NURS 6050 Assignment: Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet
NURS 6050 Assignment: Agenda Comparison Grid and Fact Sheet
It may seem to you that healthcare has been a national topic of debate among political leaders for as long as you can remember.
Healthcare has been a policy item and a topic of debate not only in recent times but as far back as the administration of the second U.S. president, John Adams. In 1798, Adams signed legislation requiring that 20 cents per month of a sailor’s paycheck be set aside for covering their medical bills. This represented the first major piece of U.S. healthcare legislation, and the topic of healthcare has been woven into presidential agendas and political debate ever since.NURS 6050 Assignment
As a healthcare professional, you may be called upon to provide expertise, guidance and/or opinions on healthcare matters as they are debated for inclusion into new policy. You may also be involved in planning new organizational policy and responses to changes in legislation. For all of these reasons you should be prepared to speak to national healthcare issues making the news.
In this Assignment, you will analyze recent presidential healthcare agendas. You also will prepare a fact sheet to communicate the importance of a healthcare issue and the impact on this issue of recent or proposed policy.
To Prepare:
Review the agenda priorities of the current/sitting U.S. president and at least one previous presidential administration.
Select an issue related to healthcare that was addressed by two U.S. presidential administrations (current and previous).
Consider how you would communicate the importance of a healthcare issue to a legislator/policymaker or a member of their staff for inclusion on an agenda.
Use your Week 1 Discussion post to help with this assignment.
The Assignment: (1- to 2-page Comparison Grid, 1-Page Analysis, and 1-page narrative) with a title page. This is an APA paper. Use 2-3 course resources and at least 2 outside resources.
Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid
Use the Agenda Comparison Grid Template found in the Learning Resources and complete the Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid based on the current/sitting U.S. president and the previous president, and their agendas related to the population health concern you selected. Be sure to address the following:
Identify and provide a brief description of the population health concern you selected.
Explain how each of the presidential administrations approached the issue.
Identify the allocation of resources that the presidents dedicated to this issue.
Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis
Using the information you recorded in Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid on the template, complete the Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis portion of the template, by addressing the following:
Which administrative agency (like HHS, CDC, FDA, OHSA) would most likely be responsible for helping you address the healthcare issue you selected and why is this agency the most helpful for the issue?
How do you think your selected healthcare issue might get on the presidential agenda? How does it stay there?
An entrepreneur/champion/sponsor helps to move the issue forward. Who would you choose to be the entrepreneur/champion/sponsor (this can be a celebrity, a legislator, an agency director, or others) of the healthcare issue you selected and why would this person be a good entrepreneur/ champion/sponsor? An example is Michael J. Fox is champion for Parkinson’s disease.
Part 3: Fact Sheet
Using the information recorded on the template in Parts 1 and 2, develop a 1-page fact sheet that you could use to communicate with a policymaker/legislator or a member of their staff for this healthcare issue. Be sure to address the following:
Summarize why this healthcare issue is important and should be included in the agenda for legislation.
Justify the role of the nurse in agenda setting for healthcare issues.
NURS 6050 Assignment Answer
Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid
Use this Agenda Comparison Grid to document information about the population health/healthcare issue you selected and the presidential agendas. By completing this grid, you will develop a more in-depth understanding of your selected issue and how you might position it politically based on the presidential agendas. You will use the information in the Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid to complete the remaining Part 2 and Part 3 of your Assignment.
- Identify the Population Health concern you selected: COVID-19 Pandemic
- Describe the Population Health concern you selected: The COVID-19 pandemic is a global public health concern that began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It quickly spread to the United States, with the first reported case in January 2020. Former President Donald Trump declared it a public health emergency on January 31, 2020. Efforts to combat the pandemic have included measures like isolation, travel restrictions, mask mandates, and vaccination campaigns (CDC, 2021).
Administration (President Name): Donald Trump | Joe Biden
- Explain how each of the two presidential administrations approached the issue:
Donald Trump: President Trump initially declared the COVID-19 outbreak a public health emergency and restricted flights from China. However, his initial response faced criticism for being slow and inadequate in preparing the healthcare system. Critics accused him of underestimating the virus’s severity. His administration allocated $8.3 billion on March 6, 2020, to combat the disease. Under his leadership, the federal government purchased significant quantities of medical equipment and invoked the Defense Production Act of 1950. The Trump Administration chose to leave the responsibility of responding to the pandemic with the states and had the federal government serve as a backup and supplier of last resort, reflecting federalism and decentralization in the U.S. public health. There was a lack of a coordinated national plan and federal guidelines, contributing to the pandemic’s worsening. Trump’s remarks and actions, like questioning mask usage and attributing high cases to increased testing, eroded public trust in his ability to manage the pandemic (Lancet, 2020; Baccini et al., 2019).
Joe Biden: President Biden continued the fight against COVID-19 by establishing a White House COVID-19 Task Force, declaring national emergencies, signing emergency spending bills to provide funds, and activating the Defense Production Act to expand production and allocation of supplies. “Operation Warp Speed” was launched to expedite vaccine development and distribution. Supporting Medicaid programs and increasing vaccination rates were priorities in the battle against the pandemic. Under Biden’s leadership, 67% of U.S. adults had received at least one vaccine dose by July 4, 2021 (Baccini et al., 2019).NURS 6050 Assignment
- Identify the allocations of resources that the current and previous presidents dedicated to this issue:
- Donald Trump: President Trump dedicated financial resources to purchase medical equipment to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Joe Biden: President Biden allocated financial resources for the purchase of medical equipment and vaccines for U.S. citizens.
Part 2: Agenda Comparison Grid Analysis
Using the information you recorded in Part 1: Agenda Comparison Grid, complete the following to document information about the population health/healthcare issue you selected.
In Part 1 of the Agenda Comparison Grid, the responses detailed how the Trump and Biden administrations approached the COVID-19 pandemic, including the measures they took and resources allocated. In Part 2, the analysis of these approaches is provided.NURS 6050 Assignment
- How did each president’s approach align with or differ from their party’s political values and agendas?
Donald Trump: President Trump’s approach to the COVID-19 pandemic reflected his administration’s preference for limited federal intervention, emphasizing states’ responsibilities. This approach aligned with the Republican Party’s values of limited government involvement in healthcare and a preference for states’ rights. It favored market-driven solutions and local control (Neundorf & Pardos-Prado, 2021). However, critics argued that the lack of a coordinated national strategy, mixed messaging, and insufficient allocation of federal resources contributed to the pandemic’s negative impact (Lancet, 2020).
Joe Biden: President Biden’s approach represented a shift towards more federal involvement in healthcare. It aligns with the Democratic Party’s values of expanded government involvement in healthcare and increased federal funding for public health initiatives. His administration implemented a coordinated national strategy to combat the pandemic, emphasizing public health measures, vaccination campaigns, and financial support (Baccini et al., 2019).
- How do you think each party’s values and agendas influenced the approach to the issue?
The Republican Party’s values of limited government intervention, market-driven solutions, and state-level control influenced the Trump administration’s approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. This approach aimed to avoid overreliance on federal government actions and emphasized states’ responsibilities and flexibility. However, the decentralized approach faced criticism for contributing to a lack of coordination in pandemic response (Baccini et al., 2019).
Conversely, the Democratic Party’s values of expanded government involvement in healthcare and increased federal funding for public health initiatives influenced the Biden administration’s response. The emphasis on public health measures, financial support, and the coordinated national strategy reflected the party’s commitment to addressing public health crises through federal action (Lancet, 2020).NURS 6050 Assignment
- Based on your analysis, what is your opinion on the two approaches?
The analysis reveals that both approaches had their strengths and weaknesses. The Trump administration’s approach, aligned with Republican values, aimed to prioritize states’ flexibility and avoid excessive federal intervention. However, this decentralized approach faced challenges in coordinating a national response, leading to mixed messaging and a delayed response in the pandemic’s early stages.
On the other hand, the Biden administration’s approach, in line with Democratic values, focused on a more centralized and coordinated response. This approach enabled the rapid distribution of vaccines and a clearer national strategy. However, critics argued that it might involve more significant federal intervention and spending.
Overall, the effectiveness of each approach in managing the COVID-19 pandemic is a matter of perspective. It depends on the importance one places on federal involvement, coordination, and the balance between state and federal responsibilities.NURS 6050 Assignment
This analysis underscores the role of political values and agendas in shaping the response to a critical public health issue and the potential implications of those values for public health outcomes.NURS 6050 Assignment
