The document provides instructions for an assessment requiring students to analyze position papers on a health care issue related to a vulnerable population. Students must explain their position on the issue, the role of an interprofessional team, and evaluate supporting and opposing evidence and positions. The analysis should be 4-6 pages, cite 3-5 supporting and 2-3 opposing sources, and follow APA style formatting. The target population and issue will be used for future assessments to potentially create a new policy.

1. Assessment 1
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Analysis of Position Papers for Vulnerable Populations
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Overview
Develop a 4–6-page position about a specific health care issue
as it relates to a target vulnerable population. Include an
analysis of existing evidence and position papers to help
support your position. Your analysis should also present and
respond to one or more opposing viewpoints.
Note: Each assessment in this course builds on the work you
completed in the previous assessment. Therefore, you must
complete the assessments in this course in the order in which
they are presented.
Position papers are a method to evaluate the most current
evidence and policies related to health care issues. They offer a
way for researchers to explore the views of any number of
organizations around a topic. This can help you to develop your
own position and approach to care around a topic or issue.
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This assessment will focus on analyzing position papers about
an issue related to addiction, chronicity, emotional and mental
health, genetics and genomics, or immunity. Many of these
topics are quickly evolving as technology advances, or as we
attempt to push past stigmas. For example, technology advances
and DNA sequencing provide comprehensive information to
allow treatment to become more targeted and effective for the

2. individual. However as a result, nurses must be able to
understand and teach patients about the impact of this
information. With this great power comes concerns that patient
conditions are protected in an ethical and compassionate
manner.
By successfully completing this assessment, you will
demonstrate your proficiency in the following course
competencies and assessment criteria:
Competency 1: Design evidence-based advanced nursing care
for achieving high-quality population outcomes.
Evaluate the evidence and positions of others that could support
a team's approach to improving the quality and outcomes of care
for a specific issue in a target population.
Evaluate the evidence and positions of others that are contrary
to a team's approach to improving the quality and outcomes of
care for a specific issue in a target population.
Competency 2: Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of
interprofessional interventions in achieving desired population
health outcomes.
Explain the role of the interprofessional team in facilitating
improvements for a specific issue in a target population.
Competency 3: Analyze population health outcomes in terms of

3. their implications for health policy advocacy.
Explain a position with regard to health outcomes for a specific
issue in a target population.
Competency 4: Communicate effectively with diverse
audiences, in an appropriate form and style, consistent with
organizational, professional, and scholarly standards.
Communicate an initial viewpoint regarding a specific issue in a
target population and a synthesis of existing positions in a
logically structured and concise manner, writing content clearly
with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Integrate relevant sources to support assertions, correctly
formatting citations and references using APA style.
Competency Map
CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
Use this online tool to track your performance and progress
through your course.
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ContextPosition papers are a way for individuals, groups, and
organizations to express their views and intentions toward a
specific issue. In health care, many position papers address

4. specific policies, regulations, or other approaches to care. As a
master's-prepared nurse, you should feel empowered to express
and advocate for your own views on policy and care matters.
This is especially important when it comes to populations you
or your organization cares for that are not receiving the quality,
type, or amount of care that they require.
An important skill in creating a position paper or policy
proposal is the ability to analyze and synthesize others' views
about the population or issue of interest to you. By synthesizing
the positive and negative views of an issue, you can become
better equipped to strengthen your own arguments and to
respond to opposing views in an informed and convincing way.
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Questions to ConsiderAs you prepare to complete this
assessment, you may want to think about other related issues to
deepen your understanding or broaden your viewpoint. You are
encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them
with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or
a member of your professional community. Note that these
questions are for your own development and exploration and do
not need to be completed or submitted as part of your
assessment.
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ResourcesMSN Program Journey
The following is a useful map that will guide you as you
continue your MSN program. This map gives you an overview
of all the steps required to prepare for your practicum and to
complete your degree. It also outlines the support that will be
available to you along the way.

5. MSN Program Journey
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Transcript
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Assessment Example
Assessment 1 Example [PDF]
.
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Suggested Resources
The resources provided here are optional. You may use other
resources of your choice to prepare for this assessment;
however, you will need to ensure that they are appropriate,
credible, and valid. The
MSN Program Library Research Guide
can help direct your research, and the Supplemental Resources
and Research Resources, both linked from the left navigation
menu in your courseroom, provide additional resources to help
support you.
Assessment
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2013).
Community health assessment for population health
improvement [PDF]
. Retrieved from
https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/20707
Vila Health: Resources for Topical Research
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6. Transcript
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This interactive simulation will make the most sense if you
view it after Vila Health: Health Challenges in Different
Populations (listed under Pathophysiology, below).
Genetics and Genomics
Haeusermann, T., Greshake, B., Blasimme, A., Irdam, D.,
Richards, M., & Vayena, E. (2017).
Open sharing of genomic data: Who does it and why?
Plos ONE, 12
(5), 1–15.
Wolf, S. M. (2017).
The continuing evolution of ethical standards for genomic
sequencing in clinical care: Restoring patient choice.
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 45
(3), 333–340.
Cheek, D. J., & Howington, L. (2017).
Patient care in the dawn of the genomic age
.
American Nurse Today
,
12
(3) 16–22.
Lea, D. H. (2009).

7. Basic genetics and genomics: A primer for nurses
.
The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing
,
14
(2). Retrieved from
http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarket
place/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol142009/No2M
ay09/Articles-Previous-Topics/Basic-Genetics-and-
Genomics.html
Pathophysiology
Vila Health: Health Challenges in Different Populations
|
Transcript
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This media piece should be viewed before Vila Health:
Resources for Topical Research (listed under Assessment,
above).
Population and Public Health
Edmonds, J. K., Campbell, L. A., & Gilder, R. E. (2016).
Public health nursing practice in the Affordable Care Act era: A
national survey
.
Public Health Nursing, 34
(1), 50–58. Retrieved from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/phn.12286/full

8. Thew, J. (2016).
What a nurse knows about population health
. Retrieved from
http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/nurse-leaders/what-nurse-
knows-about-population-health
Course Resources and Templates
APA Style Paper Template [DOCX]
.
APA Style Paper Tutorial [DOCX]
.
APA Module
Guiding Questions: Analysis of Position Papers for Vulnerable
Populations [DOC]
.
Nursing Masters (MSN) Research Guide
.
Finding Position Papers
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Optional Resources
Position Papers
The following are examples of position papers. You may find
these helpful throughout this assessment. Even if you are not
writing on one of these topics, the following are good examples

9. of the types of resources you should be looking for to support
your work in this assessment.
Bryant, R., Porter, J. S., & Sobota, A. (2015).
APHON/ASPHO policy statement for the transition of patients
with sickle cell disease from pediatric to adult health care
.
Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing
,
32
(6), 355–359.
Chiang, J. L., Kirkman, M. S., Laffel, L. M. B., & Peters, A. L.
(2014).
Type 1 diabetes through the life span: A position statement of
the American Diabetes Association
.
Diabetes Care, 37
(7), 2034–2054. Retrieved from
http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/37/7/2034
The Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. (2015).
Position paper of the Society for Adolescent Health and
Medicine: Medical management of restrictive eating disorders
in adolescents and young adults
.
The Journal of Adolescent Health
,
56
(1), 121–125.
Jacobs, M., Alonso, A. M., Sherin, K. M., Koh, Y., Dhamija,
A., & Lowe, A. L. (2013).
Policies to restrict secondhand smoke exposure: American
College of Preventive Medicine position statement

10. .
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 45
(3), 360–367.
Assessment InstructionsScenario
Pretend you are a member of an interprofessional team that is
attempting to improve the quality of health care and the
outcomes in a vulnerable population. For the first step in your
team's work, you have decided to conduct an analysis of current
position papers that address the issue and population you are
considering.
In your analysis you will note the team's initial views on the
issue in the population as well as the views across a variety of
relevant position papers. You have been tasked with finding the
most current standard of care or evidenced-based practice and
evaluating both the pros and cons of the issue. For the opposing
viewpoints, it is important to discuss how the team could
respond to encourage support. This paper will be presented to a
committee of relevant stakeholders from your care setting and
the community. If it receives enough support, you will be asked
to create a new policy that could be enacted to improve the
outcomes related to your chosen issue and target population.
The care setting, population, and health care issue that you use
for this assessment will be used in the other assessments in this
course. Consider your choice carefully. There are two main
approaches for you to take in selecting the scenario for this
assessment:

11. You may use one of the issues and populations presented in the
Vila Health: Health Challenges in Different Populations and
Vila Health: Resources for Topical Research media pieces. For
this approach, you may consider the population in the context of
the Vila Health care setting, or translate it into the context in
which you currently practice or have had recent experience.
You may select a population and issue that is of interest to you
and set them in the context of your current or desired future
care setting. While you are free to choose any population of
interest, the issue you choose should fall within one of the
following broad categories:
Genetics and genomics.
Sickle cell, asthma, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis.
Immunity.
Type 1 diabetes, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE),
congenital neutropenia syndrome.
Chronicity.
Arthritis, any type of cancer or lung or heart disease, obesity.

12. Addiction.
Abuse of alcohol, prescription drugs, tobacco, illegal
substances.
Emotion and mental health.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, eating
disorders, psychosis.
Note: If you choose the second option, contact the FlexPath
faculty for your section to make sure that your chosen issue and
population will fit within the topic areas for this course.
Instructions
For this assessment you will develop a position summary and an
analysis of relevant position papers on a health care issue in a
chosen population. The bullet points below correspond to the
grading criteria in the scoring guide. Be sure that your
submission addresses all of them. You may also want to read the
Analysis of Position Papers for Vulnerable Populations Scoring
Guide and Guiding Questions: Analysis of Position Papers for
Vulnerable Populations to better understand how each grading
criterion will be assessed.

13. Explain a position with regard to health outcomes for a specific
issue in a target population.
Explain the role of the interprofessional team in facilitating
improvements for a specific issue in a target population.
Evaluate the evidence and positions of others that could support
a team's approach to improving the quality and outcomes of care
for a specific issue in a target population.
Evaluate the evidence and positions of others that are contrary
to a team's approach to improving the quality and outcomes of
care for a specific issue in a target population.
Communicate an initial viewpoint regarding a specific issue in a
target population and a synthesis of existing positions in a
logically structured and concise manner, writing content clearly
with correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Integrate relevant sources to support assertions, correctly
formatting citations and references using APA style.
Example Assessment: You may use the assessment example,
linked in the Assessment Example section of the Resources, to
give you an idea of what a Proficient or higher rating on the
scoring guide would look like.
Additional Requirements
Length of submission: 4–6 double-spaced, typed pages, not
including the title and reference pages. Your plan should be
succinct yet substantive. No abstract is required.
Number of references: Cite a minimum of 3–5 sources of

14. scholarly or professional evidence that support your initial
position on the issue, as well as a minimum of 2–3 sources of
scholarly or professional evidence that express contrary views
or opinions. Resources should be no more than five years old.
APA formatting: Use the APA Style Paper Template linked in
the Resources. An APA Style Paper Tutorial is also provided to
help you in writing and formatting your analysis.