Preparation for writing the Advocacy Letter

1. Choose a topic that interests you.

2. If you are unsure what to advocate for or against, look at professional organizations for inspiration:

a.
APHA

b.
ANA

c.
Maryland Public Health Association

3. Look for advocacy groups that are working on the issue. We don't have to recreate the wheel.  See what strategies the advocacy groups are supporting. For example: Brady and Gifford non-profits focus on gun policy. 

4. Decide if you want to make change within an agency, at the local, state or federal level. Find the decision maker appropriate to that level. Click here to
find your elected official.

5. If you are writing to a legislator, look at that person’s website to see their position on the issue. Please do not ‘preach to the choir’—that is, if they already support the issue, it does no good to throw more facts at them.

6. If you are addressing a national issue, and your legislator aligns with your proposed action, consider looking at the committee that would hear a bill about your issue.

a. If there is a proposed bill that has not been active, you can ask the chair of the committee to bring it back up in committee.

b. Click here to
check for federal bills.

7. If you are addressing a state issue, the Maryland General Assembly meets January- April of each year.

a. You can see if state bill on your issue was unsuccessful in 2018, and ask your legislator to re-introduce it in 2019.

b. Click here to
check for state bills.

8. For evidence to support your proposed action, use the One Search through HS/HSL for the broadest results. If you are still having trouble finding articles, the premier journal for public health research is called The Nation's Health.

9. Reminders from the rubric:

a. Include your ‘Ask’ clearly and concisely in the first paragraph. In busy offices, staff may not read the entire letter.

b. In the same vein, keep the letter one page. References can be on a second page.

c. Include your credentials. All of you are BSN Candidates (and add whatever other credentials you have). This adds a professional weight to your voice.

10. As always, please let me know of any questions.
KGR

The purpose of this assignment is to create a poster that will present the visual and graphic presentation of the capstone project. Poster presentation should clearly articulate what you did, how you did it, why you did it, and what it contributes to your field and the larger field of human knowledge. This assignment is due in week seven and must be presented by the student.

Create your poster per guidance and approval from your capstone course faculty (template provided above). Follow the poster template as outlined and review the recommended resources in creating your poster.

What goals should you keep in mind to construct a poster?

• Clarity of content. Decide on a small number of key points that you want your viewers to take away from your presentation, and articulate those ideas clearly and concisely.
• Visual interest and accessibility. The viewers should notice and take interest in your poster so that they will pause to learn more about your project, and you will need the poster’s design to present your research in a way that is easy for those viewers to make easy sense of it.

From the capstone project, students will create an effective poster with the following information:

Title: ( the influence of nursing leadership on nurse retention ) 

Authors: Your name, faculty advisor’s name

Background/Significance

Purpose or Aims of the Study

Methods/Design

Expected Results/Outcomes

Anticipated Conclusions

Potential Implications to Practice

Acknowledgements

Contact person: include email address

Expectations

• Length: One page
• Format: Poster Presentation
• Research: At least one peer reviewed reference within the last 5 years

  Florida Nurses Association 

Go to the FNA website and critically read and review the topics under the tabs “legislative” and “get involved”.  Based on the textbook reading and FNA website discuss at least 2-topics below:

• The Nursing Legislation and Advocacy page on the FNA website identifies 4-different ways for you to get involved with advocacy.  Discuss which way(s) you would most likely get involved with and why?
• Find and peruse the Barbara Lumpkin Toolkit (BLT).  What are your thoughts about the information provided in the toolkit and what did you learn that you didn’t know before?
• The Florida Keys community experiences unique healthcare needs.  Identify 1-healthcare issues or trends would you consider advocating for that would have an impact on nursing in the Florida Keys.  Based on the BLT how would you go about advocating for the healthcare issue?

Please respond to each discussion post with 4 to 5 sentences with apa references for each 

Diagnostic Impression: You must begin to narrow your differential diagnosis to your diagnostic impression.  You must explain how and why (your rationale) you ruled out any of your differential diagnoses. You must explain how and why (your rationale) you concluded to your diagnostic impression.  You will use supporting evidence from the literature to support your rationale. Include pertinent positives and pertinent negatives for the specific patient case.

Also included in this section is the reflection. Reflect on this case and discuss whether or not you agree with your preceptor’s assessment and diagnostic impression of the patient and why or why not. What did you learn from this case? What would you do differently?

Also include in your reflection a discussion related to legal/ethical considerations (demonstrating critical thinking beyond confidentiality and consent for treatment!), social determinates of health, health promotion and disease prevention taking into consideration patient factors (such as age, ethnic group, etc.), PMH, and other risk factors (e.g., socioeconomic, cultural background, etc.).

References 

References (move to begin on next page)

You are required to include at least three evidence-based, peer-reviewed journal articles or evidenced-based guidelines which relate to this case to support your diagnostics and differentials diagnoses. Be sure to use correct APA 7th edition formatting.