Policy Analysis Paper

Order Description Policy / Ethical Issue Paper – The Policy / Ethical Issue Paper is broken into several parts that will be turned into the faculty as one paper. The following is the list of parts and grading percentages associated with this paper. A. What is the Problem : Federal law does not allow for Nurse Practitioners to order home health care services for patients. This is only allowed by physicians and podiatrist. The student will select a policy or ethical issue that is of interest to them. A 3 page problem statement will be developed regarding the issue. The statement should clearly articulate the problem as well as state why this is a public policy issue (why should the government be involved in addressing this issue). Describe in detail the problem that needs to be fixed (i.e. Federal law needs to be passed allowing Nurse Practitioners to order home health care services for patients in need). Include statistics, research, and other data to convince others that this problem must be fixed and in need of public attention. What goals or objectives are you trying to achieve with a change or the addition of new policy or ethical solution? --increasing access to healthcare among all individuals in America. --reducing risk of hospitalizations by allowing NPs to order home health care services.--improving patient outcomes by increased continuity of care. B. What are the Alternatives --Forego arranging home health and increase patient risk for recurrent hospitalizations. --Refer the patient to a doctor so he/she can arrange for home health The student will include the revised problem definition and complete a literature search to identify three policy / ethical solution alternatives. When developing alternatives, the student should identify at least three of the best potential alternatives to address the identified problem. For the most part, finding a policy solution to a problem is never an easy exercise as there are always positives and negatives to the potential solutions. Evaluate the alternatives for strengths and weaknesses. The alternative section should be at least 5 pages not including the revised problem definition. C. Who are the Key Interest Groups? The student will include the revised problem definition, the described policy / ethical solution alternatives, and an evaluation of the policy alternatives that were selected. This section should describe what key interest groups should be involved when developing the policy question and should they be involved. Who are key interest groups who may oppose such policy? This section should be at least 2 pages not including the revised problem definition and policy alternatives. D. Which One Policy / Ethical Solution Alternative is the Best The student will include the revised problem definition, the described policy alternatives, and an evaluation of the policy alternatives that were selected, and the revised key interest groups. Compare and contrast the three policy alternatives. State the rationale for why one is better. The method here is to convince the reader that one alternative is the only choice possible. This section should be at least 3 pages not including the revised problem definition, policy alternatives, and key interest groups. E. Bibliography 10 peer reviewed journal articles within the last 5 years Web sites for all data collected via the Internet Format: Typed using APA format Body 13-page length Book citation should be noted at the end of the paper Grading: Format, grammar, spelling 15 pts Ability to thoroughly address the content Problem statement 25 pts Policy alternatives 30 pts Key interest groups 10 pts Best policy alternative 15 pts Bibliography 5 pts