Executive Director's report.Over the last several years the Oklahoma Nurses Association has worked to build a community of nurses. This community exists in a variety of ways internally and externally and moves the nursing profession forward. The board acknowledged this community in its rewriting re·write v. re·wrote , re·writ·ten , re·writ·ing, re·writes v.tr. 1. To write again, especially in a different or improved form; revise. 2. of the mission statement: The Oklahoma Nurses Association is a professional organization representing a community of nurses across all specialties and practice settings. I am proud to be a part of this community as well as the accomplishments within the association, with our partners, or at the Capitol. The association's accomplishments are great especially when you review the programming ONA (Open Network Architecture) An FCC plan that allows users and competing enhanced service providers (ESPs) equal access to unbundled, basic telephone services. The Open Network Provision (ONP) is the European counterpart. has developed as a result of membership initiative from the MRC See Maximum return criterion. to LEAD-ON, to the Intimate Partner Violence Task Force and to our continuing education continuing education: see adult education. continuing education or adult education Any form of learning provided for adults. In the U.S. the University of Wisconsin was the first academic institution to offer such programs (1904). offerings. Just by reading the reports contained in this publication, one can realize the impact this association is having on its members as well as the community at large. We still have plenty in front of us; be it nurseforce issues, school nurses, children's health Children's Health Definition Children's health encompasses the physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being of children from infancy through adolescence. , the uninsured, preventive health, patient safety or practice issues. Each of these issues is reason enough for us to be joined together speaking with one voice. Every twist and turn provides us with other reasons and issues we need to exist together as a community. One of those is an initiative formulated out of the American Medical Association American Medical Association (AMA), professional physicians' organization (founded 1847). Its goals are to protect the interests of American physicians, advance public health, and support the growth of medical science. known as the Scope of Practice Partnership (SOPP SOPP Standard Operating Policies and Procedures ), which refers to Non-physician providers as "Limited Licensed Health Care Providers." The SOPP initiative consists of state and national medical societies that are addressing "encroachments on physician practice" by providers that are not physicians. The SOPP initiative includes funding and support for those in scope of practice encroachment An illegal intrusion in a highway or navigable river, with or without obstruction. An encroachment upon a street or highway is a fixture, such as a wall or fence, which illegally intrudes into or invades the highway or encloses a portion of it, diminishing its width or area, but , examination of education and training of providers and development and maintenance of a database of information from and for state medical associations. Oklahoma is one of those states as the State Medical Association is working with its specialty partners especially the Ophthalmologists in their battles with the Optometrists. The SOPP is an outgrowth of a report developed by the FedeSration of State Medical Boards regarding scope of practice; providing information on issues that regulatory boards and legislators should consider in addressing scope of practice changes for Limited Licensed Health Care Providers. This movement has the impetus to provide physicians with the power for oversight of non-physicians scope of practice issues. Nursing has always considered itself to be an independent and autonomous profession. The National Board of State Nursing Councils has issued their own statement titled, "Nursing Regulation and the Interpretation of Nursing Scopes of Practice" addressing the need for the regulatory state boards state boards Examinations administered by a US state board of medical examiners to license a physician in a particular state; these examinations play an ever-decreasing role in state medical licensure, as these bodies now rely on standardized national examinations for nursing to have oversight for nursing's scope of practice even if it is overlapping with other practitioners scope of practice. Although in Oklahoma, nurses and advance practice nurses are not specifically targeted at this time, we need to be ready when and if the time comes. ANA has been at the leading edge of this issue working with the Advance Practice specialty nursing organizations as well as other non-physician groups to form the Coalition for Patient Rights (CPR Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Definition Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a procedure to support and maintain breathing and circulation for a person who has stopped breathing (respiratory arrest) and/or whose heart has stopped (cardiac ), http://www.patientsrightscoalition.org/. As of this writing, 34 organizations are members of the CPR representing a variety of licensed health care professionals. CPR was formed for the sake of patients--ensuring that patients everywhere have access to quality health care providers of their choice. Health care has too many issues in front of it without this in-fighting. American's are growing older needing more healthcare, our patients are sicker and the number of uninsured continue to increase, the nurseforce needs to increase and physicians have started to discuss a physician shortage. We all need to work together instead of fighting against each other to deal with these pending issues. Seth Kahan in his book, Building Beehives states that there is "a new kind of community in which people work together with colleagues, stakeholders Stakeholders All parties that have an interest, financial or otherwise, in a firm-stockholders, creditors, bondholders, employees, customers, management, the community, and the government. , business partners ... and in some cases, even competitors ... to share what they know and achieve results that are far beyond what any one can accomplish alone. The Oklahoma Nurses Association is working to manifest this new community however; it will take all of us working together. So how do we work together? We need you, our members, to get friends and colleagues involved and engaged in the association. * Tell them your story: I am a Nurse ... I am an ONA Member. * Make sure they know how vital ONA and ANA is to legislative issues that affect them such as nurse staffing levels, patient safety and reimbursement Reimbursement Payment made to someone for out-of-pocket expenses has incurred. for APRNs. * Talk about ONA's workplace advocacy efforts. Share with them the work of the Center www.centerforamericannurses.org * Convey our efforts in providing healthcare access to all Oklahomans. * Explain to them how we are involved with developing solutions to the nursing and healthcare worker shortage. * Share with them how we are working to improve children's health by ensuring school nurses in every Oklahoma school along with providing health services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract at school. * Discuss with them why Nurses need to have a say when legislation is written regarding work environments and staffing standards focusing on issues related to nurse to patient ratio and the number of hours worked per week, establishing protection for required reporting, * Talk to them about our involvement with needlestick prevention, intimate partner violence, ovarian cancer ovarian cancer Malignant tumour of the ovaries. Risk factors include early age of first menstruation (before age 12), late onset of menopause (after age 52), absence of pregnancy, presence of specific genetic mutations, use of fertility drugs, and personal history of breast , medical lawsuit reform, Medicaid reform and of course issues related to the scope of nursing practice. Together we can continue to build this community. As I have in the past, I continue my pledge to you that I will work with the Board of Directors and with you the members of this association to strengthen our membership and our voice at the legislature so that we can work together toward a healthier Oklahoma. Jane Nelson, CAE (1) (Computer-Aided Engineering) Software that analyzes designs which have been created in the computer or that have been created elsewhere and entered into the computer. Executive Director, Oklahoma Nurses Association |
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