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Policy Pulse - Week of March 5, 2018
Posted By Wendy Knefelkamp, Monday, March 5, 2018

Last Week at the AZ Legislature...

March 5, 2018-

The Arizona House and Senate chambers held their first week of committee hearings on bills that had passed out of the other chamber. Calendars were light as time was spent in long meetings moving bills through the legislative process: voting out bills that had originated in each of the respective chambers, "first reading" in the receiving chamber, and assigning received bills to committees.

 

Last week was the second phase of our RN Advocacy Day plan. Over several days, nurses met with legislators from their home districts. The meetings were very productive and new relationships were established.

 

We are moving forward with our 'AzNA 90' Goal, “A Nurse Assigned to Each Legislator”, and you can take the 1st step by meeting with your legislator(s).

 

It’s easy to establish a relationship with your legislator by calling their office and scheduling an appointment. We make your message easy: give them a copy of our Public Policy Agenda which addresses all of the important messages related to our profession and patient safety.The AzNA staff is available to update you on bill progress or coach you on messaging.

 
Bill of Interest This Week

 

HB2197 health professionals; workforce data passed unanimously out of the House, however has now been assigned to two committees in the Senate: the Health & Human Services Committee ("Health") and the Commerce and Public Safety Committee ("Commerce"). This presents a problem as there are only 4 weeks for bills to be heard in committee of which one week has already passed and it may be difficult to persuade some Commerce Committee member of the merits of the bill. If the bill does not pass out of both committees, it will die before being heard by the Senate as a whole.

AzNA Position: Support

We will be spending a lot of energy in the next week to push this bill along. It is scheduled to be heard Wednesday in the Health Committee. Be on the lookout for a Call to Action/Letter writing campaign through our Phone2Action advocacy tool. If you haven't registered to receive text alerts, take a minute today!

 
See the Bills AzNA is Tracking

AzNA tracks bills based on our Public Policy Agenda. This agenda focuses on the health of all Arizonans and the professional practice and work environment of our Arizona nurses.

 

Access the Nurses List of Bills to see the full listing of bills AzNA is following this legislative session. These new weekly reports (above) will help summarize some key points from the week before, but it is also helpful for you access the Nurses List of Bills weekly to track the bills that you are passionate about. If you have a question about a specific bill please contact info@aznurse.org. We will triage your question to the appropriate person.

Tags:  Advocacy  Legislature  Public Policy 

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2016 APRN Legislation Ceases to Move Forward
Posted By Administration, Thursday, March 24, 2016

When SB1473 (APRN Full Practice Authority) failed to advance through the legislature, it was decided to move forward with a pared-down, strike-everything amendment to HB2236.  This was an effort to remove the “collaboration” language and therefore remove this obstacle to NP/CNM empanelment and reimbursement. 

 

As part of the proposal we incorporated language presently found in the Board of Nursing rules regarding when it is appropriate to engage in consultations and make referrals.  It is our belief that the language found in HB2236 requires consultation and referrals with physicians only when it is in the best interest of the patient or when the circumstances of the patient are outside the knowledge and experience of the NP/CNM.  In our view this would not prevent referrals to other providers if the NP/CNM has the experience and knowledge to exercise the clinical judgment necessary to make an appropriate referral to a non-physician provider.  We do not believe that this language mandates that NP/CNMs can only refer and consult with physicians.

 

Although the language of the strike-everything amendment for HB 2236 has been available for more than two weeks, we have recently been informed by the Executive Director of the State Board of Nursing, that she and their lobbyist believe this language in fact would limit all referrals by NP/CNMs to physicians only. 

 

We do not agree with that interpretation but believe that if the Board is going to take that position it creates a handicap to present NP practice which many feel is not outweighed by the removal of  both “collaboration” and the present requirement that NPs/CNMs establish a relationship with one or more physicians.  

 

We will request that Senator Barto not move the bill forward.  This is particularly unfortunate since it probably will contribute to the political obstacles that will complicate future attempts  to remove the “collaboration” language and impact efforts on behalf of the consensus model. 

 

For full information regarding the 2016 APRN Full Practice Authority Initiative, please visit the Top Issues Page.

Tags:  APRN  Consensus  Public Policy 

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APRN Legislation Update
Posted By Administration, Monday, March 21, 2016

March 16th was the last day that bills could be heard in committee. 17 bills were on the Senate Health Committee agenda. After 4.5 hours of patiently waiting,HB2236, Advance Practice Registered Nurses strike everything amendmentwas finally heard.


Rory Hays, AzNA lobbyist, spoke in favor of the bill which was amended to address only the removal of the collaboration language from the Powers and Duties of the Board section of the Nurse Practice Act (NPA) and move language that described the "consult and refer" conditions from Rules to Statute. Steve Barclay, lobbyist for ArMA, advised the committee that ArMA was taking a neutral position on the revised bill.

HB2236 passed 6 votes in favor (Lesko, Hobbs, Begay, Barto, Bradley, & Pancrazi), none against, and one not voting (Yee). The bill now goes to the full Senate for a vote. If it passes the Senate, it goes directly to the full House for vote (without the requirement for hearing in a committee) and then to the Governor’s desk to be signed. Notices will be sent out when the dates for those two votes are scheduled. 

As mentioned in earlier messages, stakeholder meetings (nurses, physicians and legislators) are planned for the summer to work on proposed legislation to be introduced in the 2017 legislature. Unfinished business will be discussed. For the remainder of this year, we will continue to consult with our lobbying team and the coalition to identify what strategies worked and what new approaches may be in order. We will consult with other states who have faced similar arguments against full and direct access to APRN care and learn from their successes. It is our intention to continue to return to the legislature as many times as it takes to achieve all of the original goals for our APRN Consensus Model legislation.

Thank you for your support and feedback - it was quite an inspiration to witness the tremendous involvement of so many nurses. We will continue to need the help of each and every nurse in the remaining Senate and House votes and in the sessions to come in 2017. With strong and sustained effort, we will surely achieve all of our goals. Updates will continue to be posted here on the AzNA website as well as on facebook and twitter (links at top of page, upper left hand corner). 

Tags:  APRN  Consensus  Public Policy 

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Education's Importance to Arizonans Is Important to Nurses
Posted By Administration, Monday, July 20, 2015

 
Education News has taken many forms recently including Governor Ducey's proposal to tap the State Trust funds for schools and the results of a new survey of Arizonans by Highground on behalf of "Stand for Children" . Education has risen to the top of "Issues facing the state". Health Care has fallen to the lowest ranking since the surveys began in 2010. That could be a good thing. Keep in mind that the future of nursing depends upon education. Public concern over education can be fertile ground for proactive action on behalf of such things as Registered Nurses in K-12 schools, Arizona's nursing schools, and Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development . Go ahead, write a letter.

 

 

Tags:  Education  Public Policy 

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