Iowa - September 2020

1. Role of Nurses
• Actively oppose efforts to erode the scope of
practice rightly claimed by nurses.
• Nurses ensure human dignity is upheld by
advocating and educating in all dimensions
of health, including, but not limited to,
physical, mental, and spiritual health.
• Nurses play a critical role in care transition
and coordination (across all healthcare
settings) while supporting patient goals,
reducing hospital readmissions, decreasing
infections, and decreasing hospital-related
mortality.
• Nurses equal patient safety and positive
outcomes.
• The ongoing nurse shortage jeopardizes
patient safety and increases poor outcomes.
2. Meaningful Gun Control
• Meaningful gun control can reduce access to
a highly lethal means of suicide
• Reduce access to firearms when a family
member is at risk for suicide
• Nurses in Iowa can address meaningful
gun legislation by working collaboratively
with law enforcement, mental health
professionals, and researchers to identify
and implement evidence-based strategies to
decrease death by suicide involving firearms.
3. Vaccinations
• Protect public health by resisting efforts to
eliminate childhood immunizations.
• Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective
ways to avoid disease. It currently prevents 2
to 3 million deaths a year, and a further 1.5
million could be avoided if global coverage
of vaccinations improved.
• Immunizations have had an enormous impact
on the health of children, and the prevention
of disease by vaccination is one of the single
greatest public health achievements of the
last century.
18 2020 ANNUAL BOOK OF REPORTS | YEAR OF THE NURSE