American Nurses Association Commends Reps. Capps, Whitfield for forming Congressional Nursing Caucus

Nevada RNformation, May-Jul 2003

Bipartisan working group will tackle nursing-community issues

Washington, DC -- The American Nurses Association (ANA) today hailed the formation of a Congressional Nursing Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives as "a decisive step forward for Congress and a bold 'step in the right direction for nurses and their patients." Founded by Reps. Lois Capps (D-CA) and Ed Whitfield (R-KY), the purpose of the bi-partisan caucus is to educate Congress on all aspects of the nursing profession and how nursing issues impact the delivery of safe; quality care. The caucus was formed after consultation between congressional leaders and ANA.

"We are excited about this newly formed nursing caucus because it will allow members of Congress to seek an open forum to address the issues affecting the nursing community," said ANA President Barbara Blakeney, MS, APRN,BC, ANP. (See photos)

The caucus will hold regular briefings on matters such as the nursing shortage, bioterrorism preparedness, Medicare and patient safety issues. In addition, the caucus will serve as a clearinghouse for information and a sounding board for ideas brought forth by the nursing community.

"The establishment of this nursing caucus is invaluable to ANA's work in Washington," said Blakeney. "And to have a permanent entity in Congress that focuses solely on issues facing the nursing community is beneficial to every nurse and health-care consumer in America," she added.

In early January, Reps. Capps and Whitfield sent a "Dear Colleague" to members of the House of Representatives inviting them to join the new caucus. In addition, Blakeney has urged ANA members to contact their elected representatives to encourage them to join the caucus. To date, the caucus has 56 members.

One subject the Congressional Nursing Caucus leaders will likely address is the Bush administration's smallpox vaccination program. The vaccination of 500,000 health care workers and first responders began Jan. 24, 2003. However, ANA has raised concerns about adequate protections for nurses and their patients under the administration's current plan, and ANA has been working with Congress and the administration on proposals to address these shortcomings.

"Smallpox vaccination is an issue that should be debated and discussed in an environment such as the Congressional Nursing Caucus," Blakeney noted. "That's one of the reasons why the formation of this entity is so important."

The American Nurses Association (ANA) has introduced a new tool to streamline the nursing documentation process. Available in a brochure format titled Principles for Documentation, this new guide includes policy statements, principles and recommendations to assist nurses with documentation and to comply with institutional and regulatory requirements.

"The need for documentation is extremely important, but the demand for it has increased dramatically in recent years to the point where many nurses report that time spent completing `nursing documentation' comes at the expense of providing safe, quality patient care," said ANA President Barbara Blakeney, MS, APRN, BC, ANP. "That's why the Principles for Documentation were developed - to make this essential but increasingly time-consuming process more manageable for nurses and to assist them in addressing associated workplace issues."

The Nurse Reinvestment Act was signed into law in August 2002. It authorizes scholarships and loan repayments for nursing students who agree to work in shortage areas after they graduate. The new law also authorizes public service announcements to promote nursing as a career, loan cancellations for nursing faculty, grants for geriatric nurse education, and grants to encourage nursing best-- practices, such as those in the American, Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet Recognition Program for excellence in nursing services.

The policy statements ad principles outlined in the guide are based on the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses With Interpretive Statements (ANA, 2001b) and Standards of Clinical Nursing Practice, 2nd Edition (ANA, 1998). In addition, the formulated principles, in many instances, are based on standards set forth by state and federal regulatory agencies, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and through accrediting organizations such as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

"Professional nurses as a group are especially conscientious about documenting patient care activities," Blakeney noted. "But the burden of documentation and accountability for care delivery has increased so dramatically that many nurses worry that it has compromised quality patient care - something that documentation, ironically, is intended to ensure. This law of `unintended consequences' has provoked many requests to analyze and revise the documentation process to address nurses' mounting concerns. Hence the critical need for more knowledge and guidance in this area - a need that this ANA brochure helps meet."