| Course | DNP 711 Healthcare Policy and Innovation |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 1 |
| Paper type | Health policy blog post |
| Length | About 491 words |
| Format | Discussion post with APA 7 citations |
| School | Arizona State University |
| Program | Doctor of Nursing Practice |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for DNP 711 Module 1
Blog 1: The Story Behind My Policy Topic
Discharged to the Bus Stop: Why I Am Writing About Medical Respite Care
The Story
His name is not Ray, but that is what I will call him. Ray was 58, had diabetes and had spent eleven days in our hospital after surgery on an infected foot. On the morning he was medically ready to leave, he had a prescription for antibiotics, instructions to keep his foot clean and dry and off the ground, and nowhere to go. He had been sleeping in a park for two years. Our shelters could not take him with a wound vac, and the skilled nursing facilities we called would not accept a patient with no address and no payer for a long stay.
At 2 p.m., we discharged Ray with a bus pass. Nineteen days later he was back in our emergency department with a worse infection, and this time he lost part of his foot.
Why This Is My Topic
As a case manager, I see versions of Ray every week. The problem is not that clinicians do not care. It is that our system has a gap between the hospital, which is too expensive and too acute for recovery, and the street, where recovery is nearly impossible. Medical respite care, sometimes called recuperative care, fills that gap with a short stay in a safe place where people can rest, take their medications and see a nurse while they heal.
The evidence is encouraging. In one cohort, homeless adults admitted to a respite program after discharge had fewer inpatient days in the following year than similar patients turned away because beds were full (Buchanan et al., 2006). A systematic review found that respite programs reduced later admissions and readmissions, though study quality varied (Doran et al., 2013). My DNP project is on readmissions, which makes this policy question part of my scholarship as well as my daily work.
The Ethical and Equity Stakes
Discharging someone to the street with an open wound is legal and routine. That does not make it right. Justice asks whether a person's housing status should decide whether they can heal. Equity asks who ends up at the bus stop: in Maricopa County, people experiencing homelessness are disproportionately Black and Native American, older and living with chronic illness. Dawes (2020) argues that the political determinants of health, the laws and budgets that shape who gets resources, sit upstream of the social determinants. Whether respite beds exist is one of those political decisions.
What This Blog Will Follow
Over the next four posts, I will map who has a stake in respite care, the laws and agencies that decide whether it is funded, how evidence is used in this policy area and what a policymaker told me about moving it forward. My question for the semester: what would it take for Arizona to make medical respite care a reliable part of care for people leaving the hospital without a home?
References
Buchanan, D., Doblin, B., Sai, T., & Garcia, P. (2006). The effects of respite care for homeless patients: A cohort study. American Journal of Public Health, 96(7), 1278-1281. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2005.067850
Dawes, D. E. (2020). The political determinants of health. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Doran, K. M., Ragins, K. T., Gross, C. P., & Zerger, S. (2013). Medical respite programs for homeless patients: A systematic review. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 24(2), 499-524. https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2013.0053
What the DNP 711 Module 1 instructions ask for
The posted syllabus asks DNP 711 students to set up a health policy blog in the first module and post Blog 1, telling the story of their chosen policy topic. The post should explain why the topic is relevant to your professional and scholarly activities and discuss its ethical and equity impacts, and you may use text, audio, video or a combination. The same module includes workshopping your topic on the discussion board, a course preflection and an immersion session. Blog posts are worth 25% of the grade across five posts, and separate comment assignments on classmates' blogs add another 10%. Canvas holds the rubric and the dates for posting and for submitting comment screenshots. Choose a topic narrow enough that five posts and a white paper can go deep on it.
How this DNP 711 Module 1 example is built
The post opens with a short, specific story of one patient, told with details that let readers picture the moment of discharge. It then names the policy topic in plain words, explains the gap it fills and gives two pieces of evidence with their limits. A paragraph ties the topic to the writer's role and DNP project. The ethical and equity section names justice and equity directly, points to who is most affected locally and uses the course text on political determinants of health to explain why this is a policy question rather than only a clinical one. The post closes by previewing the blog's next four posts and stating one guiding question. Three sources support it.
DNP 711 Module 1 rubric: what earns full marks
Blog rubrics in this course are likely to weigh the clarity and power of the story, the relevance to professional and scholarly work, the discussion of ethical and equity impacts, use of evidence, writing for a public audience and correct citation. Storytelling earns most when it is specific and brief and leads directly into the policy issue. Relevance is strongest when the writer links the topic to her actual role or project. Ethical and equity analysis should name who is affected and why. Because it is a blog, plain language and short paragraphs matter, but sources still need APA citations. Engaging comments from classmates often follow posts that end with a clear question.
DNP 711 Module 1 help with common mistakes
Many first blog posts explain the topic like a textbook and never tell a story. Start with a person or a moment. Another common problem is naming equity without saying who is affected; be specific about the groups most harmed in your setting. Change any patient details so no one can be identified. Keep the post readable for people outside health care. Tell the desk which policy you chose and the story behind it, and a first blog draft can be written in that voice. Set up your blog platform early, since technical problems can delay the first post. Proofread on the published page, not only in your draft.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Arizona State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
More DNP 711 and Doctor of Nursing Practice sample papers
- DNP 711 Module 2: Blog 2: Stakeholders in the Policy Topic
- DNP 711 Module 3: Blog 3: Statutory and Regulatory Mechanisms
- DNP 711 Module 4: Policy Brief
- DNP 711 Module 5: Blog 4: Evidence, Innovation and a Generative AI Critique
- DNP 711 Module 6: Blog 5: Interview With a Policymaker
- DNP 711 Module 7: White Paper
- DNP 711 Module 8: Written and Oral Testimony
- DNP 707 Module 3: Ethics in Publication Discussion
- DNP 703 Module 4: Synthesis Essay
- DNP 649 Module 2: Reproductive Physiology Case Study: PCOS
- DNP 679 Module 1: Post Immersion 1 Written Assignment: Descriptive Statistics on Insomnia Severity Data
DNP 711 Module 1 questions, answered
Where can I find a free DNP 711 Module 1 sample paper?
The blog post above is a complete DNP 711 Blog 1 sample that tells the story of a policy topic, medical respite care, with its professional link and equity impacts.
What is Blog 1 in DNP 711?
It is the first post on your course policy blog, telling the story of your health policy topic and its relevance, ethics and equity impacts, due in Module 1.
How much are the DNP 711 blogs worth?
The posted syllabus weights five blog posts at 25% of the grade and five sets of blog comments at 10%.
Can a DNP 711 blog post use video or audio?
Yes. The syllabus allows text, audio, video or a combination for Blog 1.
What is medical respite care?
A short stay in a safe bed with nursing oversight, offered to people without homes who are past needing a hospital but not yet well enough to heal outside.