benchmark: Policy Brief and Climate Change

Climate change is considered a critical aspect of public health with communities and individuals experiencing its impacts, especially its effects on the quality of air around the world. In their article, Blumenthal and Seervai (2018) assert that the U.S. health care system is one of the most affected by climate change as the country is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, making it a major contributor to air pollution and global warming. Further, they opine that the environment shapes the health system and recent catastrophes show that climate change has adverse effects on the health care system’s capacity and ability to meet patient needs (Johnson& Lichtveld, 2017). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effects of climate change on healthcare delivery system, its effects on the population and propose a solution to the issue.

Policy Health Issue

The World Health Organization observes that climate change impacts the social and environmental determinants of health that include clean air, safe drinking water, secure shelter, and adequate food supply to different population. The organization asserts that climate change is a serious global phenomenon that will impact different aspects of health at individual and community level with effects like increased mortality rates from diseases like malaria, diarrhea, heat stress as witnessed by increased heat waves across the country and other parts of the world and malnutrition, especially in developing regions and countries in the world. In their article Chen and Murthy (2019) opine that the human and health effects of climate change are evident in the extreme weather conditions that are leading to disruption of lives by exacerbating chronic health diseases like asthma and expanding the range of infectious diseases and worsening mental health illnesses (Johnson & Lichtveld, 2017). Climate change is also causing growing health effects associated with population displacement and migration and climate-triggered instability and conflicts. Extreme weather events disrupt health infrastructure that include utilities, transportation, and communication systems that are critical to maintenance and access to emergency services and care.

Climate change affects many people since it is a global phenomenon (Hathaway & Maibach, 2018). However, individuals with chronic conditions, those living at coasts, and those in poorer communities are the most affected. Those living in regions prone for extreme weather are also hard hit by the issue. Children are also vulnerable and affected by aspects of climate change like air pollution that exacerbates conditions like asthma and respiratory illnesses contributing to heart disease, cancers and lung diseases among others.

Problem Statement

The problem statement on climate change and health stakeholders’ awareness is essential to addressing the issue. A problem statement on the issue begins with who, what, where, why and when of the problem. Climate change affects all people, especially those from lower socioeconomic status and those vulnerable to the effects of extreme weather due to sensitivity or lack of protection. Climate is anthropogenic as it emanates from human actions that necessitate emissions of greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide which trap heat in the atmosphere leading to global warming that result in climate change (Hathaway & Maibach, 2018). Climate change is now happening as evident through increase in temperatures and if the world does nothing, it will worsen and impact all aspects of healthcare delivery and life in general. The problem statement therefore, addresses the need to have policies and suggestions to tackle the issue and reduce its effects on health at individual, community, and even global levels.

Suggestions to Address Climate Change

Early, deliberate and responsible actions from a multi-agency approach can help in safeguarding health and people’s safety from the vulnerabilities and detrimental effects of climate change. Measures should focus on addressing future effects of climate change while tackling the current situations to attain greater benefits for all affected populations. Robust climate-health initiatives and programs help reduce the emission of carbon elements into the atmosphere that trap heat to cause global warming.

The American Public Health Association created the “Climate, Health, and Equity: A Policy Agenda,” aimed at attainment of health energy, enhancing transportation and land use, and advance the use of agriculture system as critical to addressing the adverse effects of climate change (Johnson & Lichtveld, 2017). The policy prioritizes three primary areas aimed at providing a climate action for health, a health action for climate, and funding of the two approaches.

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Policies on reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases through transitioning to clean, renewable and sustainable transportation and agricultural systems are key to mitigating the severity of climate change and its effects on healthcare delivery. The health care sector contributes significantly to climate change as it produces close to 10% of total greenhouse gases in the U.S. Hospitals and health systems should address climate change as a public health issue by decreasing their carbon footprint, transitioning to clean, renewable energy and having climate-resilient facilities.

Healthcare providers and professionals have substantial influence on heath delivery systems and can protect their patients from the effects of climate change through development of sustainable, climate-smart facilities and systems. Physicians can advocate for their facilities to be part of the Health Care Climate Challenge and mobilize institutions across the world to protect public health from the adverse effects of climate change (Chen & Murthy, 2019). They can offer participants easy-to-use resources to assist support climate-smart solutions. Evidence suggests that health providers can help their patients and communities participate in climate change initiatives to reduce their carbon footprints and respond immediately to these conditions (Salas et al., 2020). Caregivers need to understand the effects of climate change on disease patterns and population vulnerabilities through awareness creation by physicians and nurses.

Steps to initiate policy changes include identification of the problem with stakeholder gathering relevant information on the effects of climate change on public health and the population (Friel, 2019). They should identify the features, severity, scope and financial implication of the issue. The second encompasses policy analysis through research and identifying options to address the problem. The analysis provides an opportunity to understand issues like morbidity and mortality associated with the issue and other factors affecting it like political and socioeconomic perspectives (Johnson & Lichtveld, 2017). The implementation of the policy leads to effective steps by stakeholders in enactment of the identified interventions like cutting down greenhouse gases emissions through use of clean and sustainable energy solutions, smart-hospitals, and innovative ways to reduce carbon footprints among providers, patients, and health populations.

Impact on Health Care Delivery System

Climate change has negative effects on human health as it restricts people from performing outdoor activities, leads to disruptions in care provision and increases susceptibility to infectious diseases. The implication is that the health care delivery system is impacted due to the disruptions and increased cost burden of emergency room visits due to attacks from chronic diseases like asthma and more hospitalizations because of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases (Wang, 2020). The direct damage to health by climate change is close to $3 billion each year with estimated projected to rise as more regions continue to face unpredictable weather situations.

Conclusion

Climate change affects human health due to its severity and detrimental implications. The healthcare delivery system will continue to shoulder the burden based on increased cost of care, exacerbation of conditions, and need for emergency room visits. Stakeholders must find ways to address the unpredictable nature of climate change through policies like the APHA’s policy on getting resources to address these effects.

References

Blumenthal, D. & Seervai, S. (2018). To Be High Performing, the U.S. Health System Will Need

to Adapt to Climate Change. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2018/be-high-performing-us-health-system-will-need-adapt-climate-change

Chen, A. & Murthy, V. (2019). How Health Systems Are Meeting the Challenge of Climate

Change. https://hbr.org/2019/09/how-health-systems-are-meeting-the-challenge-of-climate-change

Friel, S. (2019). Climate change, global justice, and health inequities. Climate Change and the

People’s Health, 1-56. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190492731.003.0001

Hathaway, J., & Maibach, E. W. (2018). Health Implications of Climate Change: A Review of

the Literature About the Perception of the Public and Health Professionals. Current

Environmental Health Reports, 5(1), 197-204. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-018-0190-3

Johnson, B. L., & Lichtveld, M. Y. (2017). Steps in environmental health Policymaking.

Environmental Policy and Public Health, 25-50. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781351228473-2

Salas, R. N., Friend, T. H., Bernstein, A., & Jha, A. K. (2020). Adding A Climate Lens To

Health Policy in The United States: Commentary explores how health care policy makers can integrate a climate lens as they develop health system interventions. Health Affairs, 39(12), 2063-2070. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01352

Wang, J. (2020). Climate-smart health care: The power of health care action on air pollution and

climate change. European Journal of Public Health, 30(Supplement_5). https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckaa165.299

World Health Organization (WHO) (2021). Climate change and health.

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health

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Grading Rubric

Performance Category	100% or highest level of performance 100% 16 points	Very good or high level of performance 88% 14 points	Acceptable level of performance 81% 13 points	Inadequate demonstration of expectations 68% 11 points	Deficient level of performance 56% 9 points	Failing level of performance 55% or less 0 points
Total Points Possible= 50	16 Points	14 Points	13 Points	11 Points	9 Points	0 Points
Scholarliness Demonstrates achievement of scholarly inquiry for professional and academic topics.	Presentation of information was exceptional and included all of the following elements: Provides evidence of scholarly inquiry relevant to required TD topic(s). Presents specific information from scholarly sources to develop a comprehensive presentation of facts. Uses at least one outside scholarly reference that is relevant, less than 5 years old (use of older references requires instructor permission) and reliable for the required topic.* Uses in-text citation and full reference at end of posting when presenting another person’s thoughts as quotes or paraphrase of information.	Presentation of information was good, but was superficial in places and included all of the following elements: Provides evidence of scholarly inquiry relevant to required TD topic(s). Presents specific information from scholarly sources to develop a comprehensive presentation of facts. Uses at least one outside scholarly reference that is relevant, less than 5 years old (use of older references requires instructor permission) and reliable for the required topic.* Uses in-text citation and full reference at end of posting when presenting another person’s thoughts as quotes or paraphrase of information.	Presentation of information was minimally demonstrated in all of the following elements: Provides evidence of scholarly inquiry relevant to required TD topic(s). Presents specific information from scholarly sources to develop a comprehensive presentation of facts. Uses at least one outside scholarly reference that is relevant, less than 5 years old (use of older references requires instructor permission) and reliable for the required topic.* Uses in-text citation and full reference at end of posting when presenting another person’s thoughts as quotes or paraphrase of information.	Presentation of information is unsatisfactory in one of the following elements: Provides evidence of scholarly inquiry relevant to required TD topic(s). Presents specific information from scholarly sources to develop a comprehensive presentation of facts. Uses at least one outside scholarly reference that is relevant, less than 5 years old (use of older references requires instructor permission) and reliable for the required topic.* Uses in-text citation and full reference at end of posting when presenting another person’s thoughts as quotes or paraphrase of information.	Presentation of information is unsatisfactory in two of the following elements: Provides evidence of scholarly inquiry relevant to required TD topic(s). Presents specific information from scholarly sources to develop a comprehensive presentation of facts. Uses at least one outside scholarly reference that is relevant, less than 5 years old (use of older references requires instructor permission) and reliable for the required topic.* Uses in-text citation and full reference at end of posting when presenting another person’s thoughts as quotes or paraphrase of information.	Presentation of information is unsatisfactory in three or more of the following elements Provides evidence of scholarly inquiry relevant to required TD topic(s). Presents specific information from scholarly sources to develop a comprehensive presentation of facts. Uses at least one outside scholarly reference that is relevant, less than 5 years old (use of older references requires instructor permission) and reliable for the required topic.* Uses in-text citation and full reference at end of posting when presenting another person’s thoughts as quotes or paraphrase of information
	16 Points	14 Points	13 Points	11 Points	9 Points	0 Points
Application of Course Knowledge Demonstrate the ability to analyze and apply principles, knowledge and information learned in the outside readings and relate them to real-life professional situations	Presentation of information was exceptional and included all of the following elements: Applies principles, knowledge and information from scholarly resources to the required topic. Applies facts, principles or concepts learned from scholarly resources to a professional experience. Application of information is comprehensive and specific to the required topic.	Presentation of information was good, but was superficial in places and included all of the following elements: Applies principles, knowledge and information from scholarly resources to the required topic. Applies facts, principles or concepts learned from scholarly resources to a professional experience. Application of information is comprehensive and specific to the required topic.	Presentation of information was minimally demonstrated in the all of the following elements: Applies principles, knowledge and information from scholarly resources to the required topic. Applies facts, principles or concepts learned from scholarly resources to a professional experience. Application of information is comprehensive and specific to the required topic.	Presentation of information is unsatisfactory in one of the following elements: Applies principles, knowledge and information from scholarly resources to the required topic. Applies facts, principles or concepts learned from and scholarly resources to a professional experience. Application of information is comprehensive and specific to the required topic.	Presentation of information is unsatisfactory in two of the following elements: Applies principles, knowledge and information from scholarly resources to the required topic. Applies facts, principles or concepts learned from scholarly resources to a professional experience. Application of information is comprehensive and specific to the required topic.	Presentation of information is unsatisfactory in three of the following elements Applies principles, knowledge and information and scholarly resources to the required topic. Applies facts, principles or concepts learned scholarly resources to a professional experience. Application of information is comprehensive and specific to the required topic.
	10 Points	9 Points			6 Points	0 Points
Interactive Dialogue Initial post should be a minimum of 300 words (references do not count toward word count) The peer and instructor responses must be a minimum of 150 words each (references do not count toward word count) Responses are substantive and relate to the topic.	Demonstrated all of the following: Initial post must be a minimum of 300 words. The peer and instructor responses must be a minimum of 150 words each. Responses are substantive Responses are related to the topic of discussion.	Demonstrated 3 of the following: Initial post must be a minimum of 300 words. The peer and instructor responses must be a minimum of 150 words each. Responses are substantive Responses are related to the topic of discussion.			Demonstrated 2 of the following: Initial post must be a minimum of 300 words. The peer and instructor responses must be a minimum of 150 words each. Responses are substantive Responses are related to the topic of discussion.	Demonstrated 1 or less of the following: Initial post must be a minimum of 300 words. The peer and instructor responses must be a minimum of 150 words each. Responses are substantive Responses are related to the topic of discussion.
	8 Points	7 Points	6 Points	5 Points	4 Points	0 Points
Grammar, Syntax, APA Points deducted for improper grammar, syntax and APA style of writing. The source of information is the APA Manual 6th Edition Error is defined to be a unique APA error. Same type of error is only counted as one error.	The following was present: 0-3 errors in APA format AND Responses have 0-3 grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors AND Writing style is generally clear, focused on topic,and facilitates communication.	The following was present: 4-6 errors in APA format. AND/OR Responses have 4-5 grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors AND/OR Writing style is somewhat focused on topic.	The following was present: 7-9 errors in APA format. AND/OR Responses have 6-7 grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors AND/OR Writing style is slightly focused on topic making discussion difficult to understand.	The following was present: 10- 12 errors in APA format AND/OR Responses have 8-9 grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors AND/OR Writing style is not focused on topic, making discussion difficult to understand.	The following was present: 13 – 15 errors in APA format AND/OR Responses have 8-10 grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors AND/OR Writing style is not focused on topic, making discussion difficult to understand. AND/OR The student continues to make repeated mistakes in any of the above areas after written correction by the instructor.	The following was present: 16 to greater errors in APA format. AND/OR Responses have more than 10 grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors. AND/OR Writing style does not facilitate communication
	0 Points Deducted					5 Points Lost
Participation Requirements	Demonstrated the following: Initial, peer, and faculty postings were made on 3 separate days					Failed to demonstrate the following: Initial, peer, and faculty postings were made on 3 separate days
	0 Points Lost					5 Points Lost
Due Date Requirements	Demonstrated all of the following: The initial posting to the graded threaded discussion topic is posted within the course no later than Wednesday, 11:59 pm MT. A minimum of one peer and one instructor responses are to be posted within the course no later than Sunday, 11:59 pm MT.					Demonstrates one or less of the following. The initial posting to the graded threaded discussion topic is posted within the course no later than Wednesday, 11:59 pm MT. A minimum of one peer and one instructor responses are to be posted within the course no later than Sunday, 11:59 pm MT.

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