As an advanced registered nurse, what will your role be in advocating for equitable population health services and policies? Do you anticipate any challenges or

As an advanced registered nurse, what will your role be in advocating for equitable population health
services and policies? Do you anticipate any challenges or barriers to "population advocacy”? The role of a nurse educator as an advanced practice nurse advocating for equitable population
health services and policies is not as easily seen by the general public or by the recipient
population, but is just as powerful and important. As nurses are ideally placed for social justice
advocacy, it is important nurse educators themselves are prepared to keep up with evolving
content srurormding health disparities, vulnerable populations, and other challenges of
population health (S cheffer, Lasater, Atherton 81 Kyle, 2019). "The use of effective pedagogical
strategies is essential to engage students in acting for social justice" (Scheffer et al., 2019, p. 60)
and several studies have "suggested that clinical experiences positively influenced students’
attitudes and support the value of integrating service learning clinical opportunities with
homeless individuals into nursing curricula” (Scheffer et al., 2019, p. 60). Several studies have shown increased compassion in students’ care and attitudes toward
vulnerable populations with the integration of service—learning (Scheffer et al., 2019, p. 60). A study comparing student nurse attitudes and perceptions surrormding poverty and social justice
supported the need for educators to "develop curricular content and pedagogical strategies"
around these topics to improve studentsT learning and prepare future registered nurses for diverse
challenges (Scheffer et al., 2019, p. 64). In their comparison if one U.S. university and one U.K. university with these principles already integrated, "U.S. students showed a more positive
attitude to poverty and social justice, had higher levels of environmental support to perform
behaviors promoting social justice, and showed higher intention to carry out social justice and poverty-related behaviors", however, findings indicated perceptions of behavioral control were
lower, meaning students may not be Lmderstanding the impact and difference they can make as nurses (Scheffer et al., 2019, p. 64). It is therefore imperative educational strategies integrate
learning material on health disparities and awareness of social determinants of health to better
educate future nurses on health equity. This study highlighted the importance of population
health centered courses and curricula in musing education. One barrier or challenge to providing this higher quality educational model surrounds the
preparedness of faculty. In order to mitigate healthcare disparities, nurse educators must prepare
nurses to identify social determinants of health and be cognizant of factors in society which limit health outcomes (Darcy-Mahoney, Carter, Green, Mullen, 8: Beard, 2020). In order to teach
these skills, however, nurse educators must be able to embody and role-model these behaviors and values (Darcy-Mahoney et al., 2020). It is recommended that educators be prepared to "facilitate race-related discourse that addresses complex issues such as structural racism and
implicit biases in course work" (Darcy-Mahoney et al., 2020, p. 3). Though many are not comfortable discussing these topics, omission leaves students ill—prepared and unaware of the
impact they can make to mitigate disparities. A second barrier involves the complexities surrounding a full education redesign to be more population health focused and address these disparity gaps. At the baccalaureate level, there is
significant focus on acute care and hospitals, but less so on primary care, rural health, underserved areas, and telehealth training and therefore, preventative health (Darcy-Mahoney et
al. 70901. Tn reduce health disparities nursing leadership and edlicatinn must take on the