Over 45 RNs attended AzNA’s annual Nurse Lobby Day on Wednesday, February 11. With a lot of positive feedback from both attendees and legislators, AzNA marks this one as a success in the books. Look for highlights on Nurse Lobby Day, APRN Lobby Day, and Public Policy Day in the May 2015 issue of the Arizona Nurse.

Senator Don Shooter (center) with AzNA Members Pat Mews and Selina Bliss at Nurses Lobby Day.

On Monday, Robin Schaeffer, Executive Director, met with Senator Nancy Barto and Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) stakeholders regarding state level budget changes that impact licensure issues and funding for both RNs and CNAs. If you strip out all of the legal and accounting words, the issue boils down to budgets. The federal government has been giving money to state boards to offset costs of maintaining CNA registries. Those funds are no longer being passed down and as a result the Arizona General Fund is going to stop passing those funds on to the Arizona Board of Nursing. Because CNAs don’t pay any licensure fees, the loss of funding results in the State Board of Nursing being forced to use RN licensure fees to offset the cost of regulating CNAs, CNA disciplinary investigations, and background checks for CNAs. A bill has been written and is likely to be heard by the legislature on Tuesday. AzNA will update members on this issue and on ways to contact your legislator as information becomes available.

Other items of note-

Debby Wood, Office Manager:

• Served as the face at the registration table for Lobby Day on Wednesday. She came back to the office with a lift in her step, inspired by the nurses she talked to and getting a reminder of why it is AzNA Staff works so hard every day.
• Spoke with a first-time attendee who was excited about her experience with her legislators, how much she had learned about the legislative process and how excited she was already to return next year.
• Spent the remainder of the week jumping  into the deep waters of AzNA’s accounting.  Wendy and Debbie passed her Swim Floaties.
• Had no interaction with insects of any type in the office this week. Thankfully.

Wendy Schulz, Communications Manager:

• Met early in the week with Shawn Harrel, RN, Editor of the Arizona Nurse to discuss plans for the May issue.
• Spent a lot of the week working on event task lists for upcoming events to ensure that they run more smoothly than ever. This process necessitated over 88oz of coffee be ingested. Wendy anticipates further coffee consumption in the upcoming weeks.
• Spent time on Friday writing this blog and pondering how many members would show up to read it. Login to leave a comment and let her know.

Debbie Blanchard, Administrative Assistant:

• Has been busy processing AzNF Scholarship Applications.  Nursing Program students can be awarded anywhere from $500 to $2500 per semester. If you or a student you know would like some financial assistance for schooling, make sure to get your scholarship applications in before the March 1 deadline.

 **TO LEAVE A COMMENT, PLEASE SIGN IN HERE, AND THEN REFRESH THIS PAGE*