Assignment: You are a nurse working for the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) in a policy position. You
have been asked to prepare a briefing note for the CNA Board of Directors that offers background information,
analysis and recommendations on a global health issue (taken from your topic/presentation). Your briefing note
will be on an issue that is related to your presentation topic (it does not have to be on the entire topic area – but
on a component related to your presentation). In addition to the briefing note, you are asked to draft a onepage advocacy letter to a relevant decision-maker that is related to the issues in your briefing note.
Your briefing note should be a maximum of 5 pages (not including title page or references), and should
include the following elements:
1. An introduction and brief summary of the issue/problem that the Canadian Nurses Association needs to
address – for example:
a. What is the problem?
b. Why is it a problem/how & why is it linked to global forces?
c. What are the health implications of this problem? For example:
i. How does it affect global health/global health equity/inequity?
ii. Are problems experienced differently in developed versus developing countries?
d. How does the problem/issue affect nursing on a global scale?
i. What are the implications of this?
2. A discussion of policies/actions to address this global problem.
a. What solutions/actions/policies will address this global issue? Why? What is the evidence
supporting these solutions?
b. What should national/ provincial/ governments or non-government bodies do to address this
problem? Why?
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3. A policy/advocacy plan for CNA to achieve the desired policy solutions.
a. What specific action/s should CNA advise the Canadian government/ICN/and provincial nursing
associations to take? Why?
b. What actions should CNA take in cooperation with the provincial associations
i. Include supporting evidence for your recommendations, and the implications of not
following the recommendations.
Your one-page advocacy letter from you as a nursing student will be addressed to a policy maker (e.g., PM,
Premier, etc.) encouraging/advocating for a specific policy action related to your briefing note. The letter should
be properly structured & organized and should clearly articulate the policy action sought, and why it is
recommended. The letter should be addressed to the decision maker that is appropriate for the policy sought