This discussion will explore two components of appropriate health care for pediatric patients: health policy and cultural competence.

To create your initial post to this discussion forum, complete the following steps.

Step 1: Choose ONE of the following prompts to discuss:

1. Imagine that you are a nurse lobbyist at the legislature in your state, with a specific focus on child and teen health. The children in this state encompass a broad range of social determinants of health. You are asked to recommend state-wide health policies to improve the health of this population, along with corresponding engagement strategies to reach nurses in the state.

• What would be the first pediatric policy that you would recommend? Please provide a rationale for your selection
• How can you effectively reach nurses to encourage their action to promote the policy?
• What are one or more reasons why many nurses do not engage in lobbying efforts?

1. Describe a pediatric patient and/or their family members that  you have cared for who is deemed by healthcare professionals to be ‘difficult’.

• To what extent do you think that cultural factors, e.g. beliefs, values and customs common to a group, might have been implicated in this situation?
• What are one or more barriers to culturally competent care that are specific to the nurse relationship with pediatric patients?
• List at least one strategy that a nurse can employ to overcome barrier(s) to cultural competence with pediatric patients.

Step 2: Post your answer to your chosen prompt to the discussion forum.

 In addition to your original post, be sure to provide a meaningful response to at least two of your peers’ posts by Friday night at 11:59pm Mountain Time.  Read other students' initial postings and respond to at least two other students.  Expand on their comments to progress the discussion.

Your initial post should be 2-3 paragraphs long and follow the requirements outlined in the discussion rubric. Please add to the discussion in your peer responses with informative responses, instead of posts similar to “great idea! I really agree with you.”   The initial post and the peer responses have different deadlines. Make sure that your discussion adheres to these deadlines.

APA guidelines and plagiarism prevention matter in discussion posts just like with other scholarly assignments. Cite all references appropriately using APA format.