|
Minutes from Annual NP Council Dinner
As the CO-chairpersons of the NP Council we would like to thank everyone who worked with us this year. Our board members and a few active participants have been a steady force in the successful operations of this council, and together with RISNA we have had another productive year. We continue to work well with RISNA’s executive director Pam McCue who keeps us abreast of recent legislative issues and meetings being held which could directly influence our practice. Recently there were 2 hearings on rules and regulations including practices of NP’s. Copies of the proposed changes were sent to us and then reviewed with Pam. She then went to the meetings on our behalf and made sure that the outcomes were consistent with our wishes and to our continued good practices. At the hearing regarding Hospital Practice rules and regs, NP’s were inadvertently left out as inpatient prescribers and we were quickly included. Our public relations person Cindy Buckley has done a great job with the creation of our website and e-mail along with other articles and education as to who we are. Kathy and Cindy spent an afternoon at the Capitol on Nurse’s Day, educating our state leaders as to who we are and what we do. It’s always amazing to find out what the public still doesn’t know about us!!! Many other NP’s have fought private battles within their own practice sites to be able to order VNA services, PT and sign TDI forms. These issues present themselves continuously and we need your help and support to try to resolve them. United Health has finally sent us our provider numbers and is including NP’s as primary care practitioners. This was due to our continuous efforts of Carol Leitar, RISNA with the ANA lawyers, Marianne Hurley with AANP, to continue to place pressure on the local United Health administrators. We are not sure if this also applies to those NP’s independently practicing, time will tell. So again, at the close of another successful year, Kathy and Marianne would like to thank all of you who helped, supported our pharmaceutical programs and worked with us to continue to expand the NP roles, job market and educate the public about us. You will find an article on the restructuring of the NP Council in this newsletter. Please read it and send along your comments to Kathy or Marianne before the vote at the Fall Dinner Meeting. We need to make changes and this is the best proposal we can come up with given the limited help we get from the few of us working hard on behalf of the entire RI NP Community! Over the past few years, our relationship with RISNA, our parent organization has been changing. At a recent site visit by ANA for accreditation of RISNA, it was noted that the current set up of the NP Council was not as it should be. The concern was with our separate banking accounts. ANA noted that there should be one account and one checkbook, even though we have had our account audited on a regular basis. Over the past 2 years, Pam McCue, the executive director of RISNA has been working with us to see what adjustments we could make. Although we have been an individual council and working fairly independently we have worked well with Pam. She has learned about our needs and been proactive on our behalf. Marie and June, the office staff, have provided support for us by handling our phone calls, updating our mailing lists, notifying me of new legislation and the need to testify on any bills that impact us. The RI Medical Society contacts us through the RISNA office, as do the legislators and lobbyists. Myself and the other officers of the council have considered branching out on our own, but the time this would take would be too great for those few of us who volunteer and work long hours at our jobs. Because of these time constraints, we have been working closer with RISNA. They have been the providers for our CEU’s, handling the packets, certificates and evaluations. We in turn have split our proceeds with them. I am grateful to the staff at RISNA for their support for our programs. Pam has been actively involved with the Psych Clinical Nurse Council in presenting their programs. This has been done to help offset the cost of the lobbyist. The fee for the lobbying services has been raised to $11,000, which is the standard rate. Obviously this is an important activity for us and we need to continue to help offset this cost. Last week, Marianne Hurley, Diana Hobden and I met with Pam to discuss our restructuring. We have concluded that it would be best for us to be under the umbrella of RISNA as are the other specialty nursing groups. We would run our programs through RISNA with the proceeds going into RISNA’s general account and would submit a yearly budget for our anticipated expenses. As your board members for many years we have taken a very conservative approach to our financial issues. We currently have about $6,000.00 in savings, which started with donations from NP’s years ago to pay a lobbyist to obtain prescriptive privileges and third party reimbursement. We stand to lose a great deal if we don not have a lobbyist and the only way for us to afford one is to split the cost with other RISNA councils and committees. The money from our savings account would go into a restricted CD under RISNA. This money would be allocated to meet our needs. We will still have c0-chairs and a board for the NP Council. We would still be responsible for our web site, our own PR and e-mail. We would meet quarterly, which would give those of us interested in RISNA more time to be on the governing boards and represent ourselves at a higher level. This would be more productive for our political gains. The Council would continue its current affiliation with AANP, which is solely devoted to NP’s and serves us well on the federal level. Marianne has been a wonderful representative and passes along a wealth of knowledge to us from the Academy. Clinical Excellence Awards are presented by the Academy and we can send 2 delegates to their annual convention with tuition waived. Their regional meeting will be in Providence this fall and carries CEU’s. We will conduct a vote of RISNA members at the annual dinner meeting in September. The decision to restructure will include a financial merger with RISNA; purchase a CD with savings we have accrued, which will be restricted to the NP Council’s use. We will continue with our Pharmaceutical Pearls and submit our budget to RISNA for any expenses we may foresee. If you have any suggestions as to other programs we should offer and budget for, now is the time to propose them. E-mail Kathy at kaksck@aol.com with any constructive comments you may have before the September meeting. I thank you all for your continued support. We have a great NP presence in RI and need to keep it growing. Networking will also help to increase and continue NP jobs and awareness. See you in September! We are pleased to announce the following awards from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.
Carol Lietar, RNP/MSN
We are proud to Carol for all the contributions she has made to RISNA and our state for many years. As an NP, she is a pioneer with her independent practice in Women’s Health. She is a role model to us all, on the RISNA board representing NP’s and a wealth of knowledge to those of us who constantly seek her sound advice. Thank you Carol for being there for us with your calming, global perspective on health care and the ever-changing roles of nurses especially nurse practitioners. All you offer to us has blessed your patients and us.
Tim Cavanaugh, MD
We are pleased to elect “Tim” as our advocate. The 4 NP’s who he has worked with over the past 7 years at Family Health Services nominated him. This is a neighborhood health center with sites in Cranston and Coventry. He is a family practice physician, works well with NP’s and truly considers that wee are all team players with the effort toward comprehensive patient care. He has been a good mentor, partner and care giver within our clinic. Thank you for making a difference in patient care and being such a great advocate for nurse practitioners. These recipients will be honored at the annual meeting in September. Our mailing list is kept by RISNA. Please send along any changes with addresses or phone numbers to Marie at RISNA headquarters.
Dee Bates keeps up our e-mail list. Please e-mail her with any changes, additions, etc. to seabates@aol.com.
Kathy Knowlton can be reached at kaksck@aol.com.
Marianne Hurley can be reached at hurleyfamily@home.com. Due to the labor hours necessary and the cost of mailing we will no longer be sending these newsletters out. The newsletter will be available on the website and we will communicate through e-mail. A downloaded copy can be mailed to you if you have no access to a computer. There will be a charge for these services if you are not a RISNA member. Please let Kathy or Marianne know. Kathy can be reached at work at 232-1558. Thank you Sue St. Amour for your help with the newsletter for the past several years. It was enjoyed and much appreciated by many of us!
Legislative Update-Kathy Knowlton
An Act relating to Collaborative Pharmacy-whereby NP’s have been added to the list of those who can collaborate with pharmacists is still in committee to be held for further study. We went to a hearing and had NP’s included on a passage of a SubA, so we are in the bill if it does pass. An Act relating to Insurance-authorizing health care providers to negotiate with health care insurers through the Attorney General-has been revised several times. We continue to remain neutral. There has been no action on this bill since 4/11/01 when it was approved for extended consideration. Not sure if anything will come of it this year. This is the state version of the Federal antitrust bill, which continues to be presented yearly, but no further activity noted. We have to watch this closely; it could give physicians a way of “excluding” NP services with insurers. SAVE THE DATE FOR THE ANNUAL NURSE PRACTITIONER DINNER MEETING
TENTATIVE DATE-MONDAY SEPTEMBER 17 at BARNSIDER MILE AND A QUARTER HOUSE, SOUTH MAIN ST. PROVIDENCE.
SPECIAL GUEST-KAREN KAZIN RNP-TOPIC-WOMEN’S BREAST CANCER SCREENING-WHEN TO DO WHAT AND REFER WHEN. KAREN WORKS WITH DR. GRAVES WHO IS A BREAST CANCER SPECIALIST.
Look for the menu and mailing in August | 
