Health Policy and Ethics
The selected legislation is titled Relating to the collection and use of suicide data by the statewide behavioral health coordinating council. The bill number is HB 4074. Representatives Todd Hunter, Nicole Collier, and Victoria Neave, as well as, Senator Jose Menendez were the sponsors of the bill that passed and created this policy (capitol.texas.gov, 2021). This policy aims at suicide prevention in the State of Texas. It gives the council the authority to include statewide suicide prevention efforts in its five-year statewide behavioral health strategic plan. Under this law, the council was given the mandate to create a suicide prevention subcommittee to enhance statewide suicide prevention using information collected by the council from suicide data reports (capitol.texas.gov, 2021). The subcommittee establishes guidelines for the frequent use of the collected suicide data.
This law advocates for people who are at risk of committing suicide. By gathering related data, prevalence can be determined and solutions established to prevent these incidences (capitol.texas.gov, 2021). This kind of advocacy is geared towards improving population health because it improves the lives of those at risk of committing suicide. Suicide is a nationwide health concern in the United States. According to NIH (2022), suicide was the second leading cause of death in 2020 among individuals between the ages of 10 and 14 and 25 and 34. It was the third leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 15 and 24. Therefore, suicide is a big problem in the USA (NIH, 2022). The policy (HB 4074) is in line with the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code of Ethics for Nurses. The ANA code of ethics provision 3 states that nurses should collaborate with other health professionals and the public to protect human rights, promote health diplomacy, and reduce health disparities (ANA, 2015). This provision supports efforts for preventing suicide incidences to promote population health.
References
ANA. (2015). Code of ethics with interpretative statements. Silver Spring. http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/CodeofEthicsforNurses/Code-ofEthics-For-Nurses.html
capitol.texas.gov. (2021). HB 4074: Relating to the collection and use of suicide data by the statewide behavioral health coordinating council. https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=87R&Bill=HB4074
NIH. (2022). Suicide is a Leading Cause of Death in the United States. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide