American Nurses Association Archives - Page 4 of 5

Why Do Needlestick Injuries Still Haunt Us 10 Years after Protective Legislation?

By Shawn Kennedy, AJN interim editor-in-chief

In 2008, a survey by the American Nurses Association (ANA) indicated that 64% of nurses reported a needlestick injury. That startling figure was reported by Marla Weston, CEO of the ANA, in her opening remarks last week when the ANA relaunched “Safe Needles Save Lives,” its campaign for use of safe needles in the workplace. The campaign originally launched ten years ago and was instrumental in passage of Public Law 106-430, the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, which requires employers to “identify, evaluate, and make use of effective safer medical devices.” And while there have been inroads towards use of safer needle systems, the 2008 data show that much needs to be done.

Speaking from experience. Karen Daley, the ANA president, has long been a leader in advocating for safer needle systems. She sustained a needlestick injury while working in the ER a decade ago and contracted hepatitis and HIV infection. Her home state, Massachusetts, has been in the forefront of legislation. According to Angela Laramie from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, all hospitals in Massachusetts are mandated to use sharps injury prevention devices, maintain a log of any injuries, and submit an annual report to the state. Yet, state data show an average of 3,000 needlestick injuries yearly—and more than half of these are with devices that lack safe […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:15:02-05:00November 8th, 2010|Nursing|7 Comments

Obama, Rock Star for Nurses

By Shawn Kennedy, MA, RN, AJN interim editor-in-chief (sent yesterday from her Iphone)

So it’s Wednesday afternoon, June 16, and I’m here in Washington, DC, attending the 2010 House of Delegates meeting of the American Nurses Association (ANA). It’s easy to find the sessions—one just has to follow all the middle-aged women walking in one direction through the lobby (full disclosure: that includes me).

ANA president Rebecca Patton opened the session and announced that there would be a “special surprise guest.” She got about halfway through announcements about parliamentary procedure, using the electronic voting machines, and the other housekeeping details when I noticed a rather large muscular young man with an earpiece slip in the door near me. I noticed several clones of him at each exit. Our “special guest” had arrived.

Patton introduced President Barack Obama and he received a rock star welcome from the approximately 800 attendees. He said he came because he promised he would if nurses supported his campaign and he won the presidential election. He proclaimed, “I love nurses.” (I wonder: when he goes to other groups, does he say, “I love physicians” or “I love auto workers”?) He retold the story of how nurses took care of his wife and daughters when his daughters were born and how the nurses “got him through” when one of his daughters had meningitis and how they gave her such good care.

Obama then spoke about the changes in health care brought about by the Patient […]

Jacob Molyneux, senior editor/blog editor2016-11-21T13:17:11-05:00June 17th, 2010|career, nursing perspective|2 Comments

ANA Chart Compares Key Nursing Provisions in House and Senate Bills

By Judith Leavitt, MEd, RN, FAAN

There’s a tremendous amount of information available about the different congressional proposals on health reform. But it’s difficult to know how the proposed legislation might affect nurses and the profession. The American Nurses Association has just released an excellent chart offering side-by-side comparison of key provisions related to nursing in the two current bills, the House bill (H.R. 3962) and the Senate bill (H.R. 3590). These provisions include:

increased financial support for nursing recruitment and advanced education
increased funding for graduate education for nursing faculty
increased funding for education for students who will practice in underserved areas
establishment of a Public Health Workforce Corps
increased Medicare reimbursement rates for advanced practice nurses, including nurse–midwives
pilot programs to provide reimbursement under Medicare for nurse practitioners to create or lead “medical homes”
increased reimbursement to school-based health clinics under Medicaid

There’s much more to be gleaned here, and the chart format makes scanning for particular points of interest easy. Have a look!

Guest Author2016-11-21T13:20:44-05:00December 4th, 2009|career, health care policy, nursing perspective, students|1 Comment

ANA Releases Letter Urging Nurses to Get Vaccinated

As the influenza season begins, the American Nurses Association (ANA) calls on all registered nurses to get the seasonal influenza vaccine. After all, as nurses, we have an ethical obligation not only to protect ourselves, but also to protect our patients and our families from influenza illness. ANA has long emphasized to nurses that vaccination is one simple step that everyone should take. Simultaneously, during the 2009-2010 influenza season, this nation is also facing a major health threat caused by the H1N1 virus.

The above is an excerpt from a letter by President Rebecca Patton, MSN, RN, CNOR, of the American Nurses Association (ANA) urging nurses to get vaccinated for both the seasonal flu and the H1N1 virus (swine flu). To read the full letter, click here: ANA Letter to Nurses.