Policy Proposal: Free Mental Health Care for Health Care Workers
Short Paper II: Policy Proposal/Brief (15% or 15 points)
NUR 613 Purpose: Students will propose a health policy based on the issue they presented in Short Paper
I. This proposal/brief will be aimed toward a lawmaking body at the local (county), state or national level. When writing the brief students should see themselves as stakeholders in resolving the problem. Students will use critical thinking skills as they lay out the problem in a concise manner in an effort to get this policy on the agenda. This is the second of three Short Papers that will be written in the course on the same issue/policy. C/O 5
Guidelines: The paper will be no more than two pages long plus title & reference pages.
I. Executive summary of the issue to be addressed (approx. 2 paragraphs)
a. Clear statement of the issue.
b. Briefly explain the issue. This section is meant to capture your lawmaker’s attention.
II. Scope of Issue & Context (approximately 2 paragraphs)
a. Who is most affected (scope), how far spread is the issue etc.?
b. Effects of the problem this issue on health, healthcare delivery, safety & quality of care (whatever the context is). Each issue will have a different context and scope. Present epidemiological statistics (morbidity, mortality etc.) demographics, trends etc.
c. Who are the key stakeholders? This section is meant to present the enormity of the issue and the urgency to address. It should not be dramatic or biased however.
III. Key Regulatory & Legislative History (approximately 2 paragraphs)
a. Present any existing policy that is addressing this issue. (If no legislation exists, explain what is being done to address issue other than policy).
b. Explain how existing legislation is not working (use policy language). Present at what phase of the policy cycle has it failed? If not legislation – how are other efforts failing?
IV. Recommendation: Proposed policy option (approx. 2 paragraphs)
a. Clear concise policy statement with rationale
b. Three or four bulleted points of key areas of your proposed policy
V. Summary – One or two sentences pulling the brief together.
Resources: Cite as appropriate for the section. Some areas will be your own ideas, such as the proposed policy and will not require a citation. Use scholarly references. This is not a reflective paper however, therefore do not write with personal pronouns.
VI. APA (the issue or proposed policy title should be the title of the paper on title page and brought to the first page of the paper’s text. APA citations, references page, level I headings, grammar and spelling required. No quotes.
Policy Proposal: Free Mental Health Care for Health Care Workers
Student’s Name
Institution
Course Number and Name
Instructor’s Name
Date
Policy Proposal: Free Mental Health Care for Health Care Workers
* Executive Summary
Access to mental health services is one of the major challenges experienced by health care workers. According to Sovold et al. (2021), health care workers experience many stressors and have significant psychological burdens and needs arising from the nature of their work, which threatens their mental well-being.
It is important to enhance health care workers' access to mental health care services. When health care professionals are in a good mental state, they are more likely to provide safe and quality care to patients. This is why the policy brief proposes providing free mental health care services for all health care workers to improve their mental well-being.
* Scope of Issue and Context
Health care workers experience many stressors in their work. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2020), many healthcare workers are more likely to develop mental health issues due to their exposure to human suffering, high professional demands, and financial strains. In addition, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health issues among healthcare workers in the local and international contexts. Poor mental health negatively affects health care workers' efficiency, professionalism, and ability to deliver quality care (Sovold et al., 2021).
According to Saragih et al. (2021), healthcare workers' global prevalence of mental health issues is 49%. In the US, Kirzinger et al. (2021) reveal that about 62% of healthcare workers have experienced mental distress due to the pandemic, and about 18% reveal that they needed mental health services but could not access them. Some of the barriers to access include affordability and lack of time. The prevalence of mental distress is higher among health care workers aged between 18 and 29 years (Kirzinger et al., 2021). The stakeholders needed to resolve these problems are policymakers and healthcare workers.
* Key Regulatory and Legislative History
To addr...