Assignment 3: Policy Analysis Paper

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 day 5 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 10-page analysis paper (including references) in which you succinctly address the following:

1) An introduction

2) Part 1: Define the policy issue.

a) How is the issue affecting the policy arena?

b) What are the current politics of the issue?

c) At what level in the policy making process is the issue?

3) Part 2: Apply a policy analysis framework to explore the issue using the following contexts:

a) Social

b) Ethical

c) Legal

d) Historical

e) Financial/economic

f) Theoretical underpinnings of the policy

Include in this section:

a) Who are the stakeholders of interest?

b) Is there a nursing policy/position statement on this health care issue? If so, who developed it?

4) Part 3: Policy options/solutions

a) 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.

b) What are the theoretical underpinnings of the policy options/solutions?

c) What are the health advocacy aspects and leadership requirements of each option?

d) How does each option/solution provide an opportunity or need for inter-professional collaboration?

e) 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.

5) Part 4: Building Consensus

a) Outline a plan for building consensus around your recommended option/solution for solving the policy issue.

6) A Conclusion 

7) Part 5: References

a) 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.

Required Readings

Blackman, V. S. (2005). Putting policy theory to work: Tobacco control in California. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 6(2), 148–155. doi: 10.1177/1527154405276289

In this article, the author applies Kingdon’s multiple streams theory to agenda setting and the public policy issue of tobacco use. In addition, the author points out two limitations of Kingdon’s model—the need to build alliances and the varying power levels among stakeholders.

Craig, R. L., Felix, H. C., Walker, J. F., & Philips, M. M. (2010). Public health professionals as policy entrepreneurs: Arkansas’s childhood obesity policy experience. American Journal of Public Health, 100(11), 2047–2052.

Fawcett, J., & Russell, G. (2001). A conceptual model of nursing and health policy. Policy, Politics, & Nursing, 2(2), 108–116. doi: 10.1177/152715440100200205 

Fawcett and Russell provide a five-level conceptual model of nursing and health policy and diagram the relationship between the model and new health policies. Guidelines for health policy analysis and evaluation are also provided.

Hewison, A. (2007). Policy analysis: A framework for nurse managers. Journal of Nursing Management, 15(7), 693–6 99. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2934.2006.00731.x

Initially, this article presents a broad analysis of policy making and then provides a specific framework of policy analysis for nurse managers. The author focuses on the necessity for nurses to become involved in health care policy making

Policy analysis: A framework for nurse managers. Journal of Nursing Management, 15(7) by Hewison, A. Copyright 2007 by BLACKWELL PUBLISHING – JOURNALS. Reprinted by permission of BLACKWELL PUBLISHING – JOURNALS via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Howie, W. O. (2009). Mandatory reporting of medical errors: Crafting policy and integrating it into practice. Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 5(9), 649–654. doi:10.1016/j.nurpra.2009.07.012

John, P. (2003). Is there life after policy streams, advocacy coalitions, and punctuations: Using evolutionary theory to explain policy change? Policy Studies Journal, 31(4), 481–4 98. doi: 10.1111/1541-0072.00039

This article advances the use of evolutionary theory as policy theory. The author proposes that aspects of evolutionary theory such as randomness, competition, and selection be applied to policy theory but cautions that more research regarding its applicability is needed.

Rawat, P., & Morris, J. C. (2016). Kingdon’s “Streams” model at thirty: Still relevant in the 21st century? Politics & Policy, 44(4), 608-638. doi: 10.1111/polp.12168

Russell, G., & Fawcett, J. (2005). The conceptual model for nursing and health policy revisited. Policy, Politics, & Nursing, 6(4), 108–116. doi: 10.1177/1527154405283304

In this article, Russell and Fawcett revise their 2001 conceptual model of nursing and health policy and provide guidelines for nursing-specific research.

Optional Resources

Bardach, E. (2004). Presidential address—The extrapolation problem: How can we learn from the experience of others? Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 23(2), 205. doi: 613545361