How the Policy Proposal Will Address Diversity in the Population to Ensure Equitable Distribution of Resources

 

The key benefit of the peer mentoring program policy program proposed in this study is that teenagers have increased involvement and ownership in decision-making matters sexual behavior leading to reduced cases of teen births. To add further, diversity among students and mentors is important in ensuring that the mentors deliver culturally competent sex education and that students who are physically challenged do not feel discriminated against (Lawlor & Shaw¸ 2020). To address the issue of diversity, the policy proposal will require all schools to follow 4 key factors in coming up with their peer mentoring programs.

  • Detailed program design. The first step is having a clear program design with well-defined outcomes and implementation guidelines outlined. In this case, there should be a training plan which identifies ways in which the specific expectations and responsibilities are to be met by mentors while handling diverse students.
  • Mentor recruitment and selection. The selection of mentors to be used in implementing the proposed policy is important in fulfilling the diversity requirement. The mentors should be drawn from various backgrounds like religious, sexual affiliation, and racial diversification to help meet the needs of various teens (Nowell et al. 2017). In this context, it is important to note that while identifying mentors and mentees from a similar diversity program encourages empathy amongst the matched pairs, cross-group members help foster better understanding which is important for the training programs and the reduction of teen births in the state.
  • Peer mentor training. The peer mentors require support and continuous guidance come training on how to effectively implement the mentorship programs in the schools. To ensure the programs embrace diversity, there must be clear guidelines on how communication and the various mentorship activities are to be conducted. Most importantly, the benefits of cultural sensitivity will be highlighted and emphasized to the mentors for optimal program efficiency.
  • Different activities for mentor-teen interactions. The peer mentorship programs will employ the developmental approach to ensure the activities are diverse, informal, and teen-driven rather than adopting the instructive and prescriptive learning methods (Lawlor & Shaw, 2002). During training, the mentors will be trained on how to include ideas that are not only fun but diverse and creative meaningful experiences to the peers for increased effectiveness in reducing teen births.

How the Policy Proposal Upholds the ANA Code of Ethics

One of ANA’s Code of Ethics states that nurses should collaborate with other healthcare professionals and members of the public in protecting human rights, promoting health diplomacy, and reducing health disparities (What is the Nursing Code of Ethics? n.d). Notably, the peer mentoring policy proposal seeks to reduce sex education disparities in Florida schools and at the same time promote health diplomacy by enlightening the youth about safe sexual practices and the impacts of teen births on their future (Olson & Stokes, 2016). Moreover, the policy proposal seeks to protect the rights of teen mothers since members of the society and education stakeholders are also enlightened about the significance of embracing the population and ensuring that they resume school and engage in profitable life activities to prevent them from slipping into depression.

Different from that, the other ANA’s Code of Ethics that is upheld by the policy proposal is the nurse, in all responsibilities and settings, should advance the nursing profession through scholarly inquiry and research, professional standards development and through the generation of health and nursing policy (What is the Nursing Code of Ethics?, n.d). In this context, APRNs are required to engage in research to identify the best policy that can help reduce teen birth rates in Florida and identify the best stakeholders to collaborate with in ensuring that the proposed policy is successful. Consequently, the research and health policy aspects stipulated in the ANA Code of Ethics are satisfied by implementing the peer mentor program.

Barriers Impeding the Implementation of Peer Mentoring Policy

The main potential barrier impacting the successful implementation of the peer mentorship policy program is the lack of support from the leadership at the state and county levels. Notably, the success of any mentorship program strongly relies on sufficient funding and for leaders to accept and finance the same, they must be visionary and provide the necessary resources needed. The other potential challenge is the limi

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