Briefing Note Assignment

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Briefing Note Assignment Guidelines

 

Weight: 15%

 

Learning Outcomes Addressed in this Assignment:

 

Purpose:

The purpose of the Briefing Note assignment is to practice an effective and efficient strategy to inform decision-makers about an important health issue that impacts the health of the population. This assignment involves the production of an original briefing note on a nursing, health or health care problem of interest to you. Examples of broad topic areas from which you can choose a specific focus(see example below) include, but are not limited to:

 

 

End of life care                                    Social determinants of health             Patient Safety

Harm reduction                                   Community-based care                       Chronic illness

Health human resources                     Aging and seniors’ care                      Access to care

Health system financing                     Care delivery models                          Immigrant health

Pharmaceutical policy                         Quality of care                                    Non-medical cannabis use

COVID Management

 

An example of what is meant by ‘broad topic area”:

 

Indigenous health in Canada

 

  • An abundance of evidence demonstrates that Indigenous peoples (First Nations, Metis, Inuit) in Canada live with a greater percentage of serious health issues compared to the rest of the Canadian population.

 

 

On the following page, you will find examples of what is meant by “choose a specific focus” from the broad topic area for writing your briefing note. This means you might choose one of the following specific focus areas from the broad topic area, Indigenous health in Canada, for writing your briefing note:

 

 

Malnutrition                           

Lower levels of education                  

Higher suicide rates

Inadequate, crowded housing

Higher rates of chronic illness           

Higher rates of death in children due to                                                        

High rate of tuberculosis        

Unsafe drinking water                        

Alcohol misuse                       

Content:

Write your Briefing Note using the following sub-headings: Audience, Issue, Background, Current Status, Key Considerations, Options, and Recommendations as below. Notice there are questions associated with each sub-heading. It may not be necessary to address each question in each sub-heading because not all may be relevant to your topic. However, you may decide to use the questions under each sub-heading questions as threads to help you frame your briefing note.

  • Audience:Who are you addressing in this briefing note? Be sure your briefing note is written with consideration of the target audience (please note, the audience of your briefing note is not your professor)
  • Issue:Short, concise statement or two about what is the specific issue is about. Who is affected by the issue? What is the significance of the issue? Why should the issue matter to the reader (audience of your briefing note)?
  • Background:Give a brief summary of the background events leading up to the issue.

What is the history leading up to the development of the issue and/or how has the issue evolved?

  • Current Status:Describe the current situation of the issue in terms of its current state. What is the current situation or status of the issue? What is happening now? Who is involved?
  • Key Considerations:Inform your reader about aspects of the issue that need to be factored in, thought carefully about, studied, or contemplated prior to making decisions about how to address the issue. Key considerations must be supported with credible, current evidence.
  • 2Optionsabout how the issue could be addressed.The options should relate directly to the key considerations. Include the advantages and disadvantages for each option.
  • Recommendation: Concise, brief summary of what you want your reader to conclude from the reasoning and evidence you provided. What are the key points you want your audience to be clear about? Finally, state the most preferred option from #6 above.

 

Adapted from Doyle, S.  92013).  How to Write a Briefing Note.  Retrieved February 22nd, 2019 from https://web.uvic.ca/~sdoyle/E302/Notes/WritingBriefingNotes.html)

 

 

Process:

The assignment requires the items included in the checklist below:

 

  • Report format; this is not a scholarly paper. You may decide to follow the template available for use located in the Briefing Note Resources located in the Briefing Note Assignment module to frame your briefing note.
  • APA format with citations and references according to [email protected] Conestoga.
  • Arial 12 font
  • No more than 3 pages – single spaced (does not include list of references)
  • Newspaper/magazine articles are not to be used in your assignment; use only credible, relevant, and quality resources.
  • Submission must be made to the assignment dropbox in the e-Conestoga shell for course NURS8945 by the due date and time.
  • See Student Handbook for regulations regarding late assignments
  • Academic Integrity Policyis in effect; Turnitin feature enabled in the assignment dropbox. You may use the Turnitin feature as an educative strategy to correct any potential plagiarism, and citation and referencing errors in advance of your final submission. Your final submission to the assignment dropbox will be the submission that is evaluated.

 

Use the resource documents contained in the Briefing Note Assignment module to guide your thinking as you prepare to write this assignment. Remember, three pages may seem short, however, you will be graded on the quality of the briefing note you produce and the level of synthesis and thoughtfulness contained therein.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prepared by Valerie Abbott, March, 2019, in consultation with Lisa Trimble, Teaching and Learning, Conestoga College