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. Create a detailed narrative script 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.

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.

Instructions

For this assessment:

• Choose the community organization or support group that you plan to address.
• Develop and record a presentation, with typed speaker notes (the script for your voice recording) and audio voice-over recording, intended for that audience. Video is not required.

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.
  • Present a concise overview.
  • Support your main points and conclusions with relevant and credible evidence.