SB1178 adventure, The

Arizona Nurse,  Jul 2003  by Griffith, Mary

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In early 2001 achieving a legislative victory for nurses on the first try was only a dream. The Professional Issues Steering Committee was looking at issues to improve the practice environment for nurse including whistle blowing protection for nurses. The Legislative Committee was exploring the need for legislation. A proposal entitled "Whistleblower Protection" was developed and approved by AzNA members at the convention in September 2001. One of its recommendations was "Initiate whistleblower protections through regulatory and legislative processes." Little did we know that this action proposal would lead to two years of intense planning, strategizing, and lobbying, resulting in the passage of SB1178 Patient Safety Reporting during Nurses Week, 2003.

Many issues were coming to a head at the beginning of 2002 as AzNA sought to develop a program for improving workplace conditions. At the same time the American Nurses Association was initiating a plan to coordinate legislative initiatives among the states including the development of language for whistle blowing and mandatory overtime proposals.

On June 11, 2002, Maria Weston, Executive Director, Mary Griffith, Director of Legislation, and Rory Hays, AzNA lobbyist met to strategize for the 2003 legislative session. The fundamental issue was what form any legislative effort should take. For numerous sessions the emphasis had been on issues of regulation and scope of practice. The great legislative successes of the decade had been achieved through working with the Board of Nursing to enhance the Nurse Practice Act and enlarge the role of nurses in special boards and commissions. Proposing legislation to address workplace conditions was definitely plowing new ground. It was agreed that related issues should be considered: They were patient safety reporting (whistleblower protection), mandatory overtime, financial support for Magnet accreditation and a center for nursing.

Following discussions with stakeholders and looking at the realities of the impending budget crisis, it was decided that the nursing center was too ambitious, and mandatory overtime needed a different approach. Rory drafted a bill, which contained two elements: patient safety reporting and magnet hospital rewards. The impending election in November added spice to the planning, since it was clear that a large crop of freshman legislators was coming to the legislature. Strategies were set, including getting approval from the AzNA Board, meeting with affiliated associations to gain support, seeking sponsors, and launching a concerted effort to educate the "new" legislators ASAP about nurses and our interests. An educational packet was mailed to the new legislators post election. In addition, members of the legislative committee were assigned to the "new" members and met them armed with documentation on the nursing shortage and our planned legislation. After the election, the Legislative Council reviewed the bill and sponsors were found. Senator Carol Alien agreed to sponsor the bill in the Senate (SB1178) and Representative Deb Gullet sponsored the same bill in the House (HB2202).

The bills were "dropped" into the legislative hoppers early in the session. Rory and Maria gave professional and well-received presentations on the nursing shortage and the bills to the House and Senate Health Committees. Members from across the state attended the hearings and entered their names into the list of supporters. Those names would show up later in House and Senate reports. From the beginning, we knew that the Magnet recognition piece of the bill was not going to make it, because of the budget constraints. But AzNA wanted to educate the legislature about the magnet concept for future projects. So, AzNA did not remove the magnet piece of the bill until after the Health Committee presentations were made. As the presentations were made, it was pointed out that the issue of mandatory overtime was also of concern to AzNA, but that instead of bringing a bill to the legislature, we were working on a project to achieve voluntary participation by hospitals in a pledge to prohibit mandatory overtime in their facilities. This information was well received by the legislators.

From the time the bill was introduced on January 6 until the Governor signed it on May 10, countless hours were spent lobbying by AzNA members and staff as well as by friends from the medical association, the hospital association and many other health care associations. Ban-ner Health was an especially strong supporter of the bill. The most remarkable lobbying opportunity occurred in February at Lobby Day when 50 nurses from across the state learned lobbying techniques, evaluated the po-litical climate and then fanned out in teams to speak in person to their legislators. At noon, a press conference on the Capitol lawn promoted AzNA's nursing bill and announced the project to have every hospital in Arizona "sign the pledge" to prohibit mandatory overtime.

Conventional wisdom says that it takes three tries to get a bill through the legislature. That cliche had never met a bill with nine lives! Rumblings began to surface from Chamber of Commerce members who did not like the idea of any whistle blower legislation, which interfered with the right of an employer to deal with employees. Many stakeholder meetings were held, chaired tirelessly by Senator Alien and Representative Gullet. The Bills were re-written and even endured a "striker" amendment when the Magnet hospital funding was removed. Finally, SB1178 passed in the Senate unanimously.