Health care reform and the shift to prevention
Three questions in 150 to 200 words, with marks taken off for going over. That means one tight sentence-group each, no throat-clearing, and every claim carrying a citation.
Editorial process
Last reviewed · August 15, 2026
Three questions in 150 to 200 words
The word limit is the constraint that shapes everything: no more than 150 to 200 words for three questions, with points deducted for exceeding it. That is roughly fifty to sixty words each, so there is no room for an introduction, a restatement of the question, or a closing summary. Start with the answer to the first question in the first sentence. On the shift itself, be specific about the mechanisms rather than describing an attitude change: reform tied payment to outcomes rather than volume, required coverage of preventive services without cost sharing, funded community prevention, and penalised readmissions — each of which moves money toward keeping people well rather than toward treating them once ill. Naming a mechanism is what distinguishes this from a post about a change in philosophy, and at this word count it is also more economical, since one mechanism carries more than three sentences of description.
The second question asks how the trend continues, and the strongest short answer names concrete directions: value-based and capitated payment expanding, social determinants screening entering routine care and reimbursement, remote monitoring shifting management out of facilities, and population health analytics identifying risk before presentation. The third asks about nursing's role, and the useful framing is that nurses are already the workforce doing prevention — the education at discharge, the screening at every encounter, the care coordination that stops a readmission — so the role is less about taking on something new than about that work being recognised and reimbursed. Say that in one sentence rather than three. Two sources minimum, APA 6th as specified, and cited properly since the prompt warns that points come off for incorrect APA. For the reply, name a real initiative in your own organisation rather than a category, which is what the peer requirement is actually asking for.
Likely learning objectives
Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.
- 01Identify the payment and coverage mechanisms that produced the shift.
- 02Name concrete directions in which the trend continues.
- 03Frame nursing's role as recognition of existing work rather than a new task.
- 04Write to a tight word limit without losing the substance.
Read the full question
Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.
Course-wide instructions that accompany this question
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes. Disease-oriented health care system to one of wellness Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages. Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor. The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument. 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. Disease-oriented health care system to one of wellness
Turn the brief into deliverables
- 01A post of 150-200 words answering all three questions.
- 02Named reform mechanisms rather than a description of changed attitudes.
- 03Specific future directions.
- 04Nursing's role stated concretely.
- 05At least two APA 6th formatted sources, and a real initiative in your reply.
The shift, its continuation, then nursing's role
The mechanisms of the shift
Name payment reform, preventive coverage and readmission penalties.
How the trend continues
Give value-based payment, social determinants screening and remote monitoring.
Nursing's role
Frame it as recognition and reimbursement of prevention work already done.
Discipline the length
Cut the introduction and conclusion so the three answers fit.
Two sources, chosen for reach
Recommended databases
- KFF health policy resources
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
- CINAHL
- PubMed Central
Search sequence
- 1.Find one source documenting a specific reform mechanism rather than reform in general.
- 2.Look up a current value-based programme so the future-directions answer names something real.
- 3.Search for evidence on nursing's contribution to prevention outcomes for the third question.
- 4.Check the APA 6th reference format before submitting, since the prompt warns about it.
Reference shortlist
These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.
Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.
- 01
Value-Based Programs
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services · 2025
The payment mechanism that operationalised the shift, which is the first question's substance.
- 02
Health Policy 101 Introduction
KFF · 2024
Coverage and preventive services policy, and the direction of travel for the second question.
- 03
The Impact of Education on Nursing Practice
American Association of Colleges of Nursing · 2026
Evidence on nursing's contribution to outcomes, supporting the third question.
- 04
Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality · 2024
Prevention and safety programmes, useful for naming a real initiative in your reply.
Review before submission
Common mistakes
- Exceeding the word limit, which is explicitly penalised.
- Describing a philosophical shift rather than the payment mechanisms that caused it.
- Using an introduction and conclusion, which the word count cannot afford.
- Answering the nursing question with a general commitment to holistic care.
- Using APA 7th when 6th is specified.
Submission checklist
- Is the post inside 200 words?
- Have you named at least one payment or coverage mechanism?
- Are the future directions specific?
- Is nursing's role stated in terms of existing work?
- Are there two sources in APA 6th format?
Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read our academic-integrity policy.

Written by
Aaron Bishop
MA, Education
assignment interpretation and research-methods coaching across disciplines
Aaron leads the EssayCrackers editorial desk. He works on how assignment briefs are read — what a rubric is actually asking for, and where students most often answer a different question than the one set.

Reviewed by
Dr. Nathan Cole
PhD, Rhetoric & Composition
Argumentation and thesis development
Nathan teaches first-year composition and directs a university writing center. He reviews EssayCrackers guides for argumentative soundness and citation accuracy.