I recently received the 2012 Nurse in Washington Internship (NIWI) student registration scholarship. I exercised my first amendment right to “petition the government for a redress of grievances” and traveled to Washington, DC on February 26-28, 2012. I joined nurses from 30 other states and 42 professional nursing organizations to lobby for nursing at the national level. There were four other nurses from Georgia.
The Nursing Organization Alliance (NOA) identified the top three 2012 legislative issues affecting nursing.
The first request was for support of the $251 million for Nursing Workforce Development Programs (Title VIII, Public Health Service Act). This is important to Georgia as the population has grown 1.7 million in the last ten years and we are currently ranked 49th in the provision of medical services. Georgia also ranks in among the top five states with the highest unemployment. I myself hope to receive funds when I complete my MSN and meet the demand for nursing instructors. In 2011, 51,082 qualified applicants were turned away from entry level BSN programs due to a faculty shortage.
The second request was for support for the $150 million for the National Institute of Nursing research (part of the National Institute of Health). This is less than 0.5% of the total NIH budget. Nursing research provides the foundation for evidence based practice and evidence based curriculum.
These two items are needed to meet the 2010 Institute of Medicine’s recommendations in the Future of Nursing report, which called for increasing the number of baccalaureate-prepared nurses in the workforce to 80% by 2020.
The third and final request was for support of the $20 million for Nurse Managed Clinics. My son, a college student, was seen and treated by a nurse practitioner at the school clinic for a nominal charge. A nurse form Savannah reported that the nurse run clinics provide free care to the indigent, keeping them out of the emergency department. A nurse from Atlanta reports that the nurse run clinic there serves as a site for clinical rotations for nurses, pharmacists, respiratory, etc.
The Georgia group first met with Francie Pastor, a legislative assistant to Senator Isakson. Ms. Pastor was well informed and sounded supportive overall. Next we meet with Richard Gerakitis, a legislative assistant to Senator Saxby Chambliss. Mr. Gerakitis told us Senator Chambliss has supported this in the past but would not sign support for any organization to avoid any favoritism amidst the anticipated budget cuts. We then met with our own Representatives. I was warmly received by Representative Tom Graves.
I came away with a rallying call for my fellow nurses. There is an adage in Washington: “If you are not at the table, you are on the menu.” Where are we? While I was impressed by the panel of distinguished NIWI speakers, I was disheartened only 3 of the 12 were nurses. We followed a group from The American College of Gynecology (ACOG) for each Senate meeting. Nursing education receives $230,000 of the $280,000 budgeted compared to medical education which receives 8 billion dollars in federal funds. Nursing research is even more woefully underfunded. One legislature said, “I am glad you are here. If we don’t hear from you, we assume you do not need anything.”
I was very proud to present a united voice from professional nursing organizations. Nurses have got to stop fighting and set the bar at the professional level. Nursing education and practice must be defined and governed by nurses. For example, I was dismayed that we are using the IOM report rather than the National Institute of Nursing. Many attendees noted employers are defining the entry level by only hiring RNs or BSNs. Recently the Georgia Secretary of State proposed having ONE licensing board to regulate all the disciplines it currently licenses. The few board members may or may not include nurses. At the Georgia Nurses Association lobby day, the Secretary of State presented this idea to the students saying it would make the licensure process faster resulting in faster income. The students lost sight of the possibility that after licensure, a non-nurse could potentially direct their professional licensing board.
Finally, nurses are consistently the most trusted profession. We were received warmly and often greeted with “I love nurses.” Many attendees were taken on tours and given a token souvenir. We must move past this charisma and ask “Can we count on your support? Show us the money.”
My call to my fellow nurses is join your professional organization. Register to vote and cast an informed vote. Know your legislatures. Attend the town hall meetings or visit them when they are in their local offices. Let them hear from you. Ask how you can help them. Serve as a resource for them. Invite them to your work place and involve the patients if you are able so they can see the human faces of the issues. Finally, pray for our leaders to have wisdom and discernment.