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In this Issue:
I hope you all enjoyed the mild winter we had here in the Inland Empire, spring is upon us! We hope you will join us this spring at some of the events sponsored by your professional organization.
In January, we hosted the Local Unit Chair "Dinner on Us." This is IENA's opportunity to strengthen our connection with your WSNA LUCs and discover opportunities to support the wonderful nurses in our community. If you need information on whom the local unit officers are at your facility, please click here.
One of the opportunities identified at this meeting was facilitation of continuing education in our community. To this end, we are planning a workshop that builds on the WSNA workplace violence program: "Workplace Violence: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)." We also have a link on our site to community events and CE opportunities in the Spokane area. This is frequently updated, so please check our website to stay current on these offerings.
WSNA Nurse Legislative Day in Olympia, February 8, 2010. Twenty-six people represented IENA at this important event, including students and faculty from Washington State University College of Nursing and Spokane Community College, and the IENA Board of Directors. We had the opportunity to visit with State Representatives, sit in on committee hearings, and hear from our WSNA colleagues. Nurse Legislative Day provides the opportunity to make our voices heard in Olympia, and we encourage every nurse in our district to participate in the future. IENA will be sponsoring a bus again next year, so please visit our website in the fall for details. To view pictures from the event, visit our Photo Galleries page.
Please join your Inland Empire Nurses Association in support of MS research by participating on our team for the Walk MS on April 11, 8:30 AM at Spokane Falls Community College, W 3410 Ft. George Wright Drive. Click here to view the IENA company page and join our team.
IENA will participate in the Pride in Nursing Conference on May 7. The conference will be held at Mukagawa Fort Wright Institute, and WSNA will be sharing our exhibit booth. It has consistently been well attended with over 200 participants. This will be one of many events during National Nurses Week. Your IENA will be providing support to area facilities with cake or gifts for the celebrations honoring the wonderful work you do every day!
Later this spring, IENA will again be hosting the Spring Scholarship and Awards Gala. Watch our website for details about this event. To view pictures of last year's event please visit our Photo Galleries page. Be sure to check the website often for updated information including educational offerings and community events.
With great regret, we bid farewell to two board members: Anne Bailey and Carlene Haynes, due to health concerns. We appreciate their dedication to IENA, and both will be dearly missed.
IENA Elections will be held in July 2010 for the IENA Board of Directors. PLEASE JOIN US! Your professional experience is invaluable in promoting the nursing profession and advocating for health and safety in our community. If you are interested in serving, please contact our Administrative Secretary JoAnn Kaiser at iena@aimcomm.net.
Please visit the Inland Empire Nurses Association at Facebook. Find out about upcoming events, read our comments and learn more from our nursing links. Come and join us!
Michele Slider, RN, MSN IENA President
Susan Hassmiller, senior adviser for nursing at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, writes about the need for nurses to be full partners in reforming the health care system and improving patient care.
There's image and there's reality, and the two are not the same where nurses are concerned. Nurses are seen as trusted, caring, compassionate, skilled health care providers. But that image doesn't fully capture the reality of the roles nurses play in our health care system, which are much more extensive, substantive, pivotal and robust.
Today, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Gallup are releasing an unprecedented survey of 1,500 opinion leaders that provides insight into what we need to do to ensure nurses' place at the decision-making table-and to give health reform every chance to succeed. In many ways, the two objectives are inextricably connected.
For years, nurses have come out on top of Gallup's annual poll of most trusted professionals. It's a truism that the public trusts nurses. But this survey goes deeper. It finds that diverse opinion leaders-including those in insurance, health services, government, industry and academia-say that nurses should have more influence on health systems and services.
Despite the trust nurses have earned and the expertise they regularly demonstrate, opinion leaders predict that nurses will have less influence on health care reform than government, insurance, and pharmaceutical executives. Seventy-five percent of opinion leaders say government officials will have a great deal of influence in health reform in the next five to 10 years, compared to 56% for insurance executives, 46% for pharmaceutical executives, 46% for health care executives, 37% for doctors, 20% for patients-and just 14% for nurses.
That's how it is, they say. but not how it should be. In fact, these same opinion leaders say that nurses should have more influence, and they are clear about why. Large majorities of opinion leaders would like nurses to have more influence in reducing medical errors and improving patient safety (90%); improving quality of care (89%); promoting wellness and expanding preventive care (86%); improving health care efficiency and reducing costs (84%); coordinating care through the health care system (83%); helping the health care system adapt to an aging population (83%); and increasing access to health care (74%).
They see nurses as the expert problem-solvers and innovators that they are. So why don't nurses have more influence? Opinion leaders see significant barriers that prevent nurses from fully participating as leaders in health and health care. The top barriers to nurses' increased influence and leadership, they say, are that nurses are not perceived as important decision makers (69%) or revenue generators (68%) compared with doctors. They also say nurses' focus on primary rather than preventive care (62%) is an impediment to leadership, as is the fact that nurses don't have a single voice when they speak on national issues (56%).
Unless these barriers are removed, the nation will not take advantage of all that nurses have to offer and our health care system will suffer as a result. So how do we remove these barriers? How do we ensure that nurses have more say as health care is reformed? This survey points to a number of action steps for health care leaders, and for nurses themselves.
Health leaders should recognize nurses as experts at implementing safe, high quality care, and seek information and guidance from them. Certainly, no other profession offers the patient perspective that nurses bring. That perspective should be represented not just at the bedside, but also when administrative decisions are made and policies are considered, and when boards make financial and other decisions. One of my colleagues says that if a nurse isn't present at a meeting about the delivery of health care, there's a problem. He is right!
Nurses have to step up as well and actively seek out positions on committees and boards. Our health care system needs leadership from nurses at all levels, so it's up to us to find and use our voice. At the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, we have countless examples of nurses creating solutions that make care more patient-centered and higher quality. That needs to become an everyday occurrence at hospitals, clinics and other health settings throughout the country.
With reform on the horizon this work is more important than ever. The imperative today is to encourage nurses' leadership. Unless that happens we will continue squandering opportunities to learn from nurses, implement their ideas and solutions for how to improve the quality of patient care everywhere. Please join me on this quest of seeking board assignments that will make a difference and helping colleagues with their quest. Thought leaders believe we can make a difference. Let's prove them right!
NOMINATIONS:
If interested in serving your local professional association, please contact Administrative Secretary JoAnn Kaiser at the IENA office by May 15, 2010 to obtain a Consent to Serve form. JoAnn can also provide more information about the responsibilities of each position.
Office phone: 328-8288 Office email: iena@aimcomm.net
NEW IENA
MEMBERS:
Click here for the new IENA Members list.
The Inland Empire Nurses Association is District 4 of the Washington State Nurses Association. For information on membership Registered Nurses should call WSNA at 1-800-231-8482 or the IENA office at (509) 328-8288 or e-mail iena@aimcomm.net.
The Inland Empire Nurses Association Office is located at 222 W. Mission Ste. 231 in the Garden Court Building. Please call 328-8288 before visiting to ensure a staff member is on hand to greet you.
Tax free contribution or memorial remembrances in the name of a loved one may be mailed to: Inland Empire Nurses Association, 222 W. Mission, STE 231, Spokane, WA 99201.
The Association News is published quarterly by the Inland Empire Nurses Association, 222 W. Mission, Box 231, Spokane, WA 99201, a non-profit organization. Information on advertising rates may be obtained by calling 509-328-8288.
If you are interested in serving on a Association committee please call the office at 509-328-8288.
Committees : Scholarship, Awards, Legislative Reception, Yearly Nurse Celebration Event, Education, Finance, and Nominations. Most of the committees have a limited involvement of time. |
Editors: Michele Slider JoAnn Kaiser
2009-2010 Board of Directors Inland Empire Nurses Association
President: Michele Slider Vice-President: Vacant Treasurer: Vacant Secretary: Louanne Hausmann Directors-at-Large: Anne Bailey Danielle Feist Larry Koffel Peggy Slider Peggy Smith Occupational Group Directors: General Duty: Vivian Hill Community/Public Health: Laurie Vessey Independent Practice: Vacant Nursing Management: Vacant Education: Lynn Stapleton Nominations Committee: Kelly Knight, Christine Slider, Michele Wolfe Administrative Secretary: JoAnn Kaiser Past President: Theresa Buxton
> March 8, 2010: Extended Deadline for Scholarship & Awards Applications.
The application process has begun for IENA annual scholarship and awards.
To obtain a scholarship application form, click here. The awards application can be found by clicking here.
> April 11, 2010: MS Walk Join the IENA team in this worthwhile event! Click here to view the IENA company page and join our team.
> May 6-12, 2010: National Nurses Week Honoring all nurses for the wonderful work you do every day!
> May 7, 2010: Pride in Nursing Conference IENA will share an exhibit booth with WSNA. The Conference will be held at the Mukagawa Fort Wright Institute.
> Spring 2010: IENA Spring Gala Event Date and venue TBD. Check back soon for details on our web site.
> June 2010: IENA will again be holding elections for Board positions. If you or anyone you know is interested in serving on the Board, please call the office at 509-328-8288 by April 1, 2010.
GALLOP POLL: NURSES MOST TRUSTED SILVER SPRING, MD - For the eighth consecutive year, nurses have been voted the most trusted profession in America according to Gallup's annual survey of professions for their honesty and ethical standards. Eighty-three percent of Americans believe nurses' honesty and ethical standards are either "high" or "very high."
"It is with great pride that the ANA recognizes the trust placed in us by the patients we serve," commented ANA President Rebecca M. Patton, MSN, RN, CNOR. "At this time, when issues regarding the quality and availability of care are at the forefront of the national debate, we find it especially rewarding to see that nursing integrity and commitment continues to be acknowledged."
Since being included in the Gallup poll in 1999, nurses have received the highest ranking every year except in 2001, when fire fighters received top honors. Results were based on telephone interviews with more than 1,000 adults.
Make the New Year Count for You and Your Community
The holidays have ended and the New Year has arrived. Make sure your New Year's resolution continues the spirit of giving and helping others. This year commit yourself to making a difference in your community. The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) of Eastern Washington is an organization that works to improve the health and safety of communities by organizing and utilizing public health, medical, and other volunteers.
Recently, MRC has been involved with the H1N1 clinics that vaccinated thousands of Washington residents with the help of both medical and non-medical volunteers. On a national scale, MRC has assisted during the 2005 Hurricane Season, providing health services, mental health and shelter operations.
MRC is looking for two types of volunteers:
Medical, healthcare, public health and animal care professionals from all health-related occupations, including those who are active, practicing, retired, or non-practicing. Non-medical, support volunteers who are essential to emergency healthcare response (administrative services, communications, record keeping, translation services, etc).
Volunteers are free to choose their level of involvement; active, limited, or emergency events only. They are also encouraged to take advantage of trainings offered in addition to Incident Command System and National Incident Management System trainings.
MRC thrives on volunteers who want to experience the reward of helping others. The organization looks forward to creating new volunteer projects for 2010 and seeing new faces to take advantage of these volunteer opportunities.
For more information on MRC or if interested in becoming a volunteer, please contact:
(MRC Coordinator) 509-209-2607
Or:
509-209-2856
Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Inland Empire Nurses Association!
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