 2003 AJN Table of Contents
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Washington Watch
American Journal of Nursing -
December, 2003 - Volume 103, Issue 12
Think Nationally, Act Locally
ANA–state legislative agendas address nation’s staffing crisis.
Musculoskeletal injuries among nurses, mandatory overtime, and
staffing systems are just a few of the workplace issues the ANA’s
constituent member associations (CMAs) plan to address in the coming year.
The ANA and CMA lobbyists discussed these and other nursing concerns when
they met in September to plan for enactment of the 2004 Nationwide
State Legislative Agenda on the nurse staffing crisis. Held in Crystal
City, Virginia, “Think Nationally, Act Locally” was the basis
of the groups’ fourth annual meeting. The 2004 agenda refines and
builds upon the successful coordinated agenda begun three years ago by the
ANA and its affiliated members to combat the nurse staffing crisis, one of
the ANA’s highest priorities.
The 2004 agenda will refine and expand earlier defined
measures to address the nursing crisis. The first measure will include
nursing educational issues such as funding, faculty shortages, and the need
for more educators, resources, and space to educate students. The
second measure will address encroachment on nursing by other health care
providers and the regulation of foreign-educated nurses. The third
measure will call for additional work relating to the appropriate
delegation of nursing tasks and the utilization of an appropriate mix of
nursing personnel. The final measure will address broader issues related to
health care reform and the uninsured.
The agenda was initiated during the 2001 state
legislative session because the ANA and its CMAs wanted to build on their
previous successes in the state legislative arena. Through jointly
developing suggested state legislation; holding coordinated press
conferences on national and state levels; enacting state legislation;
sharing strategies and resources; and promoting the agenda at national
meetings of state legislators, many planned goals have been realized in
state legislatures.
In addition to musculoskeletal injuries among nurses,
mandatory overtime, and nurse staffing systems, the Nationwide State
Legislative Agenda has ongoing measures to
For more information about the agenda, go to
www.nursingworld.org/gova/state.htm.
Nationwide State Legislative Agenda
By collaborating on the Nationwide State Legislative Agenda, the
ANA and the CMAs have not only increased the public’s and state
legislators’ awareness of the nursing staffing crisis but have also
provided the leadership in creating legislative solutions. For example, the
ANA/CMA’s Nationwide State Legislative Agenda has been
successful in helping enact staffing legislation (or regulations, specified
in parentheses) in these states:
Prohibition of mandatory overtime Enacted: CA (regulations), ME, MD, MN, NJ, OR, TX
(regulations), WA, WV
Nurse staffing plans Enacted:
CA (regulations), FL, KY, NV (regulations), TX (regulations), OR, VA
Whistleblower protection Enacted: AZ, CA, FL (public employees), KY, MA, MD, MN, NJ, NY, OH, OR, TX, UT (all
employers), VA, WV,
WI
Collection of nursing workforce data Enacted: FL, GA, HI (pending), ID, IN, KY, MD, ME, MS, NE,
ND, NY, OK, SD, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI, WV
Nursing quality indicators Enacted: CT, NJ (regulations), FL, RI, TX (regulations)
Funding for nursing education
Enacted: AR, AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA (pending), HI (pending), IA, IL,
IN, KY, LA, MI, MS, NE, NV, OR, RI, SD, TX, VA,
WV, WY
Susan Whittaker is an associate director of state government relations in the ANA’s Department of Government Affairs.
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