Legislative Session Week 9
In this week’s update: Priority Bills, Legislators' Town Halls and ACA Replacement
Patient Safety Awareness Week Is March 12-18, 2017
Patient Safety Awareness Week, a highlight of the United for Patient Safety Campaign, is time dedicated to raising awareness about patient safety among health professionals and the public. Join the Twitter chat or watch the free webinar.
2017 Northwest Public Health Leadership Institute accepting applications
Applications are open for the Northwest Public Health Leadership Institute, a nine-month program offered through the University of Washington School of Public Health designed to build collaborative leadership skills for professionals committed to improving health equity.
Legislative Session Week 8
In this week’s update: House & Senate Voting on Bills, WSNA’s Priority Bills – Updates on Floor Action, Legislator Town Halls
Improving Safety Culture in Health Care
A new Sentinel Event Alert from The Joint Commission says that leadership’s failure to address a safety culture is a contributing factor to adverse events.
Legislative Session Week 7
In this week's update: Fiscal Committee Cutoff, WSNA’s Priority Bills – Still Moving!, and Legislator Town Halls
Resources for helping patients with challenging chronic pain problems
Washington is experiencing an opioid crisis. To help address this crisis, UW Medicine and the Washington State Health Care Authority have partnered to offer two services to assist community-practice providers with managing patients with challenging chronic pain problems.
Buprenorphine Update for ARNPs
The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, signed into law on July 22, 2016, expanded the privilege of prescribing buprenorphine in office-based settings to qualifying Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) through October 1, 2021.
Social determinants of health: What nurses need to know
As a nurse, you have likely seen the same person get readmitted to your facility over and over again, or perhaps you have wondered what led to a certain patient’s illness. What did the person do or fail to do to stay healthy?
Washington State Association of Nurse Attorneys earns national recognition
In November 2016, the Washington State Chapter of the Association of Nurse Attorneys was one of two state chapters to receive the Outstanding Chapter Award at the American Association of Nurse Attorneys annual conference in Dallas, Texas. The award was based on work developing and presenting our Nursing and the Law continuing education programs.
Legislative Session Week 6
in this update: policy bill cutoff, public health policy bills and tv town halls, nurse staffing and rest breaks, school nurse supervision, secure medicine return, legislator town halls, congressional week of action and nurse legislative day.
Nursing Commission Updates
This past year has been a busy one for the Washington State Nursing Quality Assurance Commission, with many updates to various rules, potential legislative bills and advisory opinions and policies.
Photos from 2017 Nurse Legislative Day
WSNA's 2017 Nurse Legislative Day featured keynote speaker Gov. Jay Inslee and was attended by more than 600 nurses and nursing students.
Final VA APRN Rule Released
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released a final rule granting full practice authority to three of the four established Advance Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) roles, effective January 13, 2017.
ANA designates 2017 as Year of the Healthy Nurse
Do you want to eat healthier, be more active, get better sleep and have more joy? This is your year! ANA is declaring 2017 to be the Year of the Healthy Nurse and will be addressing specific wellness issues every month.
OSHA considers health care workplace violence standard, requests comments
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is considering whether to develop a new standard to prevent workplace violence in health care and social-assistance settings. The agency has issued a public Request for Information on the extent and nature of workplace violence in the industry and the effectiveness and feasibility of methods used to prevent such violence.
WSNA in Olympia – Legislative Session Week 5
In this week's update: Public Health Hearings & TV Town Halls, Staffing & Rest Breaks Hearings, School Nurse Supervision Hearing, Right to Work Bill, ACA Protections Introduced in Legislature, Nurse Legislative Day and Upcoming Events
WSNA member Justin Gill, Nurse Rep Travis Elmore join ANA PAC Board
Last fall, WSNA member Justin Gill, MS, ARNP, NP-C and WSNA Nurse Representative Travis Elmore, BSN, RN-BC, were appointed by the American Nurses Association Board of Directors to the ANA-PAC Board of Trustees.
CDC updates for Childhood Immunizations
The 2017 schedule, approved by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was published online today on the CDC website and in Pediatrics. The updated schedule was also approved by the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Public Health is Essential
WSNA is playing a leadership role in a new campaign, Public Health is Essential, designed to educate lawmakers and the public on the critical role public health plays.
CDC updates for Adult Immunizations
The CDC has set the adult immunization schedule for 2017 based upon recommendations made by the agency's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
Mumps Update: Outbreak continues to grow
Mumps cases reported in Washington state are up to 349, according to the most recent numbers released by the Department of Health on Feb. 1. Local county health departments have reported increases in recent days, however, which would increase that number by at least 8 cases. More are expected in coming days.
Nursing Commission Update: Buprenorphine Waiver for ARNPs
The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) (Public Law 114-198) extending the privilege of prescribing buprenorphine in office-based settings to qualifying nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) until Oct. 1, 2021. CARA requires that NPs complete 24 hours of training to be eligible for a prescribing waiver.
Regulatory changes impacting ARNP practice
Parity reimbursement and the Comprehensive Addictions and Recovery Act.