AVC CNSA Recognition

AVC CNSA

recognized the following individuals at their Luncheon yesterday with Certificates of Membership and a NSNA Graduation Cord:

Maria Fatima P. Bustos

Samantha Chavez

Evelyn Delgado

Rocio Diaz

Michele Forness

Kristie Hier

Brandi Hill

Nicole Hollinger

Michelle Kemp

Laura Maluccio

Jackie Merino

Karin Meyers

Karla Parada

Hope Ryan

Jade West

CNSA Convention

Top Hat Making

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Top Hat for CNSA – featuring Student Nurse Flo

CNSA Convention Badges

Having a hard time studying for this next exam! So I made badges to wear at the convention.

Side note: I use to have a resizer for images on my other windows xp system. When I installed windows 7, I no longer had that wonderful right click capability. Well – I found one to do it again! Yea! So I am using ImageResizer and am happy again. Totally recommend it!

Okay….. 1 more hr studying…..:[

Bill Updates

AB 1111 Regulatory boards –

• Apr. 19 Set, first hearing. Testimony taken. Further hearing to be set.    
• Apr. 22 Set for hearing April  22.  (Vote only)

AB 1802 Pupil health: diabetes: insulin injections – Failed Passage in Committee

AB 1051 Emergency Medical Assistance: Diastat – Failed Passage in Committee

AB 2454  Public Health – Passed as amended and re-referred to the Committee
on Appropriations.

SB 1200 Health Care Coverage: School-based health care – Passed, re-refer to the Committee on Appropriations.

If you are watching a bill and want to know its status, use the site below to access your bill by number or by Author. If you go by Author, then you can know exactly which bills your Assemblyman or Senate is lobbying.

http://info.sen.ca.gov/cgi-bin/pagequery?type=sen_bilinfo&site=sen&title=Bill+Information

PS – if you don’t understand why the ANA is in opposition of the insulin and diastat bills,please read the letter by the BRN Attorney Don Chang here: DiastatApril2010

(The way I see it, if this bill passes it will allow unlicensed personnel to administer these medications, and it will change our Nurse Practice Act. We need to protect our Nurse Practice Act.)

Dr. Louise Timmer

This is the very delightful, intelligent lady who sponsored me as a Nursing Student in Sacramento Internship (NSSI) by the Association of California Nurse Leaders (ANCNL). Dr Louise Timmer. The office of the ANA/C  is located in the Senate Building right across from the Capitol. Next year you will have the opportunity to win this internship. Check the CNSA website in for more information www.cnsa.org. You need to be a member of the NSNA – our AVC CNSA group. You can join at www.nsna.org

Here is her bio:

DR. LOUISE TIMMER

CCNE (Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education) ACCREDITATION

Louise Timmer has over 30 years of experience as a registered nurse and nursing educator. From 2004 through 2009 Dr. Timmer served as President of the American Nurses Association of California and she currently holds faculty positions at California State University Sacramento, Samuel Merritt University, and the University of Phoenix. After completing her BA in Sociology/Social Work at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Dr. Timmer joined the Peace Corps as a Public Health Coordinator in Panama.  Dr. Timmer went on to earn a Master of Science degree with a major in Maternal Child Nursing from the Catholic University of America, and a Doctorate of Education from the University of San Francisco. In addition to her comprehensive experience in the nursing and education fields, Dr. Timmer has been a speaker at numerous conferences, published articles in a wide variety of journals, and received awards from the American Nurses Association/California.  She is a member of the American Nurses Association, ADCIS (Association for the Development of Computer-based Instructional Systems), and NEA (National Education Association).

3rd Day

Today was spent at the ANA/C Office, then back over to the Capitol building to sit in on the committee hearings of 3 different bills.

SB 1051 on Emergency Medical Assistance: Diastat. This was similar to the one on Insulin being given by a school worker instead of a nurse. Taught and delegated by a nurse. As we know, a nurse can’t delegate giving insulin. It is against our NPA. This allows sub-standard health care affecting the safety of the child. What they need is to get school nurses in the school. Again I joined in the “me-toos” in opposition and watched the voting. There wasn’t enough votes to be passed, but will go up tomorrow (the last day), for a vote, but it doesn’t look like they will have enough votes to go through and we will watch for it then.

One of the other items that the ANA was there for was SB  1200 Health Care Coverage: School-Based Health Care. Again I saw the Intern Executive Director from the BRN. She was there watching all the votes on bills that affect the rights and laws governing nurses. Even passing Assemblyman Knight today outside the capitol on the street pulled a hello to the “future nurse” as he recognized me.  (I’m beginning to feel like I’m living in a small town.)

– And our last bill was a good one. It was assembly Bill 2454. This bill is to add school nurses to schools (taking care of all the above bills). This bill proposes to put school nurses into schools by 2020 at a ratio of 1:750. This bill was placed on call.

Tomorrow we will see where everything ended up, and attend the Senate and Assembly Hearing Committees again.

There is one more bill that is a “spot bill” or one that describes only the intent of a bill that will be submitted at a later date. This current bill will be submitted on May 4th to the committee to be heard and voted upon. This bill my fellow classmates will like. Bill AB 2400 will authorize community colleges to establish and participate in  a baccalaureate degree pilot program (with full budge). It is my understanding from the “spot” writer of this bill, that it will allow a student from a community college with this program to complete their ADN there, and then 20 credits more,  receive their BSN! All at the community college at community college prices! This could be signed by the governor this fall if it gets passed!

The baccalaureate degree pilot program will start off in schools currently decided upon. the closest one to Antelope Valley would probably be College of the Canyons, though the schools haven’t been decided upon yet. Feedback from the Deans of  ADN programs in CA who want to participate is still be reviewed. I don’t know if Antelope Valley College is interested in this program or not.

For support to this bill, the ANA is looking for Nursing Students to send a letter or email (email counts!) to the right assemblymen and senate members. When I have all the contact info tomorrow, I will post it and you can send an email or copy a letter I will post to send.  The bill authors, who are Senators and Assemblymen actually keep tract and bring these letters to the hearings. Your voice does count – as it did the other day with the “insulin” bill. People were still talking about it in the halls of the capitol today.

Assemblymen who were in favor of the bills I “me too’ed”, smiled at me during the hearing and said thank you.

So that is what I learned today. Even in the Capitol of this grand state of California, it is still a small town atmosphere, and each person’s voice – no matter how small, counts.

Well that and a complete review again of the Nurse Practice Act!

2nd day at Capitol

Today was a big day. We followed a bill that was considered the “Insulin Bill”. AB 1802 introduced by Assembly Member Hall, was in committee today, and voted upon. I had the opportunity to stand before the committee, stated my name and place, (SN- such heavy importance right? 🙂  ) and testified in opposition of this bill. I want you to know I was one behind a verrrry long line of people (nurses, unclassified department of education workers who didn’t want to be responsible for giving children insulin to name just a few) who overwhelmed the committee reviewing this bill. This bill was stopped. I later found out the “rumored” reason it fell flat was due to the Nurses opposing this bill and the presence they made at the hearing today according to our Assemblyman Steve Knight ,who I had the pleasure of meeting today in his office. Check out the images below of my day.

this dog is for Diabetics!

NPA Advice

I wanted to share some NPA Advice from The Honorable Tricia R. Hunter during the annual conference of the RN Lobby Days

• The Nursing Practice Act (NPA) which is the body of California law that mandates the Board of Registered Nurses to set out the scope of practice and responsibilities for RNs. The government is to protect the public. The federal government protects the nation, as the state protects the people –  this is reflected in our NPA.  Her advice? Know your NPA.
• http://www.rn.ca.gov/regulations/bpc.shtml#2725
• Each state is different. CA has around eight pages of defined responsibilities of registered nurses. There are other states that have a limited scope of what a nurse can do. California has one of the widest scopes compared. If you are thinking about moving to a new state, make sure you check out their nurse practice act. You may be surprised of what would be considered illegal.
• Nurses are there 24 hrs a day for the patient in the Hospital. We are the advocate because we know the patient. We must collaborate with doctors on what is really going on with our patient. Remember the standard for doctor’s license is by passing the minimal level exam. Think in your mind each doctor’s order should be looked at, reviewed, and questioned in your mind if this is right for your patient. You are there 24hrs, they aren’t. They will expect you to keep them updated.
• California doesn’t have “delegation” Laws.  Nurses can’t delegate licensed activities. Nurses can assign tasks of “unlicensed activities”. You need to know your team’s responsibility. A doctor can’t delegate to a RN what a RN can’t do, and a RN can’t tell a LVN to do something that isn’t in their practice act.
• Read more on who Hon. Tricia R. Hunter is at http://www.anfonline.org/HomeCategory/AboutANF/BoardofTrustees/Hunter.aspx

1st Day

After the RN Lobby Days first meeting and listening to the Honorable Tricia Hunter explain the process of lobbying with bills brought before the CA legislature was like being back in NS110, but with real life scenarios.

Even as we had our discussion on the process of bills being introduced; who can write a bill (the author); who can introduce a bill; and where they get their ideas, our session was interrupted by the presence of Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod.

Then, a couple hours later, Brian Stiger, Director, Department of Consumer Affairs on the SB 1111, came in to let us know issues brought forth by the American Nurses Association\California (ANA\C) were revised in the bill, with relief to the lobbying, but with some issues to be still worked on.

California Senate Bill 1111 http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/sen/sb_1101-1150/sb_1111_bill_20100412_amended_sen_v98.html

SB stands for Senate Bill, and the numbers are assigned each year – as the bill is handed over the desk. They say, due to the decrease in state budget, there are less bills being passed. The numbers normally at this time could be in the three thousands.

Later I went to the hearing for this bill. I actually sat next to and met, Louise Bailey, MEd, RN, Interim Executive Director for the California Board of Registered Nursing (CA BRN).

Good news! She said they actually take those from Antelope Valley!

 You know, for our license! 🙂

PS – it will now cost $150

More tomorrow!

Capitol Ground Images

RN Lobby Days

The ANA/California RN Lobby Days is where I will be going next week, as part of my Nursing Student in Sacramento Internship. Yea! Road Trip!

So, any of my blogging this week will reflect the happenings there, as well as the legislative practicum in the state capital. 

The ANA/C RN Lobby Days is an annual conference offering presentations and workshops on how the California legislative process works. The  first two days will be attended by RNs, nursing faculty and nursing students from California. The second two days, hosted by CNSA , Stephanie Hohmeister (nursing student from UC San Diego) and I will be attending Senate and Assembly Hearing Committees for bills for nursing practice, education and health care. 

Maybe I’ll meet the Governor!

First General Meeting!!

We are going to have our first meeting of the new Antelope Valley College California Nursing Students’ Association under the NSNA on  Friday, February 19th, at 8:00am. In the APL rm 101.

A flyer with the  meeting’s date and location is outside Professor Stewart’s door.  

Please come and learn what this chapter will be all about and how it can help you. 

We can go over what this chapter of the National Student Nurses’ Association will be doing, what benefits there are in belonging to this chapter, select officers, sign our ICC papers to be official, and entertain any questions.

Upcoming Events:
 There is a CNSA for chapter representatives to attend in Mission
> Viejo,California at the Saddleback College on Feb 20th 9am – 3pm for anyone who wants to go.
 http://www.cnsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/save-the-date1.jpg

Thanks! See you there.
Laura Barron

Starting a Chapter of CNSA at AVC

https://nsnamembership.org/

I am working to start a chapter of the National Student Nursing Association at Antelope Valley College. I think it offers AVC’s nursing program, both students and teachers alike, an opportunity to network amongs the four semesters, encourage professional development and leadership opportunities. Our school deserves to be on the NSNA map and part of CNSA.

Please let me know if you want to be involved. We have many students and teachers already who are excited to get it going. 

I’m also applying for a grant through NSNA to get $1000 towards creating this chapter. Check out the Grant Statement so far. (still working it, any advice is good 🙂 )

And for all you 1st semester students, by being a member you can apply for this scholarship:

The Foundation of the
National Student Nurses’ Association
In Memory of Frances Tompkins

ATTENTION ALL UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

 The deadline to submit an application for the 2011 – 2012 academic year will be in May 2010. Updates regarding the application process will be made on the website in spring 2010. An application will also be made available for download at that time.

Download the FNSNA Scholarship Fact sheet, if you would like more information regarding the scholarships that we offer or contact the FNSNA at (718) 210 – 0705.

The Foundation of the National Student Nurses’ Association
Attention: Undergraduate Scholarship Program
45 Main Street Suite 606
Brooklyn , NY 11201