NURS 8100 Assignment 3: Major Assessment

Assignment 3: Policy Analysis Paper [Major

Assessment]

In previous Discussions and Assignments, you have examined various aspects of the
policy process: exploring the unintended consequences of policies, agenda setting, and
analyzing policy recommendations. In this Assignment, you will have the opportunity to
further develop your analysis skills by working through the policy analysis process. To
be an effective agent for social change, you must be able to logically and critically
analyze policy from multiple perspectives and contexts and then present your insights in
a succinct and professional manner. This exercise will afford such an experience.
For this Assignment, you will examine a particular policy of interest to you (perhaps the
one you selected for this week’s Discussion), and apply a policy analysis framework to
understand the impact associated with the implementation of the policy. You will then
develop a policy analysis paper, which is due at the end of Week 11. This paper will
also serve as your Major Assessment for this course.
To prepare:
Select a health care policy and a policy analysis framework to utilize for this
Assignment. You may use the policy and framework you identified in this week’s
Discussion or change your selection.
To complete:
Write an 8- to 9-page analysis paper (including references) in which you succinctly
address the following:
● Part 1: Define the policy issue.
○ How is the issue affecting the policy arena?
○ What are the current politics of the issue?
○ At what level in the policy making process is the issue?
● Part 2: Apply a policy analysis framework to explore the issue using the following
contexts:
○ Social

○ Ethical
○ Legal
○ Historical
○ Financial/economic
○ Theoretical underpinnings of the policy
● Include in this section:
○ Who are the stakeholders of interest?
○ Is there a nursing policy/position statement on this health care issue? If
so, who developed it?
● Part 3: Policy options/solutions
○ What are the policy options/solutions for addressing the issue? Include at
least three levels of options/solutions: no change; partial change; radical
change or maximum change.
○ What are the theoretical underpinnings of the policy options/solutions?
○ What are the health advocacy aspects and leadership requirements of
each option?
○ How does each option/solution provide an opportunity or need for inter-
professional collaboration?
○ What are the pros and cons of each suggested change? Include the cost
benefits, effectiveness, and efficiency of each option along with the utility
and feasibility of each option.
● Part 4: Building Consensus
○ Outline a plan for building consensus around your recommended
option/solution for solving the policy issue.

● Part 5: References
○ Limit your references so this section is no more than 2 pages.

Your written assignments must follow APA guidelines. Be sure to support your work with
specific citations from appropriate Learning Resources and additional scholarly sources

as appropriate. Refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association to ensure that your in- text citations and reference list are correct.
By Day 7 of Week 11
This Assignment is due.

(Week 5) Assignment 3: Policy Analysis

Paper [Major Assessment]

Continue to work on this Assignment, assigned in Week 4 and due in Week 11. Analyze
the financial and economic context of your selected health care policy. Include an
analysis of the costs of the various policy solutions and the primary funding sources.
This information should be included in Part 2 of your analysis paper.
By Day 7 of Week 11
Submit this Assignment.