SAMPLE LETTER THAT YOU CAN USE TO WRITE TO YOUR LEGISLATOR (Month) (Day) (Year) The Honorable (First name) (Last name) (Room Number), State Capitol Sacramento, CA (Zip Code) RE: (state the topic or include the bill number, author and subject if you are writing to support or oppose a particular legislative bill) Dear (Assembly Member/Senator) (Last name): My name is (your first and last name) and I am a regional center consumer (family member /service provider/advocate/community member) who resides in your district. (State why you support or oppose the bill or other issue here. Choose up to three of the strongest points that support your position and state them clearly.) (Include a personal story. Tell your representative why the issue is important to you and how it affects you, your family member and your community.) (Tell your representative how you want her or him to vote on this issue and ask for a response. Be sure to include your name and address on both your letter and envelope.) Sincerely, SIGN YOUR NAME Print your name Street address City, State, Zip code TIPS FOR WRITING, SENDING AN E-MAIL OR CALLING A LEGISLATOR Writing a letter to a legislator Use the proper salutation, for example: The Honorable (first name) (last name) Address City, State, Zip code Dear (Assembly Member / Senator) (last name) Be courteous and informative in your communication. State the purpose of the letter in the opening sentence and if you are referring to a bill, include the bill number, author and topic. If you live in the elected official’s district be sure to say this in the opening paragraph as well. Focus on the message and key points. Personalize the letter by including examples of how the legislation might impact you and your family. Keep the letter brief – not more than one page. Restate your request at the end of the letter, for example urging them to support or oppose the bill. Thank the legislator for his or her support and offer to address any questions that he or she might have. Be sure to include your contact information, and sign the letter. Sending e-mail communication to a legislator The same guidelines apply to e-mail as to written letters. Before sending an e-mail, you might want to call the legislator’s office and ask if a letter sent by e-mail is effective. If you do send an e-mail, send it to the representative. Do not copy other representatives or send a mass e-mail. Make it a brief message with no special layouts or graphics. Do not include attachments. Include your full name and address so it is clear that you are a constituent, and ask for a response. You might also want to send a hard copy of your e-mail to the legislator. Phone calls to a legislator State your name and address and identify yourself as the legislator’s constituent. You will often be speaking with a secretary or aide. Briefly make known your position a ...

1. SAMPLE LETTER THAT YOU CAN USE TO WRITE TO
YOUR LEGISLATOR
(Month) (Day) (Year)
The Honorable (First name) (Last name)
(Room Number), State Capitol
Sacramento, CA (Zip Code)
RE: (state the topic or include the bill number, author and
subject if you are writing to support
or oppose a particular legislative bill)
Dear (Assembly Member/Senator) (Last name):
My name is (your first and last name) and I am a regional center
consumer (family member
/service provider/advocate/community member) who resides in
your district.
(State why you support or oppose the bill or other issue here.
Choose up to three of the

2. strongest points that support your position and state them
clearly.)
(Include a personal story. Tell your representative why the issue
is important to you and how it
affects you, your family member and your community.)
(Tell your representative how you want her or him to vote on
this issue and ask for a response.
Be sure to include your name and address on both your letter
and envelope.)
Sincerely,
SIGN YOUR NAME
Print your name
Street address
City, State, Zip code
TIPS FOR WRITING, SENDING AN E-MAIL OR CALLING A
LEGISLATOR
Writing a letter to a legislator

3. Use the proper salutation, for example:
The Honorable (first name) (last name)
Address
City, State, Zip code
Dear (Assembly Member / Senator) (last name)
Be courteous and informative in your communication.
State the purpose of the letter in the opening sentence and if
you are referring to a bill, include
the bill number, author and topic. If you live in the elected
official’s district be sure to say this in
the opening paragraph as well.
Focus on the message and key points. Personalize the letter by
including examples of how the
legislation might impact you and your family. Keep the letter
brief – not more than one page.
Restate your request at the end of the letter, for example urging
them to support or oppose the
bill. Thank the legislator for his or her support and offer to
address any questions that he or she

4. might have. Be sure to include your contact information, and
sign the letter.
Sending e-mail communication to a legislator
The same guidelines apply to e-mail as to written letters. Before
sending an e-mail, you might
want to call the legislator’s office and ask if a letter sent by e -
mail is effective. If you do send an
e-mail, send it to the representative. Do not copy other
representatives or send a mass e-mail.
Make it a brief message with no special layouts or graphics. Do
not include attachments.
Include your full name and address so it is clear that you are a
constituent, and ask for a
response. You might also want to send a hard copy of your e-
mail to the legislator.
Phone calls to a legislator
State your name and address and identify yourself as the
legislator’s constituent. You will often
be speaking with a secretary or aide. Briefly make known your
position as they keep track of the
issues that people call about to report to the legislator. Have
your thoughts organized in

5. advance, which will help you to keep the call brief and to the
point. It is also very helpful to
share how the issue affects you personally. Thank them for their
support.
Public Health Concerns Advocacy Letter
Faculty Assignment Guidelines & Scoring Rubric
Purpose
The purpose of this assignment is to provide an opportunity for
students to apply and disseminate information based on the
status of public health policies and practices designed to
address important public health problems, concerns and
implications for nursing practice. The learning goals for this
activity are:
· Identify and explain one issue area of national concern.
· Describe population-level statistics that describe the problem.
· Increase skills for influential writing around public health
issues.
· Increase skills for advocacy activities.
Course Outcomes
Through this assignment, the student will demonstrate the
ability to
(CO 1) Provide comprehensive care with increasing autonomy
to individuals, families, aggregates, and communities in a
variety of healthcare settings based on theories and principles of
nursing and related disciplines. (PO 1)
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8;
(CO 2) Integrate clinical judgment in professional decision
making and implement the nursing process in the community
health setting. (PO 4)

6. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and
(CO 8) Incorporate evidence-based practice in the provision of
professional nursing care to individuals, families, aggregates,
and communities. (PO 8)
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).
Due Date: Sunday 11:59 p.m. MT at the end of Week 4
Total Points Possible: 40 PointsRequirements:
Through this assignment, the student will
Write a letter to their legislator (House of Representatives or
Senator) on a public health topic. The student will state relevant
statistics in the area, indicate how this issue is affecting nursing
practice and describe the action the student would like the
legislator to take in regards to a current bill, or in support of the
issue. (COs 1, 2 and 8)
Preparing the letter
You are going to prepare a letter to your Representative or
Senator on a public health issue/topic. You are going to ask
your legislator to take some sort of action on the issue (you do
not have to send it to the legislator unless you so choose). Here
are the steps for the letter and what I am looking for in these
sections.
Steps for researching your topic
Step 1: Pick one of the following public health concerns as
identified by the ANA or CDC. For more information and
search for your topic. The topics are:
ANA topics:
https://ana.aristotle.com/SitePages/issues.aspx
CDC topics

7. https://www.cdc.gov/publichealthgateway/strategy/index.html
Step 2: Identify two key statistics about the public health issue
that speaks to its importance. This could be something like
“53% of women are exposed to violence during pregnancy” or
something like that.
Step 3: Determine who is being affected by this issue – i.e. what
type of population (age? Gender? Race/ethnicity? Occupations?)
Step 4: Research using nursing association, public health
association websites about how this affects nurses.
Steps for the letter:
Step 1: Identify your representative using
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members
Choose either your representative or Senator to address your
letter.
Step 2: Go that legislator’s websites, and research issues they
are involved in. This will help identify their current stance on
the issue you are addressing.
Step 3: Draft your letter in a Word Document. Address the
following sections:
· State the purpose of your letter.
· State your identify as a student nurse, and your address.
· Provide the rationale for why this issue is important. Include
the background research you conducted on the issue, very
briefly. Include the 2 statistics you found.
· Identify why this issue is of importance to nursing.
· Identify a solution to the issue, and ask the legislator to
support this solution. (The solution should be realistic, such as
supporting future legislation to do xyz. Something like “put $15
billion towards this issue” is not very realistic. If you need any
help with this, please let me know.
Best Practices in Preparing the Paper
Utilize resources available to you to assist with finding

8. appropriate literature and articles from professional nursing
journals relevant to your topic and preparing for and writing the
paper. The letter does not have to be in APA format, but please
cite in your assignment the website where your statistics are
taken from. Language in the letter should be courteous. Proper
spelling and grammar are required.
Grading Criteria for Paper Assignment
Letter sections:
Letter should be a minimum 500 words, maximum 1,000 words.
Points
Paper score
Purpose and Identify (includes correct identification of the
legislator based on address)
5
Background
•Two statistics
· Affected population
20
Request of legislator:
·
Solution
identified and is realistic
Grammar/spelling:
· Proper grammar and mechanics
· Correct spelling

9. · websites or resources for statistics
· word count.
10
5
Total
A quality assignment will
meet or exceed all
of the above requirements.
40
Chamberlain College of Nursing NR 442 Community
Health
2