 2004 AJN Table of Contents
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The Politics of Caring
American Journal of Nursing -
August, 2004 - Volume 104, Issue 08
By Rose Gonzalez, MPS, RN, and Margaret Kay
Federal Update
Recent publicity about an RN claiming responsibility for as many as
40 patient murders in various medical facilities has focused public, media,
and legislative attention on the lack of a national information
clearinghouse for RNs and other licensed health care professionals who have
been disciplined for providing poor care or have been convicted of crimes
related to such care.
In response to this need, Senators John Corzine (D-NJ)
and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) have worked with the ANA to draft legislation
establishing such a national reporting system, which will expand on the
National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), created in 1986 to track licensing,
disciplinary, and medical malpractice actions taken against U.S. physicians
and dentists. While RNs have been included in the NPDB, reporting their
actions has not been required.
In addition to protecting patients, the Safe Health
Care Reporting (SHARE) Act of 2004 (S 2341) would provide due-process
protections for RNs who have been reported, including the right to adequate
notice and review of the report, the ability for the RN to request a
hearing before an arbitrator to contest the report, the right to legal or
union representation at any such hearing, the right to question witnesses,
and the right to review the final written report of the arbitrator. The
SHARE Act also would protect nurse whistleblowers from employment
discrimination and retaliation.
The SHARE Act has been referred to the Senate Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. For further updates, check
www.anapoliticalpower.org.
State News
The New York State Assembly recently passed a bill that would
require health care facilities to publicly disclose the number of RNs,
licensed practical nurses, and unlicensed personnel providing patient care,
as well as the hours of nursing care provided to each patient. The New York
State Nurses Association applauds the passage of the measure because its
enactment would give patients and their families vital information that
would help them determine where they can receive the best available nursing
care. Studies have shown that having too few RNs per unit leads to higher
death rates and levels of patient complications. Furthermore, facilities
would be required to report the incidence of these complications, such as
medication errors, bedsores, and urinary tract infections. Finally, the
bill would prevent health care workers from calling themselves nurses
unless they are licensed RNs or LPNs, a much-needed protection for both the
public and nurses. Tips for Political Action You can change the world with one vote, but you can’t
vote if you’re not registered. Most jurisdictions have September or
October cutoff dates for registering in time for the November 2nd general election. To find out the cutoff time for your area, go to www.anapoliticalpower.org and
click on “Election 2004 Action Center” and then “Election
Dates and Voter Registration Deadlines by State.” From that page you
can learn more about how to register in your area by clicking on the link
to “online voter registration tools,” which offers links to
numerous helpful Web sites.
Rose Gonzalez is director of government affairs and Margaret Kay is periodicals manager at the ANA.
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