Research a selected local, national, or global nonprofit organization or government agency to determine how it contributes to public health and safety improv

Research a selected local, national, or global nonprofit organization or government agency to determine how it contributes to public health and safety improvements, promotes equal opportunity, and improves the quality of life within the community. Submit your findings in a 3–5 page report.

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Introduction

Many organizations work to better local and global communities’ quality of life and promote health and safety in times of crisis. As public health and safety advocates, nurses must be cognizant of how such organizations help certain populations. As change agents, nurses must be aware of factors that impact the organization and the services that it offers. Familiarity with these organizations enables the nurse to offer assistance as a volunteer and source of referral.

This assessment provides an opportunity for you gain insight into the mission, vision, and operations of a community or public health resources organization from the list provided.

Preparation

As you begin to prepare this assessment, it would be an excellent choice to complete the Nonprofit Organizations and Community Health activity to gain insight into promoting equal opportunity and improving the quality of life in a community. The information gained from completing this activity will help you succeed with the assessment.

After completing this activity, select one of the local, national, or global nonprofit organizations or government agencies presented in the  Assessment 2 Supplement: Community Resources [PDF] .

You  may find the organization’s website in the  Community Organizations  reading list or in the  Assessment 2 Supplement: Community Resources [PDF] .

Scenario

You are interested in expanding your role as a nurse and are considering working in an area where you can promote equal opportunity and improve the quality of life in your local or global community. You are aware of several nonprofit organizations and government agencies whose work contributes to this effort in some way. You are particularly interested in one of these organizations but would like to know more about its contribution to public health and safety improvement. You would also like to report the results of your research in a scholarly paper that you could submit for publication.

Instructions

Research a selected local, national, or global nonprofit organization or government agency from the document provided. Determine how the organization or agency contributes to public health and safety improvements, promotes equal opportunity, and improves the quality of life within the community. Submit your findings in a 3–5 page report.

The requirements outlined below correspond to the grading criteria in the scoring guide, so be sure to address each point. Read the performance-level descriptions in the scoring guide for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed.

· Explain how an organization’s mission and vision enable it to contribute to public health and safety improvements.

· Provide examples of ways a local and/or global initiative supports the mission and vision and promotes public health and safety.

· Evaluate an organization’s ability to promote equal opportunity and improve the quality of life in a community.

· Consider the effects of social, cultural, economic, and physical barriers.

· Be sure to go beyond simply describing what the organization does in these areas but evaluating the impact.

· Assess the impact of funding sources, policy, and legislation on an organization’s service delivery.

· Consider the potential implications of funding decisions, policy, and legislation for individuals, families, and aggregates within the community.

· Remember to actually include the policies, legislation, and funding avenues for your chosen organization.

· Explain how an organization’s work impacts the health and/or safety needs of a local community.

· Consider how nurses might become involved with the organization.

· How are nurses involved within this organization?

· Organize content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions; contains few errors in grammar/punctuation, word choice, and spelling.

· Apply APA formatting to in-text citations and references exhibiting nearly flawless adherence to APA format.

· Write with a specific purpose and audience in mind.

· Adhere to scholarly and disciplinary writing standards and APA formatting requirements.

Additional Requirements

Document Format and Length

Format your research article using current APA style.

· Refer to the  APA Style Paper Tutorial [DOCX]  to help you in writing and formatting your paper. Be sure to include:

· A title page and references page. An abstract is not required.

· Appropriate section headings.

· Your paper should comprise 3–5 pages of content plus title and references pages.

Supporting Evidence

Cite at least three credible sources from peer-reviewed journals or professional industry publications published within the past 5 years that support your research findings.

Before submitting your paper, proofread it to minimize errors that could distract readers and make it difficult for them to focus on your research findings.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

· Competency 1: Analyze health risks and healthcare needs among distinct populations.

· Explain how an organization’s work impacts the health and/or safety needs of a local community.

· Competency 2: Propose health promotion strategies to improve the health of populations.

· Explain how an organization’s mission and vision enable it to contribute to public health and safety improvements.

· Competency 3: Evaluate health policies, based on their ability to achieve desired outcomes.

· Assess the impact of funding sources, policy, and legislation on an organization’s service delivery.

· Competency 4: Integrate principles of social justice in community health interventions.

· Evaluate an organization’s ability to promote equal opportunity and improve the quality of life in a community.

· Competency 5: Apply professional, scholarly communication strategies to lead health promotion and improve population health.

· Organize content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions; contains few errors in grammar/punctuation, word choice, and spelling.

· Apply APA formatting to in-text citations and references, exhibiting nearly flawless adherence to APA format.

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Scoring Guide

Use the scoring guide to understand how your assessment will be evaluated.

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Criterion 1

Explain how an organization’s mission and vision enable it to contribute to public health and safety improvements.

Distinguished

Explains how an organization’s mission and vision enable it to contribute to public health and safety improvements. Draws well-reasoned, logical conclusions about the organization’s work and provides a specific, relevant example of how a local or global initiative supports the organization’s mission and vision and promotes public health and safety.

Proficient

Explains how an organization’s mission and vision enable it to contribute to public health and safety improvements.

Basic

Describes an organization’s mission and vision, though it’s not clear how these enable it to contribute to public health and safety improvements.

Non Performance

Does not explain how an organization’s mission and vision enable it to contribute to public health and safety improvements.

Criterion 2

Evaluate an organization’s ability to promote equal opportunity and improve the quality of life in a community.

Distinguished

Evaluates an organization’s ability to promote equal opportunity and improve the quality of life in a community, with regard to the effects of social, cultural, economic, and physical barriers and their implications for the organization and community.

Proficient

Evaluates an organization’s ability to promote equal opportunity and improve the quality of life in a community.

Basic

Describes how an organization promotes equal opportunity and improves the quality of life in a community without evaluating the organization’s impact or ability.

Non Performance

Does not evaluate an organization’s ability to promote equal opportunity and improve the quality of life in a community.

Criterion 3

Assess the impact of funding sources, policy, and legislation on an organization’s service delivery.

Distinguished

Assesses the impact of funding sources, policy, and legislation on an organization’s service delivery. Provides clear insight into the potential implications of funding decisions, policy, and legislation for community members.

Proficient

Assesses the impact of funding sources, policy, and legislation on an organization’s service delivery.

Basic

Identifies funding sources, policy, and legislation related to an organization’s service delivery.

Non Performance

Does not assess funding sources, policy, and legislation related to on an organization’s service delivery.

Criterion 4

Explain how an organization’s work impacts the health and/or safety needs of a local community.

Distinguished

Explain how an organization’s work impacts the health and/or safety needs of a local community, and offers creative or insightful ideas about how nurses might become involved with the organization.

Proficient

Explains how an organization’s work impacts the health and/or safety needs of a local community.

Basic

Describes an organization’s work in community health and safety.

Non Performance

Does not explain how an organization’s work impacts the health and/or safety needs of a local community.

Criterion 5

Organize content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions; contains few errors in grammar/punctuation, word choice, and spelling.

Distinguished

Organizes content with a clear purpose. Content flows logically with smooth transitions using coherent paragraphs, correct grammar/punctuation, word choice, and free of spelling errors.

Proficient

Organizes content so ideas flow logically with smooth transitions; contains few errors in grammar/punctuation, word choice, and spelling.

Basic

Organizes content with some logical flow and smooth transitions. Contains errors in grammar/punctuation, word choice, and spelling.

Non Performance

Does not organize content for ideas. Lacks logical flow and smooth transitions.

Criterion 6

Apply APA formatting to in-text citations and references, exhibiting nearly flawless adherence to APA format.

Distinguished

Exhibits strict and flawless adherence to APA formatting of headings, in-text citations, and references. Quotes and paraphrases correctly.

Proficient

Applies APA formatting to in-text citations and references, exhibiting nearly flawless adherence to APA format.

Basic

Applies APA formatting to in-text citations, headings and references incorrectly and/or inconsistently, detracting noticeably from the content. Inconsistently uses headings, quotes and/or paraphrasing.

Non Performance

Does not apply APA formatting to headings, in-text citations, and references. Does not use quotes or paraphrase correctly.

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Document Format: Margins are 1 in. (2.54 cm) on all sides.

All text in the document should be double-spaced.

The font is 12-point Times New Roman. Other choices are 11-point Arial and 11-point Calibri.

The title page is page 1.

There is no running head for learner assignments. (See Academic Writer: Publication Manual §§ 2.1–2.24 for paper requirements.)

Full Title of Your Paper Comment by Author: APA Style: Sample Papers shows the title page for a student paper.

Learner’s Full Name (no credentials)

School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Capella University

Course Number: Course Name

Instructor’s Name

Month, Year Comment by Author: The due date

Abstract

An abstract is useful in professional papers, but not always in learner assignments. In fact, unless you are instructed by your faculty or in the course syllabus, do not expect to use abstracts very often at Capella. If you are submitting for publication, remember to check with the journal or professional organization about their criteria for an abstract. The abstract tells your reader about the article, is brief, and stands alone, so no citations are included. The format for an abstract is a single paragraph (not indented on the first line) that follows the title page and is less than 250 words in length. A structured abstract will have a single paragraph without indentation but having labels (e.g., Objective, Method, Results, and Conclusions) on the same line as the text and bold. For published works, the publishing organization will give you guidance on these. However, for student papers, no abstract is needed unless the faculty request one or the assignment requires it. Remember, no citations. Comment by Author: See Academic Writer: Publication Manual §§ 2.9–2.10 (p. 38 in the APA manual) for more information on abstracts.

Keywords: include keywords in the abstract—they should be labeled like this, with the words all in lowercase and separated by commas. Only the first line is indented, like a regular paragraph. No period at the end.

APA Style Seventh Edition Paper Template: A Resource for Academic Writing Comment by Author: New in APA seventh style—this heading is a regular Level 1 and should be bold.

American Psychological Association (APA) style is one of the most popular methods used to cite sources in the social sciences, but it is not the only one. When writing papers in the programs offered at Capella University, you will likely use APA style. This document serves as an APA style resource for the seventh edition guidelines, containing valuable information that you can use when writing academic papers. For more information on APA style, refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, also referred to as the APA manual (American Psychological Association, 2020b). Comment by Author: Another important resource for Capella learners is Academic Writer.

The first section of this paper shows how an introduction effectively introduces the reader to the topic of the paper. In APA style, an introduction never gets a heading. For example, this section did not begin with a heading titled “Introduction,” unlike the following section, which is titled “Writing an Effective Introduction.” The following section will explain in greater detail a model that can be used to effectively write an introduction in an academic paper. The remaining sections of the paper will continue to address APA style and effective writing concepts, including section headings, organizing information, the conclusion, and the reference list. Comment by Author: See also Academic Writer: Introduction.

Writing an Effective Introduction Comment by Author: Level 1 section heading

An effective introduction often consists of four main components, including (a) the position statement, thesis, or hypothesis, which describes the author’s main position; (b) the purpose, which outlines the objective of the paper; (c) the background, which is general information needed to understand the content of the paper; and (d) the approach, which is the process or methodology the author uses to achieve the purpose of the paper. This information will help readers understand what will be discussed in the paper. It can also serve as a tool to grab the reader’s attention. Authors may choose to briefly reference sources that will be identified later in the paper as in this example (American Psychological Association, 2020a; American Psychological Association, 2020b). The Writing Center has developed the acronym POETS to help describe the proper writing style for submissions. POETS is the acronym for purpose, organization, evidence, tone, and sentence structure (Capella Writing Center, n.d.). There will be more on this later. Comment by Author: This is the format for a complex list within a sentence. The items begin with lowercase letters and are separated by appropriate punctuation. Related items can also be set off from the text and presented as numbered or bulleted lists. For more information on lists, see Academic Writer: Lists. Comment by Author: When you have two sources with the same author and date, use a lowercase a, b, c, after the year and alphabetize the sources in the reference list according to the title. For the same author but no date, use n.d.-a and n.d.-b as the date. See Academic Writer: Alphabetizing the Reference List for more information.

In an introduction, the writer will often present something of interest to capture the reader’s attention and introduce the issue. Adding an obvious statement of purpose helps the reader know what to expect, while helping the writer to focus and stay on task. For example, this paper will address several components necessary to effectively write an academic paper, including how to write an introduction, how to write effective paragraphs, and how to effectively use APA style.

Level 1 Section Heading Is Centered, Bold, and Title Case Comment by Author: Something new in APA seventh style—all headings are double-spaced, bold, and written in title case. See Academic Writer: Heading Levels.

Using section headings can be an effective method of organizing an academic paper. Section headings are not required according to APA style; however, they can significantly improve the quality of a paper by helping both the reader and the author, as will soon be discussed. Comment by Author: In POETS, this is the O for organization. See Writing Center: Organization.

Level 2 Section Heading Is Aligned Left, Bold, and Title Case

The heading style recommended by APA consists of five levels (APA, 2020b, pp. 47–48). This document contains multiple levels to demonstrate how headings are structured according to APA style. Immediately before the previous paragraph, a Level 1 section heading was used. That section heading describes how a Level 1 heading should be written, which is centered, bold, and using uppercase and lowercase letters (also referred to as title case). For another example, see the section heading “Writing an Effective Introduction” on page 3 of this document. The heading is centered and bold and uses uppercase and lowercase letters. If used properly, section headings can significantly contribute to the quality of a paper by helping the reader, who wants to understand the information in the document, and the author, who desires to effectively describe it.

Section Heading Purposes Comment by Author: This is a Level 3 heading. Notice it is aligned left, bold, italic, and title case. The paragraph begins on a new line. See Academic Writer: Heading Levels.

Section Headings Help the Reader. Section headings serve multiple purposes, including helping the reader understand what is being addressed in each section, maintain an interest in the paper, and choose what they want to read. For example, if the reader of this document wants to learn more about writing an effective introduction, the previous section heading clearly states that is where information can be found. When subtopics are needed to explain concepts in greater detail, different levels of headings are used according to APA style. Comment by Author: This is a Level 4 heading—it is indented, bold, and title case. The heading ends in a period, and the text begins on the same line as the heading.

Section Headings Help the Author. Section headings not only help the reader; they also help the author organize the document during the writing process. Section headings can be used to arrange topics in a logical order, and they can help an author manage the length of the paper. In addition to an effective introduction and the use of section headings, each paragraph of an academic paper can be written in a manner that helps the reader stay engaged. Comment by Author: Level 4 heading

Section Headings Can Demonstrate Fine Detail. Short papers and assignments may not require or need a Level 5 heading, but these will be indented, bold, italic, and title case and end with a period. Note the text starts on the line at the end of the heading following the period. Comment by Author: Level 5 heading

How to Write Effective Paragraphs Comment by Author: The Writing at Capella multimedia presentation will help you understand the POETS model.

Capella University’s Writing Center (n.d.) has adopted a new set of writing standards to assist learners in their goals to improve their scholarly writing. It is based on five skills known by the mnemonic POETS. In other words, a well-developed Capella paper will demonstrate the following standards. The paper will have a clear purpose statement, be logically organized, utilize current and appropriate evidence that is properly cited, maintain a scholarly tone, and demonstrate proper grammar and writing mechanics in the sentence structure (Capella Writing Center, n.d.). Academic writing is sometimes considered dry and boring. A learning experience may need that formula to encourage learning in different ways as the learner moves from passive learner to active scholar. This growth, according to Gilmore et al. (2019), requires the writer to not only think but also to write differently. Comment by Author: Notice the et al. here—this article has four authors. In APA seventh style, any source with three or more authors will use et al. for every citation, eliminating the need to remember when this appropriate. For more information, see Academic Writer: Citing References in Text.

Bias-Free Language

In the seventh edition of the APA manual, another focus is on eliminating bias in language in order to provide a more inclusive tone in scholarly writing. While long considered a grammar issue, it is acceptable in APA to utilize they as a singular pronoun (APA, 2020b). In fact, there is an entire chapter of the manual dedicated to ways to reduce bias in scholarly writing. It is important to use an appropriate level of specificity in descriptions and use sensitivity with the use of labels. Other sections include guidelines on age, disability, gender, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and participation in research. Be aware of intersectionality, a term used to describe a person based on their identified multiple identities, interconnectivity, social context, power relations, complexity, social justice, and inequalities that can result in oppression (Cole, 2019; Hopkins, 2017). Comment by Author: See Academic Writer: Intersectionality for the guidelines. Comment by Author: Note the two citations—in a single set of parentheses and separated by a semicolon. The citations are listed alphabetically.

Considering Direct Quotations

Another important point to consider is the use of direct quotations in papers. While plagiarism is considered an academic integrity issue, many learners are concerned with issues such as self-plagiarism and unintentional plagiarism, and there are others who may go as far as purchasing papers for submission (Colella & Alahmadi, 2019). As a learner travels along their chosen academic pathway, their writing skills and mechanics are expected to improve. It is imperative that the learner transition from finding information and quoting the author word for word to using the information to support an idea, paraphrase, and then synthesize and express the findings in one’s own words. Having said that, there are situations in which quotations may be appropriate, so it is important to cite them properly. According to the seventh edition of the APA manual, “When quoting directly, always provide the author, year, and page number of the quotation in the in-text citation in either parenthetical or narrative format” (APA, 2020b, p. 270). If there are not page numbers, identify the location in another manner (such as a paragraph number). Comment by Author: Notice the quotation marks around the quoted text and the placement of the punctuation after the parenthetical citation. See Academic Writer: Quotation Marks for more on the use of quotation marks.

Notice that the above quote contains fewer than 40 words. There is a different style for quotes containing 40 words or more. These longer quotes use a block quotation format:

Do not use quotation marks to enclose a block quotation. Start a block quotation on a new line and indent the whole block 0.5 in. from the left margin. If there are additional paragraphs within the quotation, indent the first line of each subsequent paragraph an additional 0.5 in. Double-space the entire block quotation; do not add extra space before or after it. Either (a) cite the source in parentheses after the quotation’s final punctuation or (b) cite the author and year in the narrative before the quotation and place only the page number in parentheses after the quotation’s final punctuation. Do not add a period after the closing parenthesis in either case. (APA, 2020b, p. 272) Comment by Author: Notice there is no period after this citation in a block quote—it looks odd, but it is APA style. See Academic Writer: Quotation Marks.

Conclusion

A summary and conclusion section, which can also be the discussion section of an APA style paper, is the final opportunity for the author to make a lasting impression on the reader. The author can begin by restating opinions or positions and summarizing the most important points that have been presented in the paper. For example, this paper was written to demonstrate to readers how to effectively use APA style when writing academic papers. Various components of an APA style paper that were discussed or displayed in the form of examples include a title page, introduction section, levels of section headings and their use, the POETS format, bias-free language, in-text citations, a conclusion, and the reference list.

References Comment by Author: Remember all headings are bold.

American Psychological Association. (2020a). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct (2002, amended effective June 1, 2010, and January 1, 2017). https://doi.org.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx

American Psychological Association. (2020b). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). Comment by Author: This is something new in APA seventh style—you no longer need the location of the publisher for print books. Also note that if the author is the publisher, it is only listed as the author. This guideline is found on page 324 of the APA manual.

Capella University. (n.d.). Writing Center. https://campus.capella.edu/writing-center/home

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