Hi, Professor Lovci and fellow nursing students,

Ethics and morals encompass principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong.  When we as a community—on a city and state level as well—do not address the health needs and issues of the underserved populations the rest of the community is affected too, albeit indirectly.  We have arrived overtime to this place where we view the underserved in a light of being “less than” the majority because they do not fit into our nice little mold of what we believe to be “the norm”.  This is largely due to themes or biases we have constructed about the underserved populations.  DeMarco (2016) astutely points out that we blame the victim and accuse them of “making poor choices” or “having the wrong priorities” (p. 375).  We see them as being powerless, vulnerable, and not caring about injury, infection, or even preventive care (DeMarco, 2016). History: Week 6 Intimate Partner Violence/Substance Abuse Project

LGBT health is addressed by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2017) and California Department of Public Health (CDPH) (2017); however, if this information is not made available to LGBT community through venues and arenas they would attend and frequent this population would have no way of knowing about the resources.  Members of the LGBT community experience some distinct health concerns—similar to other communities—however, some of the health issues can affect LGBT individuals differently (CDPH, 2017).  Therefore, I believe it would be prudent to assemble pamphlets with information about the resources available which can assist this community in determining what screenings are necessary at each stage of life so that they understand which health issues impact the LGBT most often (CDC, 2017).  In addition, these resources will provide them with the tools they will need to be the healthiest at every phase of their life and empower them to make health a priority.

Reference

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2017). LGBT youth resources.  Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/youth-resources.htm

California Department of Public Health (CDPH) (2017).  LGBT health.  Retrieved from https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DOA/Pages/LGBT_Health.aspx#

DeMarco, R. F. (2016).  Underserved populations.  In Harkness, G. A. & DeMarco, R. F. (Eds.), Community and Public Health Nursing: Evidence for Practice. (pp. 357-377). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.