Visit your state or national ANA website and search under Policy and Advocacy for CURRENT health care policy issues. Write a letter in the form of an email to your legislator, specific to a CURRENT piece of legislation and provide reasoning regarding how this issue will impact your ability to provide care to patients in your practice, your support for this issue, how this issue will impact health care, financing, etc.
Determine if the issue should be directed to a state or federal legislator…this is to whom you should address your letter.
Be cognizant that if writing a Senator, you should be referencing a Senate bill or if writing a Congressperson, you should be referencing a House bill. This is the case for both federal as well as state legislators.
This letter is to be uploaded to the assignment upload site. Do not send the letter to your legislator until after your faculty has reviewed and graded it. You may wish to email this to your representative after your faculty has graded it and provided feedback. This writing assignment is due to be submitted to your faculty member by Sunday of Module 4 at 2400 EST.
Letter to Legislator Description and Rubric
Letter to the Legislator: Description and Grading Rubric Worth 100 pts.
Visit your state or national ANA website and search under Policy and Advocacy for CURRENT health care policy issue. Write a letter in the form of an email to your legislator, specific to a CURRENT piece of legislation and provide reasoning regarding how this issue will impact your ability to provide care to patients in your practice, your support for this issue, how this issue will effect health care, financing, etc. Determine if the issue should be directed to a state or federal legislator…this is to whom you should address your letter. Be cognizant that if writing a Senator, you should be referencing a Senate bill or if writing a Congressperson, you should be referencing a House bill. This is the case for both federal as well as state legislators.
Refer to the Additional Resources in this Module on how to write a letter as well as tips for writing a letter in an email to a legislator. Refer back to Module 4: Lecture Materials –Nursing Licensure and Regulation
Please refer to the grading rubric 'Letter to Legislator Grading Rubric' as you write your letter.
This rubric can also be found in the syllabus.
Instructions:
This letter is to be submitted to your instructor through the submission site, not email. You may wish to email this to your representative after your faculty has graded it and provided feedback. This writing assignment is due to be submitted to your faculty member by Sunday of Module 4 at 2400 EST.
The following information is from the ONS Advocacy 101 course.
A. Written Correspondence
Although writing a letter traditionally was the most effective way to let your legislators know your thoughts, security concerns have changed the way people communicate with Congress. Congressional offices now offer direct access through their websites, as well as access through email and a variety of social media platforms.
Members of Congress have a communication link through their websites, providing an area to which e-mail can be sent, resulting in a generic, automatic acknowledgment that your e-mail has been received. This may be followed-up with either a specific e-mail response to your issue or a letter via regular U.S. Postal Service. A handful of offices still do not respond individually to e-mail but count the input.
B. Tips for e-mail, letter, or fax
Try to keep your e-mail, letter, or fax to a single page.
If using a template message, take a few moments to personalize it with your own experience and expertise.
If you have an article of relevance, attach it to your correspondence or refer to it and offer to provide it should they be interested.
NOTE: Letters and other documents sent via the U.S. Postal Service may be delayed, damaged or made illegible by security handling procedures. Items such as photographs, originals of articles, or other enclosures are best hand delivered. Electronic delivery by e-mail allows you to weigh in more immediately and be more confident of the receipt of your correspondence.
For more information on policies related to constituent correspondence, contact your legislators’ offices. To access, you can visit the individual member's webpage (via https://www.senate.gov/ (Links to an external site.) or https://www.house.gov/ (Links to an external site.) ).
C. Resources
For more information on policies related to constituent correspondence, contact your legislators’ offices. To access, you can visit the individual member's webpage (via https://www.senate.gov/ (Links to an external site.) or https://www.house.gov/ (Links to an external site.)).
D. Often the first step in getting to know your legislators is just getting the conversation started about your areas of interest or concern. So to get the ball rolling, use the following format to send an e-mail to your legislator.
E. "Tips for Communication with Legislators
Be polite and professional in your tone and language.
Identify yourself as a registered voter, constituent, and a nurse in your opening sentence. If you know the legislator or staff member, say so to increase the chance of your message receiving special attention.
Immediately identify the topic you are writing to discuss.
Be concise and modest in your request.
Focus on one or two issues that are of top priority.
Make a few brief points.
Describe the importance of the issue to you, your community, and the nation
Be informed
Be familiar with the basic facts and points.
Avoid too many details or scientific information, but have additional information available if requested.
Verify your facts—your story may be told again by the legislator!
Personalize your message. Tell your own story—or that of a patient—and explain the relevance to the issue at hand. Include relevant information from your district or state, and explain how the issue affects your community.
