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Robin Schaeffer speaks about West Nile Virus in the Pheonix Business Journal

Posted By Administration, Monday, July 20, 2015
Updated: Monday, July 20, 2015
On Friday, July 17, AzNA Executive Director Robin Schaeffer was featured speaking about West Nile Virus in a Pheonix Business Journal article, 'Employers with Outside Workforce Beware, West Nile Virus is Here'.

 

 

Robin Schaeffer, executive director of the Arizona Nurses Association, said some people can get the WNV and not even know they have it. Their symptoms might be limited to a headache and some malaise and not need to miss a day of work.

 

But when fever kicks in, it's time to stay hydrated and get some rest, she said.

 

"It's not contagious," she said.

 

Schaeffer said there is no treatment for WNV.

 

"You treat the symptoms," she said.

  

Read the full article.

 

 

 

Tags:  In The News  Robin Schaeffer  West Nile Virus 

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This week at AzNA – Friday, February 13, 2015

Posted By AzNA Staff, Friday, February 13, 2015

 

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.

 

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Tags:  Robin Schaeffer  This Week 

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This Week at AzNA -- Friday, February 6, 2015

Posted By AzNA Staff, Friday, February 6, 2015

Final preparations are underway for Nurse Lobby Day on Wednesday, February 11 -- this includes handout packets, snack bags, and the always present Lifesavers to give to legislators with our sticker: "Save one life, you're a hero. Save 1,000 lives, you're a nurse." We are looking forward to seeing many familiar faces, as well as eager new faces, included in the 50 nurses registered to attend. Registration for this event is closed, but if you're interest, please register for APRN Lobby Day on March 4.

 

Robin Schaeffer, Executive Director, was involved in a conference call with other executive directors of Multi-State Divisions of ANA around the country. Arizona is a part of the Western Multi-State Division. The Western MSD website is set to go live at the end of this month, and preparations are underway to make the Continuing Education Credit Application process an online option. We're crossing all of our fingers and toes for that happening this summer!

 

Robin had networking opportunities to begin talks about public health nursing with state-based thought leaders and also enjoyed a lunch meeting on Thursday with Melissa Stafford Jones, U.S. Health and Human Services Region 9 Director, Matt Heinz, Director of Provider Outreach for the Health and Human Services Department, and Rory Hays, JD, AzNA Lobbyist.

 

Left to Right: Matt Heinz, Director of Provider Outreach for Health and Human Services; Robin Schaeffer, RN, MSN, CNE, CAE, Executive Director of AzNA; Melissa Stafford Jones, Region 9 Director, Health and Human Services, Rory Hays, JD, AzNA Lobbyist

 

Friday was the second time the AzNA Board of Directors has met for 2015. Topics of discussion included review of the survey results for the AzNA Mission Statement and Convention 2015. A Big Thank You to all 150 members who participated in the survey. Your feedback was invaluable. 

 

Debby Wood, Office Manager, met with the Convention Planning Committee and a title for Convention has finally been nailed down. We look forward to seeing you at 2015 AzNA Convention - The Changing Landscape of Healthcare: Trends in Nursing Leadership, Practice and Education. Registration will open later this spring. This year Convention will offer three different tracks focused on Leadership, Clinical Practice, and Nurse Educators.  If you have any thoughts about these topics, we’d love to hear from you in the comments or via email at info@aznurse.org.

 

Debby also has been working on the Approved Provider Annual Reports for review in the area of Continuing Education. Additionally, she deftly removed one dead roach from the front office.

 

Wendy Schulz, Communications Manager, has been busy with theme-based branding for multiple events, communications timelines for marketing, and a revised Event Task List to help the office keep organized and ahead of the game for events. It doesn’t sound exciting, but we in the office are especially looking forward to an organized event planning process for 2015 and onward.

 

Debbie Blanchard, Administrative Assistant, has spent much of her last week on the phone with the offices of various AZ Representatives and Senators scheduling appointments for Nurse Lobby Day Participants to speak with their legislators. She’s looking forward to doing it all again next month to schedule appointments for APRN Lobby Day!

 

The office took a brief bit of time on Monday between meetings to celebrate birthdays for Robin (Dec 31), Debby (Feb 1) AND Debbie (Feb 7). We wish them all a wonderful year filled with love and happiness.

 

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Tags:  Robin Schaeffer  This Week 

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Arizona Nurses - Ebola Preparedness - We'd Like to Hear From You

Posted By Robin Schaeffer, Executive Director, Thursday, October 30, 2014

Thank-you for your AzNA membership and your commitment to our profession. For 95 years, the Arizona Nurses Association has been the respected voice of nursing in the state of Arizona.  AzNA continues to have a respected voice in the public policy area thanks to the work of our dedicated member volunteers and our suburb Public Policy leadership team: Denise Link, AzNA Governmental Affairs Officer, Rory Hays, AzNA Lobbyist (for the past 25 years!) and Mary Griffith, Public Policy Consultant. 

 

On Tuesday, October 21at The Governor's Council on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response (Council) was established pursuant to Executive Order 2014-08. The Council is responsible for the following activities:

  • Develop and implement a coordinated comprehensive plan to ensure Arizona's public health infrastructure is prepared for the potential outbreak of infectious diseases, such as the Ebola virus, influenza, Enterovirus, Tuberculosis, and other emerging infectious diseases, and can provide rapid response that effectively protects the safety and well-being of Arizonans. 
  • Strengthen collaboration among healthcare organizations, medical communities, government agencies, law enforcement, non-profit organizations, and the community-at-large in order to effectively address infectious disease transmission and treatment; and
  • Serve as a reliable and transparent source of information and education for Arizona leadership and citizens; and
  • Provide a preliminary report on its findings and recommendations, including progress made on implementation of the plan and recommendations for additional needs and response activities, to the Governor by December 1, 2014.

AzNA holds the only nursing seat on the 20-member council; and I am the appointed nurse. This communication is my attempt to assure that all of our members have a chance to weigh in on the responsibilities the Council has been charged with. 

 

I welcome your comments, input, ideas regarding these responsibilities. Please leave a comment below.

 

Be sure to visit the Ebola Preparedness webpage on the site of the Arizona Department of Health Services to see current local resources (in addition to national resources such as CDC guidelines). Feel free to visit the special advisory council website. All meetings are open to the public and are listed on the site. 

 

Lastly, AzNA's website compiles all local and national information for you so feel free to visit the site often.  

 

-Robin

 

 

 

 

 

Tags:  Ebola  Robin Schaeffer 

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