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PAID Permit #161 Princeton, MN
The Alaska Nurse Circulation 8,400 to every Registered Nurse, Licensed Practical Nurse and Student Nurse in Alaska Volume 54 No. 2
The Official Publication of the Alaska Nurses Association
May 2004
The Alaska Nurse Offers a New Format . . . to a New Audience
Nurses Week Celebrated See Pages 3-6
The Alaska Nurse is the official publication of the Alaska Nurses Association (AaNA) and has been published for AaNA members since 1951. AaNA, which is the professional association for RNs in Alaska and a constituent member of the American Nurses Association, has found a tremendous value in working with affiliate nursing groups and building coalitions within the Alaska nursing community. In the fall of 2003 the AaNA Board of Directors decided to try a new format, one that will reach all licensed nurses in the state, including RNs, nurse practitioners and licensed practical nurses. Our format has changed from our traditional newsletter style to a newspaper style which is produced in cooperation with Arthur L. Davis Publishing Company. Reaching a broader nursing population, AaNA is hoping to strengthen connections throughout the nursing community—sharing resources and sharing our strength to advance nurses and the practice of nursing.
Alaska Statewide Nurses Conference See Page 13
Board of Nursing Adopts New Delegation Regulations By Camille Soleil, JD AaNA Executive Director and Jo-Anne Sullivan, RN, BS Administrator, Health and Wellness Supports Hope Community Resources, Inc. On April 27, 2004, the Board of Nursing held a special work session to complete their work on new regulations on delegating to unlicensed assistive personnel. The new regulations, once signed by Lt. Governor Loren Leman, will take effect within about 45 days after this meeting and will potentially change the way nurses currently delegate to nonnurses. The Board of Nursing started drafting these regulations about thirteen years ago, when nurses recognized that unsafe practices were happening in community settings. It quickly became evident that it would be beneficial to have Board guidance to assist nurses responsible for delegating home care tasks to unlicensed care providers. A position paper was created in 1995 (Appendix E—Regarding Delegation by Nurses of Nursing Tasks to Unlicensed Assistive Staff In Assisted Living Homes). The goal of the new regulations is to provide guidelines to assist nurses to use delegating practices which are safe and supported by written regulations. Due to some extremely hard work by the current Board, as well as several Boards before it, the regulations are finally ready to be put into practice. Special recognition needs to be given to Lynn Hartz, past Board member, Jo-Anne Sullivan, Task Force member and Dorothy Fulton, Board of Nursing Executive Administrator. The new regulations will be at “12 AAC 44.950 Standards for delegation of nursing duties to other persons.” Please keep an eye on the Board of Nursing website for their full text.
Highlights of the new regulations: • The delegation must be within the nurse’s scope of practice and will be made only after an assessment of the individual patient where the nurse determines that delegation is appropriate • The patient medical condition must be stable and predictable • The person delegated to ° has the appropriate, documented training, and ° the nurse deems them to be competent for the task and ° the person accepts the delegation and the accountability for it • The delegated task doesn’t require professional nursing judgment, knowledge or complex nursing skills • The nurse provides written instructions specific to the individuals needs, maintained on record • The nurse provides appropriate direction and supervision and remains responsible for the quality of delegated care • The delegation is specific to that patient and to the person it is delegated to. One delegating nurse may transfer supervision of the delegation to another nurse, but only after the substitute nurse assesses the patient and skills of the person being delegated to. Specific sections spell out duties which can and cannot be delegated, and provide details and guidelines for safe practice. The sections provide lists of skills that are not all inclusive, but are intended to provide examples that can be used as a guide for assessing the appropriateness of delegation for the innumerable tasks that people will be wondering about. For example: Continued on page 3
Community Service Award See Page 14
Inside This Issue President’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 National Nurses Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 District 1 – Nurses Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Fairbanks – Nurses Week. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Ketchikan – Nurses Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Nurses Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Administration’s Priorities are Askew . . . . . . . 7 Public Health Nurses Worth Funding Compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Nursing Professionals—Promoting the Nursing Profession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Membership Applicatiion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 AaNA Committees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 The Alaska Senate Race—Pay Attention . . . . 13 Specialty Nursing Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Alaska Statewide Nurses Conference . . . . . . . 13 Nurse Nasty Retires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Community Service Award to AaNA Leader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Celebration of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 AaNA Supports Legislation Doubling Tax on Tobacco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 HB 25 End of Life/Five Wishes Bill . . . . . . . . 15 What do we do and why do we do it? . . . . . . 16 Committee Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 AaNA Newest Alaska Nurses . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Graduate Degrees from UAA School of Nursing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
The AaNA Vision Empowering Alaska nurses to be dynamic leaders, powerful in both the health care and political communities.