Assignment: Benchmark Policy Brief

NRS 428 Assignment: Benchmark Policy Brief

Assignment: Benchmark Policy Brief

Policy Brief- Lead Contamination

The selected policy health issue from the “Topics and Issues” in the American Public Health Association (APHA) website is Lead contamination. Lead is a type of metal highly used in manufacturing car batteries and pipes. Lead exposure occurs through inhaling contaminated air or dust, or consumption of contaminated water and food (WHO, 2019). Regarding Lead contamination, this paper seeks to discuss the policy health issue on Lead contamination, suggestions to address the health issue, and its impact on the health care delivery system

Population Affected By Lead Contamination

Lead exposure affects all individuals across the lifespan. The main routes of Lead exposure are water, air, and household environment (WHO, 2019). Children, especially infants and toddlers, are exposed to lead contamination due to behaviors such as putting their hands and objects in the mouth. Exposure to Lead is mostly harmful to children owing to their developing bodies. Besides, those living at or below the

federal poverty level and in old houses have the highest risk of Lead exposure (WHO, 2019). Besides, children from minority racial and ethnic groups, such as non-Hispanic African-Americans, are also at higher risk for exposure to lead.

Lead exposure is particularly harmful to pregnant women. It crosses the placenta affecting the fetus, which increases the risk of congenital abnormalities. Besides, Lead can also be passed from the mother to an infant through breast milk. Adults are exposed to lead through occupational activities, consumption of contaminated food and water, and during recreational activities. Families can also be trained in ways to make water safe for drinking, such as boiling and chlorination.

Level Lead Contamination Occurs

The policy health issue on Lead contamination occurs at the local and State level. At the local level, Lead exposure occurs mainly at industrial sites. Statistics by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), reveal that more than 3 million workers in the U.S. are possibly exposed to lead.  Lead contamination occurs at the State level at the State’s public water systems, which are made of Lead pipes that contaminate water meant for human consumption.

Environmental Lead exposure occurs from activities such as mining, manufacturing, smelting, and recycling.  In some countries, the sustained use of leaded paint, leaded gasoline, and leaded aviation fuel have significantly contributed to lead exposure. Consumption of water from lead pipes or pipes fused with lead solder is a major cause of Lead poisoning from contaminated water.

Evidence about Lead Contamination

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) approximated that in 2017, Lead exposure accounted for 1.06 million mortalities and 24.4 million years of healthy life lost globally due to its long-term effects on health (Levin, 2016).  Low-and middle-income countries experience the highest burden of disease from adverse effects of Lead poisoning (WHO, 2019). IHME also revealed that in 2016, lead poisoning was linked with 63.2% of idiopathic developmental and intellectual disability globally. Lead exposure also accounted for 10.3% of hypertensive heart disease, 5.6% of ischemic heart disease, and 6.2% of stroke globally (Wani, Ara & Usmani, 2015). Lead toxicity affects almost every body system. The most affected body systems include the Renal, Nervous, and Reproductive system. In the Renal system, Lead toxicity causes reduced kidney function (Wani, Ara & Usmani, 2015). Children’s nervous systems are most affected, which results in slowed growth, learning difficulties, mental retardation, and behavioral disorders. Other risks include anemia and toxicity of the immune and reproductive systems.

Problem Statement

The general population is at a high risk of Lead exposure from environmental factors. Even so, the children and adults are exposed to lead every day, which puts them at risk of adverse health conditions. Regarding this problem, this study seeks to propose suggestions that will address Lead contamination and lower the prevalence of Lead exposure to the general population.

Suggestions for Addressing Lead Contamination

Lead contamination can be addressed at the household, local, and State levels. Health promotion can be conducted at the household level to educate families on measures to reduce the risk of Lead exposure (Ettinger, Leonard & Mason, 2019).  For instance, caregivers can be advised to keep products containing Lead out of children’s reach to reduce exposure through hand-to-mouth transfer. In addition, basic home hygiene should be emphasized, such as regularly washing children’s hands and toys and regular mopping of floors and house surfaces (Ettinger, Leonard & Mason, 2019). Individuals should also be advised against using lead-based paint that peels.

County authorities can conduct lead poisoning prevention education and child blood lead testing (LeBrón et al., 2019). Local departments of health can conduct lead poisoning prevention education for caregivers, health care providers, and local agencies (LeBrón et al., 2019). Besides, they can conduct outreach services to increase lead testing for children who are at a high risk of lead exposure.

State governments can have regulations that require the use of lead-free pipes and fixtures in public water systems or in facilities that provide water for human consumption (LeBrón et al., 2019). The State governments can also adopt regulations that require the testing of consumers’ taps to assess Lead and copper annually. Besides, State laws can be enacted that prohibit the sale and manufacture of toys containing lead-based paints or lacquers that surpass the lead content permitted by the federal government (LeBrón et al., 2019). Furthermore, State governments can establish housing standards for human occupancy and laws that require the disclosure of lead-based paint hazards to buyers.

ORDER NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT: Assignment: Benchmark Policy Brief

The benchmark assesses the following competencies:

1.4 Participate in health care policy development to influence nursing practice and health care.

Research public health issues on the “Climate Change” or “Topics and Issues” pages of the American Public Health Association (APHA) website. Investigate a public health issue related to an environmental issue within the U.S. health care delivery system and examine its effect on a specific population.

Write a 750-1,000-word policy brief that summarizes the issue, explains the effect on the population, and proposes a solution to the issue.

Follow this outline when writing the policy brief:

1. Describe the policy health issue. Include the following information: (a) what population is affected, (b) at what level does it occur (local, state, or national), and (c) evidence about the issues supported by resources. Assignment: Benchmark Policy Brief

2. Create a problem statement.

3. Provide suggestions for addressing the health issue caused by the current policy. Describe what steps are required to initiate policy change. Include necessary stakeholders (government officials, administrator) and budget or funding considerations, if applicable.

4. Discuss the impact on the health care delivery system.

Include four peer-reviewed sources and two other sources to support the policy brief.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, An abstract/thesis is required.

Topic 4 DQ 1

Research the delivery, finance, management, and sustainability methods of the U.S. health care system. Evaluate the effectiveness of one or more of these areas on quality patient care and health outcomes. Propose a potential health care reform solution to improve effectiveness in the area you evaluated and predict the expected effect. Describe the effect of health care reform on the U.S. health care system and its respective stakeholders. Support your post with a peer-reviewed journal article.
Topic 4 DQ 2

The Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama in March 2010. Many of the provisions of the law directly affect health care providers. Review the following topic materials:

“About the Affordable Care Act”
“Health Care Transformation: The Affordable Care Act and More”
What are the most important elements of the Affordable Care Act in relation to community and public health? What is the role of the nurse in implementing this law? NRS 428 Concepts in Community and Public Health
Topic 5: Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Management

Objectives:

Explain the role of the public health nurse in disaster management.
Appraise systems designed for emergency and disaster preparedness.
Apply levels of prevention to natural and manmade disasters.
Describe the spiritual considerations surrounding disasters.
Community Teaching Experience Approval Form

Before presenting your “Community Teaching Plan: Community Presentation” to the community, seek approval from an agency administrator or representative. Upon receiving approval from the agency, submit the completed “Community Teaching Experience Approval Form.”
AttachmentsNRS-428VN-RS5-CommunityTeachingExperienceForm.doc
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

Hi Marlena,

You mentioned something that a lot of us take for granted, which is basic transportation. Transportation is a social determinant of health and many people do live in rural communities and it is hard for them to access health care. Working for California’s Department of Health Care Services, I helped with the non-medical transportation benefit, now offered to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. This was transportation by public or private vehicle, that is now a covered service for those with full scope Medi-Cal. In listening to stakeholder meetings, the advocates really pressed the department of those living in rural areas and not having transportation or the ability to afford it. Community health nurses can assist in finding individuals living in rural areas the necessary resources, for example transportation. The public benefits from guidance and education from nurses at each level. (Green, 2018). It is our job to build trust with patients, so we may determine all of their needs, including understanding their social determinants of health.

Green, Z., S. (2018). Epidemiology and Global Health. In Grand Canyon University (Ed). Community & public health: The future of health care. https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs427vn/community-and-public-health-the-future-of-health-care/v1.1/#/chapter/2

The public or community health nurse role has changed over the years. The nurse must have competency in public health nursing but must also be proficient in information technology. The community health nurse doesn’t have just one single patient but in fact targets large groups and families, as well as the community itself. The community health nurse is involved in data collection, community assessments, and the maintenance of all data collected on population health statistics. The nurse uses this information to help identify health risks and disparities, determine health service needs, and locate health care assets and resources to support health and quality of life improvement (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Public health nurse builds knowledge and helps shape the attitude about health through education initiatives, informing the public of choices in health decision making, skills, and behaviors that contribute to a healthy quality of life.

Health promotion and education is often supported through partnerships with employers, Faith-based organizations, schools, and health care providers for implementation of initiatives and reinforcement of health information (CDC, 2014). Public service announcements are one mechanism in which media and marketing campaigns work to disseminate health information. The use of community partnerships also aids in the identification of health problems and provides a source of both human material resources. As public awareness increases, partnerships, coalitions, and alliances develop to support prevention, screening, and rehabilitation projects (CDC, 2014). The mobilization of partnerships serves as a foundation toward effective local public health governance (GCU, 2018).

References

Grand Canyon University. (Ed.). (2018).

Community and public health: The future of health care

.URL:

https://www.gcumedia.com/digital-resources/grand-canyon-university/2018/community-and-public-

health_the-future-of-health-care_1e.php

When it comes to geopolitical community this is referring to a community within a geographical boundary. It involves cities, valleys, communities or towns. These communities can either can be made up of territories or manufactured boundaries and involve groups of people who live together in close proximity. A Phenomenological community can be characterized by a group of people sharing the same values, interest, beliefs, and goals in religious or that are part of the same social groups. An assessment of the geopolitical and phenomenological place can help determine health barriers and specific health needs in the community and helps nurses plan for appropriate interventions. The Nursing practice involves specific standards and can be defined differently but they are established by the American Nursing Association. The Nursing process involves assessment, diagnosis, planning, interventions and evaluations which are steps that are very important during nursing practice. “The nursing process empowers nurses to provide individualized care tailored to each patient’s needs. By taking a collaborative approach involving the patient, their family, and other healthcare team members, nurses can achieve positive health outcomes and improve their patients’ overall quality of life” (Author,2023).  The purpose of the nursing process is to identify the client’s health status of actual or potential health care problems or needs. This process is done through assessment. “To establish plans to meet the identified needs. To deliver specific nursing interventions to meet those needs. To apply the best available care-giving evidence and promote human functions and responses to health and illness (ANA, 2010). To protect nurses against legal problems related to nursing care when the standards of the nursing process are followed correctly. To help the nurse perform in a systematically organized way their practice. To establish a database about the client’s health status, health concerns, response to illness, and the ability to manage health care needs” (GW,RN, 2023).

Author, A. (2023). 5 Key Steps of the Nursing Process: A Comprehensive Guide. American Institute of Alternative Medicine. https://www.aiam.edu/nursing/nursing-process/

Bsn, G. W., RN. (2023). The Nursing Process: A Comprehensive guide. Nurseslabs. https://nurseslabs.com/nursing-process/