NURS 6050 / NURS 8050
Policy and Advocacy for Population Health
ASSIGNMENT: Legislation Grid and Testimony/Advocacy Statement
Week 4 Assignment | Due: Day 7 (Sunday) | Points: 100
Assignment Overview
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 in shaping health policy.
Many nurses encounter daily experiences that motivate them to take on an advocacy role in hopes of impacting policies, laws, or regulations that address key healthcare issues. Doing so means entering the less familiar world of policy and politics. While many nurses do not initially feel prepared to operate in this space effectively, the reward is the real opportunity to shape and influence future health policy at local, state, and federal levels.
In this assignment, you will select a proposed (not enacted) health-related bill currently before Congress and complete two interconnected tasks: a structured Legislation Grid and a Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement. Together, these products will sharpen your ability to analyze legislative intent and practice articulate, evidence-based health advocacy.
To Prepare
- Review the Learning Resources on policy, legislation, and the nurse’s role in advocacy.
- Navigate to the congressional bill-tracking resources provided in your Learning Resources (e.g., Congress.gov, GovTrack.us) to identify a health-related bill that has been proposed but NOT yet enacted into law.
- Select ONE bill that relates to a healthcare issue relevant to your practice area or population of interest.
- Note the bill number, full title, sponsor, current status, and any committee or hearing activity.
- Consider the bill’s proponents, opponents, and the populations it addresses before beginning your written work.
Suggested Resources for Finding Proposed Bills:
- gov — https://www.congress.gov
- us — https://www.govtrack.us
- Kaiser Family Foundation Health Policy — https://www.kff.org
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — https://www.rwjf.org
The Assignment
Complete BOTH parts below. The full assignment is approximately 2 pages in length: 1 page for the Legislation Grid (table format using the template below) and 1 page for the Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement (written prose). Refer to the Rubric before submitting.
Part 1: Legislation Grid (1 Page — Use the Template Below)
Based on the health-related bill you selected, complete the Legislation Grid. Your grid must address each of the following dimensions clearly and concisely within the table cells provided. Do not write in paragraph form in the grid — use bullets or brief phrases for each cell.
Your grid must address:
- Determine the legislative intent of the bill you have reviewed.
- Identify the proponents and opponents of the bill and their key arguments.
- Identify the target populations addressed by the bill.
- Identify where in the legislative process the bill currently stands (e.g., introduced, referred to committee, in hearings, passed one chamber, etc.).
LEGISLATION GRID TEMPLATE
| CATEGORY | YOUR RESPONSE |
| Bill Name / Number | |
| Bill Sponsor & Party | |
| Date Introduced | |
| Legislative Intent (What is the bill designed to do?) | |
| Target Population(s) | |
| Proponents of the Bill (Who supports it and why?) | |
| Opponents of the Bill (Who opposes it and why?) | |
| Current Status (Where is it in the legislative process?) | |
| Committee(s) / Hearings | |
| Potential Impact on Nursing Practice |
Note: Add rows as needed. Keep responses concise — use bullet points within cells.
Part 2: Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement (1 Page — Written Prose)
Based on the health-related bill you selected, develop a 1-page Legislation Testimony/Advocacy Statement. This is a formal written testimony, as if you were presenting before a legislative committee or public hearing. Write in the first person, using clear, professional language. Structure your statement so that it reads as a coherent argument — not a bulleted list.
Your testimony/advocacy statement must address:
- Advocate a clear position for or against the bill — state your position explicitly in your opening paragraph.
- Provide evidence-based arguments in support of your position. Use data, research, and clinical examples to strengthen your case.
- Describe how you would address the opposition to your position. Be specific — anticipate the strongest counterarguments and explain how you would respond to them with evidence and examples.
- Connect your advocacy to nursing’s professional and ethical obligations to promote health equity, patient safety, and population health.
- Conclude with a clear call to action directed at policymakers.
Length: Approximately 1 page (400–600 words), double-spaced, APA 7th edition format.
Citation & Reference Requirements
You are required to draw on a minimum of 4 references in your testimony and grid combined:
- At least 2 outside resources (peer-reviewed journal articles, government reports, or credible organizational publications from 2018 to 2026).
- At least 2–3 course-specific resources from the Learning Resources provided in the module.
All citations must follow APA 7th edition format. Include a reference list at the end of your Testimony/Advocacy Statement page. In-text citations must be used throughout the testimony where evidence and data are referenced.
Submission Instructions
- Combine both Part 1 and Part 2 into a single Word document (.docx).
- Part 1 (Legislation Grid) should appear on page 1. Part 2 (Testimony/Advocacy Statement) should begin on page 2.
- Apply APA 7th edition formatting: Times New Roman 12pt or Arial 11pt, double-spaced (testimony section), 1-inch margins.
- Include a title page with your name, course number, instructor name, and submission date.
- Submit via the Blackboard/Canvas Assignment link by Day 7 (Sunday) 11:59 PM.
Grading Rubric
Review each criterion below before submitting. Your assignment will be graded as follows:
| Criterion | Excellent (90–100%) | Proficient (80–89%) | Developing (70–79%) | Beginning (<70%) | Points |
| Part 1: Legislation Grid — Completeness & Accuracy of All Dimensions | All fields completed with accurate, specific, well-sourced content. | Most fields complete; minor gaps or inaccuracies. | Several fields incomplete or vague. | Grid largely incomplete or inaccurate. | 30 |
| Part 2: Clarity & Strength of Advocacy Position | Position is clear, compelling, and explicitly stated from the outset. | Position is clear but arguments could be stronger. | Position is present but underdeveloped. | Position is unclear or absent. | 25 |
| Part 2: Addressing Opposition — Specificity & Use of Examples | Opposition addressed with specific, evidence-based counterarguments and examples. | Opposition addressed but examples are general. | Opposition acknowledged but not substantively addressed. | Opposition not addressed. | 20 |
| Use of Evidence & Citations (min. 2 outside + 2–3 course resources) | All required sources used; cited correctly in APA 7th edition throughout. | Sources mostly adequate; minor citation errors. | Fewer sources than required; citations inconsistent. | Few or no sources; citations missing. | 15 |
| Writing Quality, APA Format & Professionalism | Clear, professional, well-structured writing; APA formatting consistently applied. | Mostly clear writing; minor APA or formatting issues. | Writing is adequate but unpolished; several APA errors. | Writing is unclear; APA formatting largely absent. | 10 |
| TOTAL | 100 | ||||
Sample Answer Writing Guide
Sample Legislation Grid Entry — For Reference Only
The Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act (proposed in multiple recent sessions as H.R. 1567 / S. 1567) represents one of the most debated health workforce bills in recent Congressional history, and it serves as an excellent choice for this assignment. The bill’s legislative intent is to mandate minimum nurse-to-patient staffing ratios in acute care hospitals that participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs, requiring one registered nurse for every four patients in general medical-surgical units and higher ratios in intensive care settings. Proponents — including the American Nurses Association (ANA) and National Nurses United — argue that federally mandated ratios directly reduce adverse patient events, nurse burnout, and turnover, citing Aiken et al. (2014), who demonstrated that each additional patient per nurse was associated with a 7% increase in the likelihood of patient death within 30 days of admission (https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60preprocessed-1). Opponents, primarily the American Hospital Association (AHA) and rural hospital coalitions, contend that rigid federal mandates ignore regional workforce shortages and could force smaller facilities to reduce beds or close units altogether, disproportionately harming underserved communities. The bill was last referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP Committee), where it remains without a floor vote, reflecting the political tension between patient safety advocates and healthcare facility administrators over implementation feasibility.
Study Bay Notes
Nurse advocacy in the legislative space is no longer optional — it is increasingly recognized as a core professional competency. The American Nurses Association’s Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice (4th ed., 2021) explicitly lists advocacy as a standard of professional performance, requiring nurses to influence policy that promotes health and prevents illness. Research by Fyffe (2009) and more recent scholarship from Brokaw (2016) document that nurses who engage in formal advocacy activities report higher levels of professional efficacy and are more likely to remain in the profession long-term, addressing both the advocacy gap and the retention crisis simultaneously. The World Health Organization’s State of the World’s Nursing 2020 report reinforced this call, identifying policy engagement as essential to maximizing the nursing workforce’s contribution to universal health coverage. Legislative literacy — the ability to read, analyze, and respond to proposed legislation — is therefore not peripheral to nursing education but central to preparing graduates who can close the gap between clinical evidence and enacted policy.
Write a 1-page Legislation Grid and a 1-page (400–600 word) Testimony/Advocacy Statement on a proposed health bill for NURS 6050 Week 4, using at least 4 APA 7th edition references.
Suggested References / Learning Materials
The following peer-reviewed and authoritative sources align with the content of this assignment and are published between 2018 and 2026. All are verifiable online.
References (APA 7th Edition)
American Nurses Association. (2021). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (4th ed.). ANA. https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nursing-excellence/official-position-statements/
Fyffe, T. (2009). Nursing shaping and influencing health and social care policy. Journal of Nursing Management, 17(6), 698–706. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2834.2009.01016.x
Mason, D. J., Gardner, D. B., Outlaw, F. H., & O’Grady, E. T. (2020). Policy and politics in nursing and health care (8th ed.). Elsevier. https://www.elsevier.com/books/policy-and-politics-in-nursing-and-health-care/mason/978-0-323-55198-0
Milstead, J. A., & Short, N. M. (2019). Health policy and politics: A nurse’s guide (6th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning. https://www.jblearning.com/catalog/productdetails/9781284157595
World Health Organization. (2020). State of the world’s nursing 2020: Investing in education, jobs and leadership. WHO. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240003279
