D 025 Clinical Practice Experience (CPE): Advocacy Action Plan and Inter Professional Team Development

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Clinical Practice Experience (CPE): Advocacy Action Plan and Interprofessional Team Development

Clinical practice experience ( CPE ) attention centers on the necessary knowledge and skills to be ready to develop advanced nursing practice, namely, advocacy and interprofessional collaboration (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2023). This analysis shows that there is a pressing need to establish interprofessional teams and an advocacy action plan to enhance the health of populations. Phase 1 is concerned with health issues, advocacy promotion, and social determinants of health and phase 2 reflects on forming and enabling effective healthcare teams. With these experiences, development of mature leadership, communication, and policy engagement skills can be developed in the developing nurse professionals. Such CPE action would help the nurse to facilitate health equity and enhance health care systems at a few levels.

Phase 1: Advocacy Action Plan

Informing and instigating actions and leadership are major elements of advanced nursing practice, and the advocacy action plan emphasizes on these factors to enhance health outcomes and equity among the population (Hofmeyer, 2020). Stage 1 is dedicated to the duties of the mature professional nurse related to the identification of health concerns, the examination of the possible causes, and the intervention at the individual level, within the community, and at the policy level to introduce effective solutions. That way, nurses can develop essential knowledge in the field of population health, social determinants of health, and the importance of interprofessional collaboration (Olson, 2020). This phase highlights the importance of evidence-based practice, policy involvement and ongoing professional learning.

Population Health and the Role of Healthy People 2030 Social Determinants of Health

Population health is about the health of a population, and the distribution of health outcomes among the members of the population. It does not only study disease and illness but also the broader aspects that can influence the health and well-being of an individual. Dawes and Gonzalez (2023) note that in the United States, health care is receiving more than any other nation, yet the results get worse, as little focus has been put on upstream determinants of health that have an impact on the lives of people. Healthy People 2030 focuses on identifying the social determinants of health (SDOH), which are the conditions in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2020).

SDOH has five domains that include: Economic stability, education access and quality, health care access and quality, neighborhood and built environment, and social and community context. These factors affect access to resources like safe housing, access to nutritious food, access to quality education, transportation and health care services (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2020). Healthy People 2030 will reduce health disparities, aim to achieve health equity and create and enhance environments that benefit everyone. By managing these determinants with multi-sector coordinated public health actions and policies, communities attain their optimal health and well-being.

Entry-Level vs. Advanced Nurse Advocacy

Though entry-level nurses and advanced professional nurses can and do enhance population health, their advocacy activity varies in scope and complexity (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2023). Entry-level nurses are probably more availed with direct patient care, health promotion, disease prevention, and providing information and education to individuals and families on health-promoting behavior. They are aware of health problems, collaborate with health care staff members and represent patients in health care policies. Alternatively, the advanced professional nurses assume a more leadership role that extends past counseling individuals to meeting the needs of the masses.

They collaborate with various stakeholders, such as the community, policymakers, public health agencies, and government bodies, to formulate and influence policies and interventions to promote health equity and assist in improving population outcomes through the AACN domain 3 competencies. Advanced nursing practice implies the analysis of population data, the realization of interprofessional leadership and communication in the efforts to alleviate social determinants of health and decrease disparities, and the systems thinking approach (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2023). Entry-level nurses lobby on the individual level and advanced professional nurses lobby on the community, organizational, and policy levels. These supportive functions enhance health systems and aid in better and fairer population health outcomes.

Health Issues in a U.S. Community

The U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois (ZIP Code: 60601) has many significant agenda areas of population health. The issue of obesity has a significant impact (approximately 33% of the adult population in Chicago is obese), and obesity contributes to the increase in the prevalence of chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes (County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, n.d.). The second concern to be tackled is violence and community safety since there are still high rates of firearm-related injuries and deaths that would weigh on physical and mental health in Chicago. The restricted medical care in underserved areas continues to be an issue, and several issues, like lack of insurance and transportation, are mentioned in the neighborhoods.

The city health dashboard in Chicago indicates that certain groups still experience health disparities as an unequivocal 15-percent of adults are in poor or fair health. Social determinants of inequities are also a factor, such as poverty, unemployment, and housing instability (County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, n.d.). Chronic disease, combined with violence and inaccessibility to healthcare constitutes one more burden of low life expectancy and subpar health outcomes on the at-risk populations. These issues have to be coordinated statewide by means of community health systems, one accessing health care, and policies to reduce health inequity (U.S. News & World Report, n.d.).

Advanced Professional Nurse and Health Equity

Health equity is a chance to achieve the best health possible by all people regardless of their socioeconomic background race/geographic area. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, social and structural injustices including lack of access to education, housing, and economic opportunity, are some of the key determinants of health disparities. APNs play a vital role in policy and practice to reduce these inequities, advocating for and opposing policies and practices that enhance access to care and eradicate inequality and disparity in health (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2023).

They collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, community organizations and other decision-makers to transform health care systems and enhance the livelihood of vulnerable populations. These include advanced nurses employing strategies like responding to social determinants of health, culturally competent care, promoting community outreach programs, and data analysis to identify health gaps. They provide education to patients and communities on available resources and enable people to be active players in their health (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2023). It is through the application of these strategies that the advanced professional nurse is one of the major actors in ensuring that health disparities are reduced, positive health outcomes are instilled in the population groups, and a just health system that offers all the population the opportunity to live a healthier life is created.

Public Leader Contact List

Government Level	Name	Title	Contact Information
City	Brandon Johnson	Mayor of Chicago	City Hall, 121 N LaSalle St, Chicago, IL 60602 • Phone: (312) 744-3300
County	Toni Preckwinkle	President, Cook County Board	118 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60602 • Phone: (312) 603-6400
State	J.B. Pritzker	Governor of Illinois	207 State House, Springfield, IL 62706 • Phone: (217) 782-0244

GoReact Video Reflection (Script)

Hello, my name is _____ and during this reflection, I will explain the learning I gained from the clinical practice experiences during phase 1, which included the role of the advanced professional nurse in population health, and ways to be more involved in health policy and advocacy. During this research on the AACN Advanced-Level domain 3 competencies, I learned that being an advanced professional nurse means being involved in additional roles beyond direct patient care. Their leadership and collaborative role in facilitating better health outcomes among the population is important and requires them to advocate and participate in policy discussions. I have come to know the idea of population health, which bears so many relations to social determinants of health, such as access to healthcare, education, and the economic strength of an individual.

Advanced nurses utilize the developed knowledge and systems thinking towards interprofessional collaboration and develop and execute interventions to enhance health outcomes on the community level. I will also ensure that I involve myself more in health policy advocacy as well as in public health by being more involved in the community health distributive groups and health organizations. I want to try to reach out to community members and local leaders/policy makers to advocate for policies that help to promote health equity. I will not be stopping my professional learning, as I will keep myself informed about healthcare policies and participate as a leader in efforts that can enable health equity. This experience has made me grateful because it is one of the factors that made me understand that advanced professional nurses altered their role and started focusing on population health, and made me stronger in my reasoning why it matters to contribute to the further evolution of equitable health care systems in my community.

Phase 2: Structuring the Advocacy Action Team

Phase 2 of the advocacy action plan addresses how to put in place the right team to assist and execute an effective advocacy action plan. The period implies the necessity of mutual work, supervision of other team members, and clear roles of the discipline representatives. The developed professional nurse plays a crucial role in the organization and management of such teams, helping to communicate, trust each other, and share a common interest. This phase brings out the concept of team development, such as the formation, storming, norming, and performing phases in an attempt to enhance team effectiveness.

Sigma Reflection Essay

The advocacy of other professionals, participation in policy-making, and the value of life-long learning on outcomes in healthcare were identified as key elements in enhancing the outcomes of healthcare as noted by the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing in the series titled Answering the Call. These ideas couple with my practice and how I serve society to attain population health and health equity.

Among the many lessons replicating the series is the importance of advocacy in awareness and progress. Oncology professional nurses have a tremendous role in considering health differences and being champions of the weaker (Hofmeyer, 2020). Being an active community educator and awareness builder, as a practitioner, I will strive to ensure that the community and people at risk of poor health know what to do to keep healthy and what resources they might need to access themselves. Advocacy also implies to be voices of patients at the organization and policy level to facilitate the provision of unbiased and inclusive health systems.

Another significant takeaway is the role nurses have in health policy. The four steps offered in the sequence of problem identification, researching evidence-based solutions, engaging stakeholders, and taking action provide a clear process to policy engagement (Hofmeyer, 2020). I value this approach in terms of determining significant health issues within my community, including access to health care or treatment of chronic illnesses, and enabling collaboration between health care practitioners and policy makers in developing and enabling effective interventions. Application of communication aids, ISBAR, and the nursing process will enhance me in presenting effective and convincing information to the stakeholders.

Lifelong learning is another theme that is brought out in the series. Lifelong learning helps nurses to enhance their leadership abilities, cope with the evolving needs of healthcare, and maximize patient outcomes (Diamini, 2016). To support my personal development, I will invest in professional development by undertaking more intricate training and certifications and participating in leadership development training (Olson, 2020). I will further benefit through mentorship, peer support, and interdisciplinary teamwork to grow to be a better quality improvement leader and use evidence-based practice.

Summing up, the experiences of the Sigma series point to the crucial importance of advanced professional nurses as change agents, policy makers, and lifelong learners. I will utilize these concepts in my practice to enhance the healthcare systems, address health inequities, and achieve improved health outcomes by cooperating and collaborating with others.

Five Stages of Interprofessional Team Development

1. Forming

At the forming stage, members of the team get together and start to know what the team is and its purpose and goals. Incompleteness in specificity and roles and responsibilities, and members are polite and cautious, as they start developing relationships (DeNisco, S. M., 2024).

2. Storming

Conflicts or disagreements during the storming phase in the team development process are likely to occur when team members hold different opinions and ideas and working styles that conflict. At this stage, growth is essential as roles are to be defined and open lines of communication to be discussed.

3. Norming

In the norming stage, members of the team start coming to understand how to stop conflicts and respect and trust each other. More effective roles emerge, teamwork becomes better, and there are norms and expectations of collaboration which are shared (DeNisco, S. M., 2024).

4. Performing

The performing stage is the one where the team is operational and efficiently functions in the achievement of its objectives. The members are free to collaborate, communicate, and have good problem-solving skills in order to enhance the health outcomes of patients and the population.

5. Adjourning

At the stage of adjourning, the team successfully fulfills its purposes and is willing to break up. Members share with one another their success stories, do an evaluation of the outcomes, and or/ change to a new role or a new group (DeNisco, S. M., 2024).

Phase 2 GoReact Video Reflection (Script)

Hello, my name is _____. In this reflection, I will be looking back at what I learned in light of my clinical practice experiences in Phase 2 that involve workplace encounters with other professionals who serve in an inter professional collaborative team as they work with individuals in a population health setting, and the actions that I will undertake in the future to become a better advanced professional nurse. One such thing that I learned was the need to create a unit of individuals who would work as a team, have defined roles,, and respect one another within the team.

The forming stage is the stage where team members assist one another to learn what they hope to accomplish as a team, and the stages that follow storming and norming enable the establishment of trust and working together. I was taught that effective interprofessional teams include individuals who belong to a number of health and social care professions who join with each other to work towards optimal health and wellbeing results for those people served by, or attached to, the team. It enables a more debilitating view point in the process of addressing involving the joint effort of disciplines of a complex health issue.

Being a highly-educated professional nurse, I will enable myself to contribute to my personal growth as an interprofessional team leader in several steps. To begin with, I will further enhance my communication and leadership skills through further education and development. Second, I will participate in collaborative care operations with others and recognize and seek teamwork in other fields of profession. Third, I will strive to build a productive relationship within the group and with other stakeholders to build trust and good teamwork. I will use evidence-based practices and information to determine what decisions to make and contribute to the productivity of a team. This experience provided me with a better insight into what it is like to be in interprofessional collaboration and the importance of collaboration in attaining better population health. My goal as an advanced professional nurse is to further develop my leadership skills and participate in effective collaborative healthcare teams.

Conclusion

Finally, my acquisition of knowledge on advocacy and interprofessional collaboration in advanced practice nursing in the clinical practice setting enhanced my study. Leadership insights, communication, and policy engagement were obtained through the advocacy action plan and team-building activities. I have also acquired some experience in this area that contributes to my ability as a person to assume the challenges of population health and promote health equity. I am an advanced professional nurse who has completed the certification program and is willing to use my competencies in order to improve the outcomes of healthcare facilities and encourage the most appropriate and efficient types of collaboration in healthcare facilities.

References

American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2021). The Essentials: Core competencies for nursing education. https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Publications/Essentials-2021.pdf

American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2023). The Essentials: Domain 3: Population health.https://www.aacnnursing.org/essentials/tool-kit/domains-concepts/population-health

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, May 13). What is health equity? U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/health-disparities-hiv-std-tb-hepatitis/about/?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/healthequity/index.html

County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. (n.d.) Explore health rankings.https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/explore-health-rankings

Dawes, D. & Gonzalez, J. (2023). The politics of population health. The Milbank Quarterly, 101(S1), 224-241. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.12603

DeNisco, S.M. (2024). Advanced practice nursing: Essential knowledge for the profession. 5^th Ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC. https://lrps.wgu.edu/provision/464883449

Hofmeyer, A. (2020). Influence through advocacy: Raising awareness, advancing change. Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. https://nursingcentered.sigmanursing.org/commentary/more commentary/Vol42_2_influence-through-advocacy-raising-awareness-advancing-change

Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2020). Social determinants of health. Healthy People 2030. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://odphp.health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health

Olson, K. (2020). Influence through policy: Four steps you can take. Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. https://nursingcentered.sigmanursing.org/commentary/more-commentary/Vol42_2_influence-through-policy-four-steps-you-can-take#:~:text=When%20frustrations%20arise%2C%20remember%20the,patience%20(Hulick%2C%202015).

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (2023). Achieving health equity: Why health equity matters and what you can do to give everyone a fair shot at being as healthy as they can be. https://www.rwjf.org/en/our-vision/focus-areas/Features/achieving-health-equity.html

U.S. News & World Report. (n.d.) Healthiest communities. https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities