New construction projects begin with a design phase, where architects blueprint the vision complete with design details. They work in collaboration with builders who use the designs to prepare the appropriate strategies, tools, and materials to bring the vision to reality. You are both architect and builder of your success. You have started to blueprint…
Program/policy evaluation is a valuable tool that can help strengthen the quality of programs/policies and improve outcomes for the populations they serve. Program/policy evaluation answers basic questions about program/policy effectiveness. It involves collecting and analyzing information about program/policy activities, characteristics, and outcomes. This information can be used to improve program services or policy initiatives, ultimately.…
Regardless of political affiliation, every citizen has a stake in healthcare policy decisions. Hence, it is little wonder why healthcare items become such high-profile components of presidential agendas. It is also little wonder why they become such hotly debated agenda items. Consider a topic that rises to the presidential level. How did each of the…
Nursing is a very highly regulated profession. There are over 100 boards of nursing and national nursing associations throughout the United States and its territories. Their existence helps regulate, inform, and promote the nursing profession. With such numbers, it can be difficult to distinguish between BONs and nursing associations, and overwhelming to consider various benefits…
In marketing, a successful branding strategy is one of the most important contributors to organizational success. A solid branding strategy can help add visibility and credibility to a company’s products. Similarly, nurse-scholars can build a personal brand to add visibility and credibility to their work. You can begin building your brand by developing and maintaining…
In Module 4 Discussion, you considered how professional nurses could become involved in policy-making. A critical component of any policy design is the evaluation of the results. How comfortable are you with the thought of becoming involved with such matters? Some nurses may be hesitant to get involved with policy evaluation. The preference may be…
It may seem to you that healthcare has been a national topic of debate among political leaders for as long as you can remember. Healthcare has been a policy item and a topic of debate not only in recent times but as far back as the administration of the second U.S. president, John Adams. In…
As a nurse, how often have you thought to yourself, If I had anything to do about it, things would work a little differently? Increasingly, nurses are beginning to realize that they do, in fact, have a role and a voice. Many nurses encounter daily experiences that motivate them to take on an advocacy role…
When was the last time you read Meditation XVII of John Donne’s Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions? Unless you are a student of seventeeth-century poetry, you may not be all that familiar with this piece. However, you may be much more familiar with one of its well-known phrases: “No man is an island…”. As you begin…
Nurse-scholars have a significant obligation to their community as well. Their work must have academic and professional integrity. Their efforts are designed to add to the body of knowledge, advance the profession, and ultimately help in the care of patients. Work that lacks integrity is subject to erode quickly or worse. Fortunately, there are strategies…