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Nursing Organizations Alliance Fall Summit

AAACN Viewpoint, Jan/Feb 2008 by Griffin, Karen

The Sixth Annual Fall Summit of the Nursing Organizations Alliance was held November 15-17, 2007. AAACN was represented by Karen Griffin, President-Elect, and Cyndee Hnatiuk, Executive Director. The Alliance provides a forum for identification, education, and collaboration building on issues of common interest so Alliance members can advance the nursing profession in a cohesive way. Approximately 70 nursing organizations, including AAACN, belong to the Alliance.

The keynote speaker was Michael Magee, MD, of the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative, who authored the book, Home-Centered Health Care. He identified four mega issues that will drive the future of health care.

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* The first mega issue or trend is the growing aging population. Instead of caring for three generations as has been done in the past, we are and will be continuing to care for four and five generations in a family.

* The second trend is an ever-growing population of caregivers, usually between the ages of 40 to 55, caring for parents, grandparents, children, and grandchildren. They are educated, motivated, and involved, and they are increasingly questioning the status quo.

* The third trend is the growing realization by the health care community that the current structure is not ideally suited for the demands this aging society will put on the health care system. These forces point the system toward a solution - if properly supported and validated by physicians and nurses, behavioral modification, and early diagnosis and screening, most care decisions and care functions will increasingly take place in the home. Dr. Magee believes the concept of home-centered health care will grow rapidly and will lead to the transformation of informal caregivers into designated home health managers. These managers will be more formally included in the physician-led and often nurse-directed health care team. This team includes other caring professionals who will maintain 24/7 contact with these home health managers through virtual health networks.

* The fourth trend driving these views is technology. Virtual health networks will be here soon. He described a system being developed by Intel that monitors and can document health status prenatal through the life span. These "Life Span Planning Records" would provide a holistic view of health - planning for health activities, prevention measures, education, and health care visits involving all disciplines. The Internet has opened a multitude of possibilities, including the power to eliminate geographic boundaries. For those who are disabled, elderly, poor, or socially isolated, the Internet provides reason for hope and a new way to provide care and services. Dr. Magee's vision for health care has a great impact for ambulatory care nursing practice and the value we can bring to this vision.

The breakout sessions at the Alliance meeting included several topics, such as the workforce shortage, care delivery models, the principles of fatigue, organizational advocacy and involvement in legislative action, evidenced-based practice processes, and enhancing organizational effectiveness.

There was extended discussion on the Coalition for Patient Rights (CPR). CPR is a unified interdisciplinary group of national professional organizations formed to ensure that the growing diverse needs of the American health system are met and that patients everywhere have access to quality health care providers (including APNs) of their choice. The CPR actively opposes efforts that seek to restrict recognized licensed health professionals who are not medical doctors or doctors of osteopathy from providing patients the care and services that they are qualified and licensed to provide. A call has gone out to all nursing organizations to support the CPR and to put an end to restrictive activities that would limit the scope of practice of some health care providers and invite cooperation in meeting the health care needs of all patients.

The Alliance meeting was fast-paced and energizing to all participants. We were pleased to represent AAACN at this important meeting.

Karen Griffin, MSN, RN, CNAA

AAACN President-Elect

Nursing Organizations Alliance Fall Summit

AAACN Viewpoint, Jan/Feb 2008 by Griffin, Karen

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