Ethical and Policy Factors in Care Coordination

Ethical and Policy Factors in Care Coordination
Ethical and policy factors intersect to promote the required interaction between nurses and patients in care provision. Besides their instrumental role in enabling health care providers to meet the desired health outcomes, ethics are central to ensuring coordination and continuum of care in health care facilities. In the broader health practice, government-based policies and state provisions influence care coordination for patients and communities. As central players in the health practice, nurses’ mandate and conduct are regulated by ethical standards and policies. Since ethics and policy guidelines apply to all nurses irrespective of where they work, knowledge of factors applicable in care coordination is vital in a nursing home.
Government Policies and Coordination of Care
—The US health care system is policy-based.
—Medicare and Medicaid are among the significant policy frameworks.
—Others include VHA and SCHIP.
—Relevance: regulating government finances (Synovitz & Larson, 2018).
—Regular policy updates helps to reduce illness, disability, and illness burdens.
For a long time, several federal policies have greatly influenced the US health care system. Medicare and Medicaid have been among the main policies significantly affecting care coordination. Other programs with a significant impact include the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and State Children’s Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP). To a huge extent, these policies influence the coordination of care by ensuring that the finances that government allocates to support health care through different programs are spent as expected (Synovitz & Larson, 2018). To improve the desired outcomes, the government implements and update policies regularly to help reduce the illness, disability, and injury burdens.
Assessment 2: Ethical and Policy Factors in Care Coordination
Select a community organization or group that you feel would be interested in learning about ethical and policy issues that affect the coordination of care. Then, develop and record a 10–12-slide, 20-minute presentation, with audio, intended for that audience. Create a detailed narrative script or speakers notes for your presentation, 4-5 pages in length.
As coordinators of care, nurses must be aware of the code of ethics for nurses and health policy issues that affect the coordination of care within the context of the community. To help patients navigate the continuum of care, nurses must be proficient at interpreting and applying the code of ethics for nurses and health policy, specifically, the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Being knowledgeable about ethical and policy issues helps ensure that care coordinators are upholding ethical standards and navigating policy issues that affect patient care.
This assessment provides an opportunity for you to develop a presentation for a local community organization of your choice, which provides an overview of ethical standards and relevant policy issues that affect the coordination of care. Completing this assessment will strengthen your understanding of ethical issues and policies related to the coordination and continuum of care, and will empower you to be a stronger advocate and nursing professional.
Ethical and Policy Factors in Care Coordination
It would be an excellent choice to complete the Vila Health: Ethical Decision Making activity prior to developing the presentation. The activity provides a helpful update on the ethical principles that will help with success in this assessment.
Demonstration of Proficiency
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the course competencies through the following assessment scoring guide criteria:
Competency 4: Defend decisions based on the code of ethics for nursing.
Assess the impact of the code of ethics for nurses on the coordination and continuum of care.
Competency 5: Explain how health care policies affect patient-centered care.
Explain how governmental policies related to the health and/or safety of a community affect the coordination of care.
Identify national, state, and local policy provisions that raise ethical questions or dilemmas for care coordination.
Competency 6: Apply professional, scholarly communication strategies to lead patient-centered care.
Communicate key ethical and policy issues in a presentation affecting the coordination and continuum of care for a selected community organization or support group. Either speaker notes or audio voice-over are included.
Preparation
Your nurse manager at the community care center is well connected and frequently speaks to a variety of community organizations and groups. She has noticed the good work you are doing in your new care coordination role and respects your speaking and presentation skills. Consequently, she thought that an opportunity to speak publicly about contemporary issues in care coordination would be beneficial for your career and has suggested reaching out to a community organization or support group to gauge their interest in hearing from you, as a care center representative, on a topic of interest to both you and your prospective audience.
You have agreed that this is a good idea and have decided to research a community organization or support group that might be interested in learning about ethical and policy issues related to the coordination of care. Your manager has suggested the following community organizations and support groups, but acknowledges that the choice is yours.
Homeless shelters.
Local religious groups.
Nursing homes.
Local community organizations (Rotary Club or Kiwanis Club).
To prepare for this assessment, you may wish to:
Research your selected community organization or support group.
Review the Code of Ethics for Nurses With Interpretive Statements and associated health policy issues, specifically, the ACA.
Review the assessment instructions and scoring guide to ensure you understand the work you will be asked to complete.
Allocate sufficient time to rehearse your presentation before recording the final version for submission.
Note: Remember that you can submit all, or a portion of, your draft presentation to Smarthinking Tutoring for feedback, before you submit the final version for this assessment. If you plan on using this free service, be mindful of the turnaround time of 24–48 hours for receiving feedback.
Recording Equipment Setup and Testing
Check that your audio speaker and PowerPoint software are working properly. You can record audio directly to your slides, using PowerPoint or other presentation software.
Note: Technical support about the use of PowerPoint, including voice recording and speaker notes, can be found on Campus’s Microsoft Office Software page.
If using Kaltura, refer to the Using Kaltura tutorial for directions on recording and uploading your presentation in the courseroom.
Note: If you require the use of assistive technology or alternative communication methods to participate in this activity, please contact [email protected] to request accommodations.
Instructions
For this assessment:
Choose the community organization or support group that you plan to address.
Develop a PowerPoint with typed speaker notes (the script for your voice recording) and audio voice-over recording, intended for that audience. Video is not required.
Note: PowerPoint has a feature to type the speaker notes directly into the presentation. You are encouraged to use that feature or you may choose to submit a separate document. See Microsoft Office Software for technical support about the use of PowerPoint, including voice recording and speaker notes.
For this assessment, develop your presentation slides and speaker notes, then record your presentation. You are not required to deliver your presentation to an actual audience.
Presentation Format and Length
You may use PowerPoint (recommended) or other suitable presentation software to create your slides and add your voice over. If you elect to use an application other than PowerPoint, check with your faculty to avoid potential file compatibility issues.
Be sure that your slide deck includes the following slides:
Title slide.
Presentation title.
Your name.
Date.
Course number and title.
References (at the end of your presentation).
Your slide deck should consist of 10–12 slides, not including a title and references slide with typed speaker notes and audio voice over. Your presentation should not exceed 20 minutes.
Create a detailed narrative script for your presentation, approximately 4–5 pages in length.
Supporting Evidence
Cite 3–5 credible sources from peer-reviewed journals or professional industry publications to support your presentation. Include your source citations on a references page appended to your narrative script.
Grading Requirements
The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading criteria in the Ethical and Policy Factors in Care Coordination Scoring Guide, so be sure to address each point. Read the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed.
Explain how governmental policies related to the health and/or safety of the community affect the coordination of care.
Provide examples of a specific policy affecting the organization or group.
Refer to the assessment resources for help in locating relevant policies.
Be sure influential policies include the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA).
Identify national, state, and local policy provisions that raise ethical questions or dilemmas for care coordination.
What are the implications and consequences of specific policy provisions?
What evidence do you have to support your conclusions?
Assess the impact of the code of ethics for nurses on the coordination and continuum of care.
Consider the factors that contribute to health, health disparities, and access to services.
Consider the social determinants of health identified in Healthy People 2020 as a framework for your assessment.
Provide evidence to support your conclusions.
Communicate key ethical and policy issues in a presentation affecting the coordination and continuum of care for a selected community organization or support group. Either speaker notes or audio voice-over are included for a proficient score; both speaker notes and the audio voice over are included for a distinguished score.
Present a concise overview.
Support your main points and conclusions with relevant and credible evidence.
Additional Requirements
Before submitting your assessment, proofread your presentation slides and speaker notes to minimize errors that could distract readers and make it more difficult for them to focus on the substance of your presentation.
Portfolio Prompt: Save your presentation to your ePortfolio. Submissions to the ePortfolio will be part of your final Capstone course.