Make a Difference for Patients Through Legislative Involvement
As association president, I am privileged to represent NAON at several functions. The American Nurses Association (ANA) House of Delegates convened in Washington, DC, this summer. The convention was interesting, stimulating, confusing, uplifting, hot, and humid.
The meeting's focus was a revision of the ANA bylaws. I had the opportunity to meet nursing leaders that you've only read about and watch policy and our future being formed. The ANA is not composed of all the nurses in America, but the organization is often asked to speak for nursing as a pivotal part of the healthcare system. ANA is being restructured to create several new membership options for individuals and organizations. I would recommend the following Web site for a detailed summary of the proceedings, decisions, endorsed positions, and ramifications of the new bylaw structure on membership options (http://www.nursingworld.org/pressrel/2003/pr0708.htm).
When I attended the Nurse in Washington Internship (NIWI) (http://www.nursing-alliance.org/niwi.htm), Kathleen Smith made a remark that changed my whole perspective on nurse involvement in politics. She said we nurses will make more differences in the lives of patients by being involved politically than we ever will in all the patients we treat in our careers. Wow...I have seen a lot of patients in 30 years, and I am not done yet!
My passionate idol Florence Nightingale was political and had great influence on patients. She lobbied to get only three patients to a bed instead of five (and you thought changing a bed with one patient in it was a challenge!). I suspect she was tired after working all day, too, but she wrote letters and contacted the people making the decisions to advocate for her patients.
Watch the legislative section of the NAON Web site (http://www.orthonurse.org) or go to the ANA Web site (http://www.nursingworld.org) to see what is being decided that will affect your patients. Go to First Gov (http://www.firstgov.gov), the U.S. government's official Web portal, to learn how to contact President Bush. There is even a video of the Oval Office!
Use the passion in your bones to influence the care of patients not only for today but also for many days and years to come. We can do anything we set our minds to do!
Geri L. Tierney, BSN, RN, ONC
NAON President
Bone and Joint Decade*
Along with President George W. Bush, all 50 states have recognized and proclaimed this as the Bone and Joint Decade. We are in a unique position as orthopaedic nurses to raise awareness of the importance of musculoskeletal disease and, more importantly, to increase the resources available to promote musculoskeletal health for future generations of Americans. Clearly this depends on the active participation and commitment of all NAON members.
Goals and initiatives to advance the strategic plan of the U.S. Bone and Joint Decade (USBJD) were developed at a board meeting in May. The Research Committee will oversee the following projects: develop a yearly consensus conference to investigate a critical musculoskeletal problem and work closely with various member organizations to gather critical data to support the need for advances in musculoskeletal care. The Advocacy Oversight Committee goal is for each organization to present a consistent message regarding the importance of the USBJD and heighten awareness of the critical nature of musculoskeletal disease, which will, in turn, advance the cause of each member organization. The Communication/Education Committee will work closely with each member organization to develop a standing initiative to publicize the USBJD.
Bone and Joint Decade Awareness Week is October 12-20, 2003, with plans for numerous announcements and initiatives to highlight the importance of musculoskeletal disease to the general population and to promote the USBJD. The Communication/Education Committee will produce pamphlets and media materials containing important information that can be used by advocacy groups to advance the USBJD's cause. These pamphlets will provide information concerning the burden of musculoskeletal disease in our society and the need for all future changes to increase funding for scientific discovery, medical education, patient education, and policy changes. We encourage all members to order these resources from the USBJD or by downloading information from the Web site (http://www.usbjd.org).
Suggested ways to promote the USBJD activities include chapter meetings, bulletin board presentations for staff and or the public, submission of news articles to local papers, contacts with local media, and distribution of brochures at workshops or health fairs held in your communities. This is the first year of the Decade, focused on promoting the goals and educating the medical community and public. Many more exciting activities will be held in future years.
Rita Bendekovits, MSN, RN
Facilitator
Bone and Joint Decade Task Force
*Includes excerpts from Regis J. O'Keefe, MD, Phd, President, in letter to USBJD participating organizations.
Call for Panelists
NAON Develops Pin Care Guidelines
NAON is recruiting panel members to work with lead developers on an Evidence-Based Practice Guideline on Skeletal Pin Care. Panelists will:
* Provide co-leaders with ideas pertaining to the scope and content of the guidelines.
* Review issues for which scientific support is lacking and participate in e-mail discussions and/or teleconferences to produce consensus recommendations.
* Review draft manuscripts and offer suggestions to the lead developers.
Guideline development will begin in early 2004, with the majority of panelists' time commitment in the late summer through fall 2004. Panelists must:
* Be familiar with issues that are relevant to skeletal pin care and with the research process.
* Have access to Microsoft Word and be capable of electronically reviewing manuscripts through e-mail attachments.
* Turnaround reviews in 1-3 days.
Panelists will receive recognition in the published guidelines, a complimentary copy of the publication, and a small honorarium. Interested individuals should submit a cover letter outlining their background in research review and skeletal pin care, along with a current CV, to Heather Krassner, Education Coordinator, NAON, 401 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611; ([email protected]; fax: 312-527-6658). Submission deadline is October 31, 2003.
Practice Corner
NAON Offers Unique Clinical Networking
Today, I had a great NAON experience. Recently, my 24-year-old daughter's best friend moved to Nashville, TN, to look for a job in hospital administration. During the weekend, she went waterskiing with some friends and injured her right knee. In the emergency room in a Nashville hospital, an orthopaedic surgeon reduced her dislocated patella and recommended that she see someone for a possible ACL and/or PCL repair. She called my daughter in Phoenix, AZ, to tell her about all this, and my daughter called me in Pennsylvania to ask me for help. Because my daughter's friend in Tennessee did not know any physicians to set up an appointment, I called her and then got busy.
As OR SIG facilitator, I checked my attendance list from Congress for a Nashville contact. I also looked on the chapter president list for a Nashville contact. I called the nurse from my SIG list first. When she called me back, we had a long pleasant talk. She provided the names of several doctors in the area who specialize in ACL repairs and offered to be available for our young friend to call for answers to questions. How great!
I have also mailed a copy of the article from the May/June issue of Orthopaedic Nursing entitled "Preparing a Female Collegiate Athlete for ACL Reconstruction and Rehabilitation" for my daughter's friend to read. When I called her back in Nashville, she was delighted that I had been able to make all these contacts and was looking forward to reading the journal article. Short of being there with her, NAON bridged a gap, and she will hopefully have a good outcome. I think the networking that can be done through NAON is one of the best attributes of the organization. Truly there is passion in our bones!
Barbara (Bobbi) Fauth, RN, ONC, CNOR
Facilitator
Operating Room Special Interest Group
Introducing...
FIGURE
"I was interested in nursing my whole life," Becky Burgoyne admits. She really admired her aunt, who shared the joy of nursing with Becky. Her older sister also entered the nursing profession, providing another role model in the family. But her father may have clinched the decision. "You need to realize," he told Becky, "that you may not make it in the world as a clarinet player!"
Becky completed her nursing diploma at St. Francis School of Nursing (Wichita, KS) in 1976. "It was the best basic education I could have gotten," she remembers. As a graduate nurse, she began as an evening float nurse on the three orthopaedic units at St. Francis Hospital. "They kind of grew their own," Becky notes. After 6 months as the only RN on evenings ("pretty much in charge anyway"), she accepted a position as charge nurse on one of the three units and stayed for 18 years. "I loved the 3-11 shift!" Becky remembers. She survived new building programs and consolidation, ultimately becoming patient care supervisor over two of the orthopaedic units.
In 1995, St. Francis Hospital merged with St. Joseph Hospital to become Via Christi Health System. Becky became manager and then clinical director for units on both the campuses, which were 10 miles apart. Her assigned area at one campus evolved into a 48-bed unit that included women's surgery, ortho/neuro, the stroke center, and general surgery. With a 60-bed ortho/neuro unit at the sister hospital, Becky was managing 100 staff FTEs. "I had lots of sleepless nights," she chuckles, before her responsibilities were narrowed to just the 48-bed unit at Via Christi-St. Joseph.
Becky earned her BSN in 1987 from St. Mary's of the Plains School of Nursing (Wichita). She earned her prized ONC after testing at the Nashville Congress in 1994. In the midst of her managerial challenges, she also returned to graduate school and completed an MSN in administration and informatics at Wichita State University (Wichita) in 1999. "They were very encouraging of us to go back to school," she says of hospital administrators.
After 24 years at one institution, Becky wanted to see what else nursing had to offer. She moved to Enid, OK, in 2000 to accept a position as director of case management for Bass-Integris Health Center. "That completely changed my life!" she remembers, describing some of her progressive initiatives at the Enid facility. However, the department was eliminated just 6 months after her move-and just a week after Becky had sold her house in Wichita. Fourteen weeks of severance pay gave her the luxury of searching for her ideal job, which she found in a newspaper advertisement as she was completing her application for a traveling nurse assignment.
Instead of traveling the country, Becky now travels eight rural counties of Oklahoma to provide family caregiver education through a 3-year grant managed by Rural Health Projects. "In Oklahoma, one in four families is in a caregiver situation," she notes, and they need to learn skills that will help them at home. "I do a lot of lifting and transferring inservices, so I'm still in ortho," Becky says. She especially enjoys her one-on-one inservice opportunities regarding osteoporosis and fall prevention.
In addition to the workshops and counseling for caregivers of older adults, Becky teaches at Northwestern Oklahoma State University (Enid). She sees senior nursing students in her management and leadership class, and she is also involved with the LPN Progression Course. "I get to use all my practice experience in my teaching," she comments. Becky is also a member of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants, working as an expert witness on cases involving orthopaedic care.
NAON membership was a natural outcome of Becky's love of orthopaedics. As part of the Wichita Chapter, she chuckles, "I was president until I moved away." She is now a member-at-large. On the national level, Becky has served NAON on the Bylaws and Policy Committee. She served as a CE reviewer for the journal and has evaluated awards applications for the Foundation. In 2002, she was elected as the South Central Region's representative to the Nominating Committee. "I think people are really getting into serving!" she says, adding that the mentoring program has helped a lot.
At home, Becky stays busy with her "90-pound baby" Freckles. Of her dog's origins, Becky laughs, "Dad was a Romeo, mom was a springer spaniel." She teaches a stewardship class, is involved with the singles group at her church, and also volunteers at the Oklahoma Blood Institute to assist donors. Becky is a regular visitor to Wichita, which is still home to her parents and her sister and family. She also enjoys reading mysteries, especially the "lighthearted suspense" of Mary Higgins Clark. The books are passed among her mother, her sister, and herself until everyone's read the latest one.
Stay in Touch Through ONCNet
ONCB uses a free broadcast e-mail format to share important updates with ONCs throughout the country. Messages are sent approximately every 6 weeks to help certified nurses stay on top of new CE opportunities, such as the preceptor service credit and other ONCB initiatives. If you are not already on the distribution list for ONCNet, contact President Dottie Roberts ([email protected]) to enroll.