Project description
Name:Date:
Overview: Legislator E-mail Exercise
To take a proactive role in nursing policy, you will prepare an email to your legislator about an current nursing issue. You must first identify your legislators. Then you will write a concise, professionally worded e-mail to one of the state-level legislators about a current nursing issue that is important to you. You will:
1.Find your top legislator in your county. You will only write your email to the top legislator.
2.Complete the graphic organizer on this assignment document as well. The boxes will expand for you. If you click in them the movable box appears and you can expand.
3.Write your final e-mail in the space provided on this assignment document.
4.Submit the email that you have prepared for your legislator into your assignment dropbox in Blackboard. It is not necessary for you to actually send your email to you legislator unless you choose to do so.
Performance Objective:
Identify the ways nurses can personally take part in shaping future nursing care.
Rubric
Use this rubric to guide your work on the assignment, Legislator E-mail.
TaskAccomplishedProficientNeeds Improvement
Writing and Sending the E-mail
Write an e-mail to personal state-level legislator about a healthcare or nursing issue discussed in this modules content, and send the e-mail by the required deadline. Will deduct 5 points if Graphic Decision Making Tool provided is not completed.
(Total 60 points) E-mail conveys a concern about current issue, uses correct a greeting and closing and submitted on time.
(60 points)E-mail conveys a concern about an issue, uses a greeting and closing with no significant errors, and is submitted on time.
No greeting-5pts/No closing-5/pts deductions
No graphic decision making tool-5/pts deduction
(40 points)E-mail does not address a specific issue OR the greeting or closing contains at least one significant error OR it is not sent on time.
(0-20 points)
Quality of the E-mail
E-mail is clear, concise, and gives an example of how the issue affects the students practice.
(Total 40 points)
E-mail addresses a specific issue, includes at least one personal example, is concise, and is well-organized. (40 points)E-mail is concise, addresses an issue, and includes an example but is not connected to the students practice. Does not include personal example
(20 point)E-mail is unclear OR too long OR does not include a specific example.
(0 points)

A.Identifying Your Legislators: Find out who your legislators are at the state level. (For students located in Texas, use the Texas Legislature Online link located in Resource to find your representives. For students in other states, use a search engine to locate your legislators.) If you do not live in Texas you can google search your counties legislative system. You only need the top legislator that you are going to address your issue to. If email information is not available then you would only place their physical address.

I live in shadow Creek, city of Pearland in Texas, use the above link
Record their names, titles, and contact information here: Type information into text box.

B. Using a Graphic Organizer to Selecting an Issue: Identify a current nursing issue from lecture material important to you and your practice. To help you begin organizing your thoughts, complete the following graphic organizer. Type right into the boxes.

C. Writing the E-mail: Write an e-mail explaining the importance of this issue to your practice. Limit the e-mail to one page. You may not use all of the details you developed in the graphic organizer above; use the ones that you think create the strongest and most persuasive e-mail.
Follow the format of the sample e-mail located in the Resource section of the course. (The format must be strictly followed, especially for how to address the legislator and inclusion of your home address to classify you as a constituent.)
Be sure to edit your e-mail for spelling, grammar, and word usage. Read it aloud, and/or get a friend or relative to read it and provide feedback. You will not be sending this to your legislator as part of this assignment but you may choose to send it to them on your own to make them aware of the issue you have addressed.
Write your final e-mail in the space provided below.
Space for you to write your final e-mail to your legislator: type directly into the text box below. Your Coach will grade your email from this assignment document. Box will expand.

Grading Rubrics
AccomplishedProficientNeeds Improvement
Writing and Sending the E-mail

Write an e-mail to personal state-level legislator about a healthcare or nursing issue discussed in this modules content, and send the e-mail by the required deadline. Will deduct 5 points if Graphic Decision Making Tool provided is not completed.Points Range:0 (0%) – 60 (60%)
E-mail conveys a concern about current issue, uses correct a greeting and closing and submitted on time. (60pts)Points Range:0 (0%) – 40 (40%)
E-mail conveys a concern about an issue, uses a greeting and closing with no significant errors, and is submitted on time. No greeting-5pts/No closing-5/pts deductions No graphic decision making tool-5/pts deduction (40 points)Points Range:0 (0%) – 20 (20%)
E-mail does not address a specific issue OR the greeting or closing contains at least one significant error OR it is not sent on time.
Quality of the E-mail

E-mail is clear, concise, and gives an example of how the issue affects the students practice.Points Range:0 (0%) – 40 (40%)
E-mail addresses a specific issue, includes at least one personal example, is concise, and is well-organized.Points Range:0 (0%) – 20 (20%)
E-mail is concise, addresses an issue, and includes an example but is not connected to the students practice. Does not include personal example (20 point)Points Range:0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
E-mail is unclear OR too long OR does not include a specific example.

** This is sample from the resource section of the course
To: Legislators email address
Subject:Nursing Shortage Crisis
The Honorable Jane Nelson
Texas Senate
Dear Senator Nelson,
During the 2007 session, nursing will be addressing the nursing shortage once again. I hope that the nursing profession and hospitals can count on your support of the appropriation request to help alleviate the nursing shortage crisis. I know you are aware of the healthcare crisis that the nursing shortage is creating in Tarrant County and across the state. The shortage has hit Tarrant County to the point of more open, full-time positions than in the past. My concern is that if steps are not taken now to change the numbers of students schools of nursing can take into programs, Texas healthcare will suffer more in the future than it has already. Larger appropriations to schools of nursing will help alleviate the problem and start to turn the shortage around. Schools of nursing have turned away thousands of qualified students across the state. I know the waiting list at my university, the University of Texas at Arlington, is long. Texas Nurses Association and Texas Hospital Association have worked very closely to find a solution to the nursing shortage crisis. We are well aware that asking for money this session is not a popular thing to do. However, the need to stop the nursing shortage crisis is great. Thank you for your time, and I hope we can count on your support. Sincerely, Name Ad
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