NURS 610 Summation Paper – Health System Project Proposal

The document, will be scanned using the software Turnitin. Before the assignment can be uploaded, you will be required to agree with the plagiarism pledge. If you have any questions about this process, please refer to Canvas instructions for further clarification.

This paper is to be a summation, which is sometimes defined as a summary or argument reviewing the principal points made and expressing conclusions. This paper is to be a summation of the key points of the topics explored in assigned and recommended references (readings, videos, etc.), as well as in our weekly discussion postings in Canvas. Recall that you were given a semester-long scenario: 

You have been hired by a health system, which includes a large hospital and several outpatient centers located in different communities. This health system has never hired advanced practice nurses (APNs) before, but it now feels that the only way it will survive the current direction of health care is to incorporate APNs into its hospital and outpatient centers as soon as possible. You have been hired to be the project manager to help the health system with this endeavor. The health system understands that you are not yet an expert on all the elements of advanced practice nursing and how APN practice fits into the current U. S. health care system. Your job is to learn as much as you can about APNs and health care in general, and as you acquire this information, you will be sharing with the rest of the class what you have learned and how you think that information can be applied to your project with this health system. Your first task is to give the health system a name of your choosing, but try to avoid a name that is already taken by a currently existing hospital or system. Obviously, drawing from your experience with your current and/or previous employers is a logical approach, but do avoid “naming names.”

It was also noted that any of you could be hired as the project manager whether your education is that of a health administrator, nursing educator, or an APN, since this is a project that could be handled by someone with any of these degrees.

This paper is to take the form of a final project proposal—although you must maintain strict adherence to APA format including a title page, abstract, citations within the body of the document, and a reference list.

The “outline” for this paper will be the topics that were contained in the weekly discussion questions.  It will be a challenge to summarize and organize the volumes of material that you have acquired over the semester; not every topic will deserve equal attention in this paper. Your task, therefore, it to consider what the senior leaders of a health system really need to know in order to create positions for APNs that will help the organization provide quality, accessible, and cost-effective care. This paper should not reiterate platitudes about nursing doctrine; rather, it should address the expected realities of health care in the near and distant future and how effective utilization of APNs might ensure a health system’s success in dealing with those realities.

REMEMBER: The target audience for this paper is the senior/executive leadership of your organization, not the course faculty; therefore, you do not need to explain everything you learned about the U.S. health system that they would already know (probably better than you); see the notes in the criteria below for further explanation.  But you do need to provide enough detail to help the senior leaders understand the unique aspects of employing APNs, as well as how APN practice might fit into the business model of the organization within the specific context of your state and community.   Remember to address whether or not you will use all four types of APNs and whether PAs will be in the team.  The paper should be a maximum of 15 pages—title page, abstract, or reference list do NOT count toward the page requirement.

Please note that APA format requires (section) level headings. Minimally, there should be headings at levels 1 & 2, using the criteria below as the names for those headings. See page 62 in your APA manual for correct formatting of level headings.  The order of those headings should be in the order that is listed below. (Note: It is always advisable to follow the order of a criteria list provided by faculty because it facilitates the grading process. This manner of organization applies to grant writing, too!) Appropriate subheadings (i.e., levels 3, 4, or 5 are acceptable, but not necessarily required. It will be your decision to ascertain the number of headings needed to help you organize your thoughts as well as enhance its readability. Scholarly papers are not novels; it is vital that such papers be written in clear, precise, and logical fashion.

The paper is worth 140 points and will be graded according to the following criteria:

1. Overall scholarly tone, adherence to APA format, including grammar, punctuation, spelling, sentence construction, etc. Minimum of five references not including your text. (10 points)

2. Health care system BRIEFLY described, including the state located and which type of APNs would be added to the system, what type of services they would deliver, as well if PAs would be added (and what services they would deliver). (10 points)

3. Ability to convey the following issues involved when employing APNs in health systems:

a. What education/certification is required? (Do not copy and paste elements of the practice act; just summarize the basics.  Also, it is not necessary to list the names of certifying bodies.) (10 points)

b. Pertinent details of scope of practice of how each APN specialty would be used specifically in your health system.   (Again, do not copy and paste elements of the practice act; just summarize the basics.  Do not include history of APN specialties and do not explain the legislative/regulatory process. Just explain the basics of what constitutes legal practice in your state.  At this point, only discuss those types of APNs that will be used in the system.)  (20 points)

c. What are the elements of health system credentialing and privileging of APNs? Including whether APNs will have admitting privileges? (Do not explain the general issue of credentialing and privileging; simply explain what you expect your system would need to do.) (15 points)

d. What are the quality/safety issues of hiring APNs? Quality and safety are two interrelated but separate issues. Explain the quality and safety issues and how you plan to address these issues? (15 points)

e. Explain the basic liability/risk management issues when hiring APN’s. How will you prevent or avert liability and risk issues? (Do not explain the elements of ethical principles and theory; just focus on the unique aspects of liability/risk management for APNs.)  (20 points)

f. Explain how APNs fit into the interdisciplinary/interprofessional team. Can an APN lead an interprofessional team? Explain how APNs collaborate within this team. (20 points)

g. Explain the economic impact of using APNs in a health system. Describe how using APNs will benefit your health system. Do not explain the basics of Medicare and Medicaid or other reimbursement, just what elements of these programs are specific or unique to APNs and how reimbursement.) Include how APN care impacts healthcare cost. (20 points)