A message from the president

Connecticut Nursing News, Jun-Aug 1998 by Williams, Mary Jane M

It has been a very busy time for the Connecticut Nurses' Association (CNA). We have all been involved in a very hectic legislative endeavor along with our ongoing activities. I would like to spend a little time discussing the outcome of our major legislative endeavor and the implications of the outcome for the practicing registered nurse. I would also like to address some of my comments to the nursing graduates in the Class of 1998.

During the current Legislative session CNA and Connecticut Society of Nurse Psychotherapists (CSNP), Connecticut Association of Nurse Anesthetists (CANA) and the Connecticut Nurse Practitioner Group Inc. (CNPGI) worked collaboratively to amend the Nurse Practice Act. Senate Bill 428, An Act Concerning Advanced Practice Registered Nurses, was presented to the Public Health Committee and expert testimony to support the Bill was presented on March 6th at the Public Health Hearing.

However, Senate Bill 428, an Act Concerning Advanced Practice Nursing, was defeated in the Public Health Committee. CNA will continue its endeavors to amend the Current Nurse Practice Act. However, a great deal of information can be garnished from our legislative activity this year that has real implications for nursing in the state of Connecticut. It is my belief that every nurse in the state has a moral and professional responsibility to provide the consumers of nursing care in the state with an accurate depiction of the profession of nursing. We as a profession possess a unique body of knowledge. This unique knowledge prepares us to provide high quality nursing care in a variety of settings, across the life span. We provide nursing care autonomously to our patients. We are legally accountable for our actions, based on our education and experience, to our regulatory body.

The Advanced Practice Registered Nurse is an educated provider of primary care in the state. It should be noted that nurse practitioners were counted as primary care providers in the Medicaid Managed Care Program. Advanced Practice Nurses currently provide care for clients under the direction of a physician. However, they were counted as independent primary providers.

It is our professional responsibility to educate the citizens of Connecticut regarding the practice of nursing. It is time that we clarified perceptions and corrected misconceptions about nursing. Nurses are valuable members of the health care delivery system and work in collaboration with other health care delivery system personnel to provide high quality, safe patient care. Nurses can not be replaced by para or non professionals. Only professional nurses can effectively provide high quality care in a rapidly changing health care environment. The demands of the health care systems today require a well educated professional. It was obvious to the observer during the public health hearings that the role of the nurse in the current health care system is not fully understood in many situations. It was also clear that the rapidly changing health care system and the ramifications regarding the practice of nursing, at all levels, and the provision of care in a restructured setting were not clearly understood.

The agenda for Nursing in Connecticut is clear. It is our responsibility to "EDUCATE" the consumers. The consumer of health care needs to be informed and knowledgeable. Patients need to know whether or not they are going to be or are currently being cared for by a nurse and they need to be able to request information regarding their care givers. It is also our responsibility as professional nurses to provide high quality, safe care. The outcomes of patient care must be validated in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of our nursing intervention. Nurses must become more pro active in measuring the effectiveness of their care in order to substantiate their practice.

Nurses must also strive to improve the "IMAGE" of nurses. As professionals we must behave professionally. We must actively support and market the profession of nursing. We must not tolerate any derogatory public comments, remarks, advertisements and or negative roles in the media. We must be pro active and positive in order to influence the health industry. Let me provide you with an example: If you hear or see a commercial that places a nurse in a derogatory role and you personally find it offensive, write a letter to the company and ask for the advertisement to be removed from the media. If you watch a T.V. show that makes the nurse into a cute sex object, write a letter to the producer and ask that this character be removed. These are just two examples of how you may personally influence the media.

Nurses must also strive to unite. We must become "ONE STRONG VOICE". As a professional nurse you must belong to your professional specialty organization because it is a mechanism for maintaining your expert knowledge, competence and expert power. However, your professional organization ANA/CNA provides you with an opportunity to exert political power. Nurses need to recognize the power they control and the potential of that power to impact public policy. As professional nurses we have a responsibility to exert the power of unity productively to support nursing practice in the provision of safe patient care.