Using Political Strategies to Move Advocacy Forward

Using Political Strategies to Move Advocacy Forward

Nurses play an important role in advocacy, as they can utilize their strategic position and power to positively impact the healthcare sector and society. In particular, nursing advocacy is linked to improved patient outcomes, better health systems and public policy, and an advanced profession (Chiu et al., 2021). Therefore, this article discusses the actions that should be taken first regarding a vignette involving neonatal mortality, the community partners involved, and the action I should take to move the action forward in the community.

Actions That Should Be Taken First

The key issue arising from the vignette is increased neonatal mortality, with the causes highlighted including low birth weight, sudden infant death, and rollover deaths when babies sleep in the same bed as adults. The first action for this case should be assessing the possible risk factors leading to the aforementioned causes of neonatal mortality. For instance, one of the risk factors that have been associated with infant mortality in the literature is social inequality (Singh & Stella, 2019). Identifying the risk factors would be essential when developing strategies for preventing neonatal mortality. The other action is the development of targeted interventions and public awareness to help improve and protect the lives of the babies. Even though the local agency has confirmed the provided data, it would also be prudent to review it for the general population and specific ethnic groups or races. This would help identify areas that require urgent interventions.

Community Partners That Will Help with the Campaign

Collaboration with community partners would be of help for effective change. According to Haldane et al. (2019), community involvement in health promotion and education largely impacts community changes. Some partners who would be of relevance to collaborate with to aid with the campaign include community leaders and officials who can help with the mobilization of community support and resources, the local media teams who can help with the dissemination of the information, the social services agencies dealing with infants and children to connect the families with resources such as nutritional support, and the community-based organization dealing with early childhood development to guide mothers on the best practices that protect the life of babies.

The Action I Should Take to Move the Action Forward in the Community

Several strategies can be deployed in the community to ensure reduced infant mortality. One action that is needed is the implementation of a community intervention program that specifically targets infant mortality. The program should address the leading causes of mortality, including sudden infant syndrome, rollover deaths, and low birth weight. Some key issues should be considered, including comprehensive prenatal and postpartum care, public education on safe sleep, and parental education on infant care, feeding, and safe sleep (Bishop-Royse et al., 2021). To ensure the success of the intervention program, the program should also include parental counseling, a home visiting program, and the creation of support groups in the community.

Conclusion

In conclusion, assessing the possible risk factors leading to the aforementioned causes of neonatal mortality, developing targeted interventions and public awareness, and reviewing the data from the local agency for the general population and specific ethnic groups are some of the actions that should be taken first. In this regard, community partners who would help with the campaign include community leaders and officials, the local media teams, social services agencies, and the community-based organization dealing with early childhood development. Lastly, to move the action forward in the community, I would engage in the implementation of a community intervention program that targets infant mortality.

References

Bishop-Royse, J., Lange-Maia, B., Murray, L., Shah, R. C., & DeMaio, F. (2021). Structural racism, socio-economic marginalization, and infant mortality. Public Health, 190, 55-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2020.10.027

Chiu, P., Cummings, G. G., Thorne, S., & Schick-Makaroff, K. (2021). Policy Advocacy and Nursing Organizations: A Scoping Review. Policy Polit Nurs Pract, 22(4), 271–291. https://doi.org/10.1177/15271544211050611

Haldane, V., Chuah, F. L., Srivastava, A., Singh, S. R., Koh, G. C., Seng, C. K., & Legido-Quigley, H. (2019). Community participation in health services development, implementation, and evaluation: A systematic review of empowerment, health, community, and process outcomes. PloS one, 14(5), e0216112. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216112

Singh, G. K., & Stella, M. Y. (2019). Infant mortality in the United States, 1915-2017: large social inequalities have persisted for over a century. International Journal of Maternal and Child Health and AIDS, 8(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.21106%

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Week 3 Discussion: Using Political Strategies to Move Advocacy Forward
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Step 1: Read the vignette below.

Vignette: You are completing a clinical rotation in a small community agency that provides services to pregnant women or women with children under the age of 3. This agency is located in an urban area of the southern United States. The racial composition of the community is 78.1% white, 9.6% African American, 8.0% Hispanic, 0.3% American Indian/Alaska Native, 2.0% Asian, and 2.0% other. In 2022, 110,800 women of child-bearing age resided in the county with 5,300 total births.

Recently you and your fellow students learned that current statistics for the county reveal that from 2020 to 2022, the infant mortality (number of deaths per 1000 live births) rate was 8.2%; an increase from 6.5% in 2017-2019. For African Americans, the rates were 10.0% from 2017 to 2019 and increased to 14.4% from 2020 to 2022. The local Healthy Start agency confirms that these data are accurate for the community. In fact, based on a review of deaths by the coroner in the last year, the major causes of neonatal and infant demise were low birth weight, babies sleeping in bed with an adult (rollover/unintentional deaths), and SIDS.

Step 2: Post a response to the following questions in the discussion board.

Discuss which actions should be taken first.
Identify the community partners that will help with your campaign.
Using research, what action should you take to move the action forward in the community?
Step 3: Read other students’ posts and respond to at least two of them by Friday night at 11:59 pm Mountain Time.

Cite any sources in 7th ed. APA format.

Select Reply to join the discussion. See rubric for grading details. You can find this by clicking the three dots to the top right of this thread.

Response Posts: In your responses to your classmates, contribute to the discussion with your own original opinions or interpretations of the course materials.
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