Purpose:
To formulate written professional communication that advocates for a key nursing issue. To explore advocacy tools and resources for nurses To reflect on nursing leadership attributes and personal perspective r/t how each contributes to and influences healthcare policy, social justice, and professional nursing practice. Detailed Outline of Each of the Assignment Parts
PART I: Legislative Representatives and Policies
Students identify 2 House of Representatives and 2 Senators from the state of your choosing ( FLORIDA). Students then review 2 bills that are sponsored or co-sponsored by the selected state House of Representatives official(s) and 2 bills that are sponsored or co-sponsored by the selected Senate Representative(s) resulting in a description of 4 total bills (see outline below). Then the students will link these 4 bills to nursing, population, health and provide rationale for choosing the particular bills.
PART 2: Writing a Letter to the Selected Representative
Students will write a persuasive letter to one of the chosen state Representatives identified in Part 1 regarding one of the selected 4 bills (from the 4; just chose 1) that the student feels will have the most impact with a rationale for choosing the selected bill. The letter will be written in a business/personal correspondence style including name, contact information and professional salutation for the receiving party (to whom it may concern is not acceptable). Zip codes for both the student and receiving party must be included to verify that letter is addressed to an appropriate elected official, who represents the student as a constituent. Students will need to ensure recipient is the appropriate person for the bill/topic (state vs federal senator, representative, governor, etc.). The uploaded document to Blackboard must follow this format and information. The Florida Nurses Foundation: Legislative Resource Toolkit: on pg 11 (see BB resources) format should be used and it provides you with the template.
PART 3: Identify a Policy/Issue and Advocacy Strategy from a Selected Nursing Organization
Students will identify a nursing organization of their choice that has a policy advocacy section. Once the student has selected the organization, they will locate the section on advocacy on the organization’s official website and find their current legislative/advocacy agenda (most recent). There are several nursing organizations to choose from these can be found in your Blackboard resources and in your textbook (these should be issues that are current and relevant).