Legislative Network for Nurses articles from February 2006

Legislative Network for Nurses archives from February 2006

Nurses, other advocates not pleased with narrow focus of Bush health plan.
February 6, 2006... While the administration should be commended for refocusing on the issue of health care reform during the Jan. 31 State of the Union address, the president's proposals place too much emphasis on the concerns of employers--small businesses in...

RN unions unite to improve patient care.
February 6, 2006... Two major nurse unions, the United American Nurses and the Service Employees International Union, Jan. 27 announced an agreement to build a cooperative relationship designed to unite nurses across the country in an effort to advocate for...

Nurses displeased with house passage of bill slashing Medicaid, home health.
February 6, 2006... In a blow to nurses and other patient advocates, the House Feb. 1 passed the Deficit Reduction Act (S. 1932) by a 216-214 vote. The bill would cut Medicaid by $22.6 billion over 10 years, with 80 percent of the savings resulting from Medicaid...

AWHONN urges more RNs to educate women on the risks of c-sections.
February 6, 2006... Nurses should more fully educate women considering elective cesarean sections on the implications that the procedure could have on themselves and their babies, the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses said in a recent...

Purdue School of Nursing launches health care engineering PhD program.
February 6, 2006... Nurses are arming themselves with new tools--systems engineering, information technology and management principles--to revolutionize health care delivery, and the Purdue University School of Nursing intends to be on the forefront of educating...

California assembly passes clean money in elections bill; RNs pleased.
February 6, 2006... A bill that would make California the fourth state to enact public financing of campaigns for candidates who voluntarily accept limits on contributions from "deep pocket donors" won approval in the state Assembly Jan. 30, the California Nurses...

JCAHO issues alert urging more attention to medication safety.
February 6, 2006... Nurses and other health care providers should give increased attention to the accuracy of medications given to patients as they transition from one care setting to another, or one practitioner to another, the Joint Commission on Accreditation...

Groups announce model legislation for health care-associated infections.
February 6, 2006... The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America recently released model legislation to assist patient safety initiatives...

Stop smoking.
February 6, 2006... The American Nurses Foundation, in partnership with the UCLA School of Nursing and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is participating in the first national program focused on helping nurses to stop smoking. The American Nurses Association...

Nursing Faculty Scholarship.
February 6, 2006... Monster.com, an online careers site, and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing told LNN that five scholarship winners have been selected to receive $25,000 awards through a new program created to address the growing shortage of nurse...

Alcohol Screening Day.
February 6, 2006... The American Hospital Association encourages clinicians to register to participate in National Alcohol Screening Day, a program that educates the public about alcohol's impact on health. Sites that register for the April 6 event will receive a...

Malpractice cases.
February 6, 2006... The American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants has published an official position statement regarding expert testimony in medical malpractice cases. In the statement, AALNC maintains that nurses possess specialized knowledge that...

National Provider Identifier.
February 6, 2006... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has posted guidance to help Medicare-enrolled health care providers determine how they should handle "subparts" and whether these will need a separate National Provider Identifier (NPI) for use in...

Medical evacuation.
February 6, 2006... The National Transportation Safety Board recently called for new safety standards in the medical transport aviation industry after an 18-month study revealed what the agency termed a disturbingly high number of fatal accidents among transport...

Georgia.(prescription writing by nurse practitioners)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Georgia: After more than a decade of lobbying, Georgia nurses say they may finally win the "right to write" prescriptions, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently reported. Two bills on the topic have a better chance than ever of passing,...

Kansas.(Wesley Hospital remedies for medical malpractice)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Kansas: A patient whose primary nurse was overburdened--allegedly caring for more than 20 patients--recently won $2.7 million in a malpractice lawsuit against Wesley Hospital in Wichita, ABCNews.com recently reported. Initially misdiagnosed...

Louisiana.(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Louisiana: Tulane University Hospital and Clinic, in downtown New Orleans, will reopen its emergency department and other inpatient and outpatient services on Feb. 14, the hospital announced Feb. 3. The hospital has been closed since Hurricane...

Massachusetts.(State News)
February 6, 2006... Massachusetts: Massachusetts hospitals recently began publicly posting their staffing plans in the hospital and online. A brochure explaining the roles of each hospital caregiver also will be distributed at the hospitals. The effort is part of...

Wisconsin.(registered nurses survey )(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Wisconsin: The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development is surveying Wisconsin's 73,000 registered nurses as part of a strategy to fix the state's shortage of nurses, the Milwaukee Business Journal recently reported. About 5,000 nurses...

The Health Resources and Services Administration.(education loans )(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... The Health Resources and Services Administration Jan. 25 posted online the FY 2006 application for the Nurse Education Loan Repayment Program. This program repays up to 85 percent of an RN's outstanding student loans in return for full-time...

The National Quality Forum.(Opportunities)
February 6, 2006... The National Quality Forum and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is accepting nominations for the John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award. The award is designed to recognize the achievements of...

The 2006 National Patient Safety Foundation Congress.(Opportunities)
February 6, 2006... The 2006 National Patient Safety Foundation Congress seeks entries for the poster display at its Congress 2006. Posters will be presented in two categories: solutions and research. The solutions poster session will focus on effective leadership...