The North Dakota Nurse - July 2022

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Page 12 The North Dakota Nurse July, August, September 2022 NDNA Attends ANA Hill Day and Membership Assembly 2022 in Washington, DC Sherri Miller, BS, BSN, RN, NDNA Executive Director NDNA was back in DC! NDNA President Tessa Johnson, elected NDNA Membership Assembly Representative Susan Indvik, and I attended the 2022 ANA Hill Day and Membership Assembly in Washington, DC June 9-11. If you do not know, ANA Hill Day is a unique opportunity for nurses across the county to meet with their members of Congress and to share their perspectives on the most pressing issues facing nurses across the nation. At Membership Assembly, the representatives vote on everything, from bylaws to position statements, that affect legislation and nursing practice. Candidates for elected positions share their stance and discuss viewpoints. This particular event has been the first in-person event for ANA in three years! We were very excited as meetings began early Thursday morning with a breakfast briefing that provided a federal legislative overview and key talking points for nurse representatives to share with their members of Congress during the day’s scheduled meetings. Dr. Ernest Grant began this day with an inspiring speech and a fun, surprise impromptu rendition of “Sweet Caroline” when he filled time in the program (after a dare!). Brian Davis, Grassroots Advocacy Coordinator for ANA’s Department of Policy and Government Affairs, provided logistics for Hill Day, and Samuel Hewitt and Kristina Weger from ANA’s Federal Government Affairs reviewed the issue briefs which included Workplace Violence and the Value of Nursing. ANA-California’s President, Dr. Anita Girard DNP, RN, CNL, CPHQ, NEA-BC, introduced U.S. Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard. Representative Roybal-Allard reminds nurses to take steps to get their elected officials to get to know them and their staff. She encouraged us to offer to help and stated that “the more you get to know them, the more they’ll want to help.” This inspired us to start our meetings! We had a remote visit with Senator John Hoeven’s Legislative Assistant, Ty Kennedy, on June 23. We discussed: • “Valuing the Nursing Workforce” in which we provided findings from the American Nurses Foundation COVID-19 Two-Year Impact Assessment Survey. We noted that 60% of acute care nurses report feeling burned out and 75% report feeling stressed, exhausted, and frustrated. Two out of three nurses under 35 reported feeling burned out. We asked them to cosponsor and pass the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act (S. 4182/H.R. 1195). • “Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2021” with the goal of protecting patients from unnecessary delays in care by streamlining and standardizing prior authorization under the Medicare Advantage program. In discussing these bills and issues, we felt our meetings went very well and that we expressed our points clearly to the members of Congress who heard and received our message. We even felt that we had an emotional personal connection with them in telling our stories. We then went into ANA Membership Assembly on June 10th and 11th. Early morning on June 10th was an opportunity to meet the candidates and a Hearing on ANA Racial Reckoning Statement. President Ernest Grant gave a “Call to Order” and we began the order of business. His President’s Address was wonderful. He stated, “when nurses are protected, patients are as well.” He went on to say that we need to “push for changes to ensure that nurses have a professional home.” President Grant also shared a personal side as he gave an emotional thank you to the ANA Board of Directors, membership, and staff for his term in office which will be ending in December of 2022. We are so pleased that President Grant will be the keynote speaker at the NDNA Fall Conference, “Celebrating the Art of Nursing” September 20, 2022 in Bismarck. During President Grant’s address, NDNA was one of the C/SNAs (Constituent/State Nurses Associations) recognized for their years of existence – 110 years for NDNA. (Watch for more upcoming celebration on that note!) In the afternoon on the first day, the Dialogue Forums were held on the below topics that had been submitted. • The Impact of Climate Change on Health • Advancing Solutions to Address Verbal Abuse and Workplace Violence Across the Continuum of Care where key points were brought out such as if someone on a flight assaulted a flight attendant, but not a nurse in a hospital! Verbal threats are violence as well and de-escalation techniques should be part of training/ orientation for staff • Nurse Staffing where discussion focused on patient outcomes, school nursing/ long term care (not just acute care) and referring to ratios as “standards.” Friday we also heard a very positive report from ANA’s Treasurer and some scheduling updates from the Vice President. On Saturday, the last day of Membership Assembly, we heard a moving Nightingale Tribute. We were then able to do some lunchtime networking and hear from the ANA Professional Policy Committee. For the elections, the Membership Assembly elected Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, of the Oregon Nurses Association as the association’s next president to represent the interests of the nation’s more than 4.3 million registered nurses. Mensik has more than 25 years of nursing experience in a variety of settings ranging from rural critical access hospitals and home health to hospital administration, and academia. She has served as President of the Arizona Nurses Association and 2nd Vice President and Treasurer of ANA. The term of service for Dr. Mensik and all other newly elected leaders will begin January 1, 2023. ANA’s Membership Assembly also elected four members to serve on the board of directors. The newly elected board members are: Secretary Amanda Oliver, BSN, RN, CCRN, of ANA–Illinois; Director-at-Large, Edward Briggs, DNP, MS, APRN, of the Florida Nurses Association; Director-at-Large, Jennifer Gil, MSN, RN, of the New Jersey State Nurses Association; and Director-at-Large, Staff Nurse, David Garcia, MSN, BSN, RN, PCCN, of the Washington State Nurses Association. The following ANA board members will continue their terms: Susan Swart, EdD, MS, RN, CAE, of ANA-Illinois as Vice President; Joan Widmer, MS, MSBA, RN, CEN, of the New Hampshire Nurses Association as Treasurer; Amy McCarthy, MSN, RNC-MNN, NE-BC, of the Texas Nurses Association as Director-at- Large; and Marcus Henderson, MSN, RN, of the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association as Director-at-Large, Recent Graduate. Elected to serve on the Nominations and Elections Committee are: MaryLee Pakieser, MSN, RN, FNP-BC, of ANA Michigan; Jennifer Tucker, MA, RN, of the Minnesota Organization of Registered Nurses; and Kimberly Velez, MSN, RN, of ANA - New York. This event is an excellent opportunity to express our nursing voices and represent our state. It was my second time to be “in person” for Hill Day and Membership Assembly, and again I felt it was an extreme honor and privilege! We were treated with respect by our legislators and their staff who were all hospitable and provided us the opportunity to engage in meaningful and collaborative discussions. It’s truly an experience that connects North Dakota nurses to ANA’s mission of “nurses advancing our profession to improve health for all.”
July, August, September 2022 The North Dakota Nurse Page 13 I would like to thank NDNA President Tessa Johnson and NDNA Membership Assembly Representative Susan Indvik for being excellent partners on this event. They deserve extra kudos for some travel woes they encountered on the way home – forcing each of them to stay in a few other cities and extra days before finally making it home. North Dakota nurses, if you are interested in being involved in Hill Day/Membership Assembly or any ANA/NDNA activities, you are welcome to attend our open Board Meetings to become engaged or talk to anyone at NDNA! Photo credit: Jerry Frishman Photo credit: Jerry Frishman Photo credit: Jerry Frishman
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