Purpose

The purpose of this assignment is to discuss healthcare policy of the APN profession and how Transformational Leadership can help to influence policy changes. This week’s assignment focuses on the APN as a Health Policy Leader, one of the nine NONPF NP competencies.  Students will analyze how health policy may affect NP practice and how Transformational Leadership can help to influence policy changes.

Activity Learning Outcomes

Through this discussion, the student will demonstrate the ability to:

1. Critically analyze how healthcare systems and APRN practice are organized and influenced by ethical, legal, economic and political factors (CO2)
2. Demonstrate professional and personal growth concerning the advocacy role of the advanced practice nursing in fostering policy within diverse healthcare settings (CO3)
3. Advocate for institutional, local, national and international policies that fosters person-centered healthcare and nursing practice (CO4)

Due Date: Wednesday of week 7 by 11:59PM MST

Students must post a minimum of two times in each graded discussion. The two posts in each individual discussion must be on separate days. Posting twice on two different days meets the minimum requirement however for full credit, the student must post at least three substantive posts on three different days. The student must provide an initial post to each graded discussion topic posted by the course instructor, by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m. MT of Week 7. Subsequent posts, including essential responses to peers, must occur no later than the Sunday, 11:59 p.m. MT at the end of Week 7. Students are expected to submit assignments by the time they are due. Threaded discussions are not considered assignments and are not part of the late assignment policy.

A 10% late penalty will be imposed for discussions posted after the deadline on Wednesday of week 7, regardless of the number of days late. NOTHING will be accepted after 11:59pm MT on Sunday (i.e. student will receive an automatic 0).

Total Points Possible: 100

Requirements:

Criteria for Content

• Explanation of how healthcare policy can impact the advanced practice nurse profession
• Explanation of why advocacy is considered an essential component of the advance practice nurse’s role
• Discuss the four pillars of Transformational leadership and the effect it may have on influencing policy change
• A scholarly resource must be used for EACH discussion question each week.

Solution:

How healthcare policy can impact the advanced practice nurse profession

One of the ways healthcare policy impacts advanced practice nurses is how and where APN provide care. For instance, the Affordable Care Act has increased access to care to a larger number of Americans and this may impact where the nurse practitioner provides care (Cleveland et al., 2019). With expected coverage by the ACA, primary care visits are expected to increase in the next few years. With the ongoing shortage of physicians and increased individuals seeking care, the federal policy will impact the NP practice by using the NP to provide the primary healthcare in their full capacity.

Explanation of why advocacy is considered an essential component of the advanced practice nurse’s role

 Advanced practice nurses have advance education and vast experience in caring for patients, which uniquely renders them to be patient advocacy. …