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PAID Permit #161 Princeton, MN
The Alaska Nurse Circulation 7,000 to every Registered Nurse, Licensed Practical Nurse and Student Nurse in Alaska Volume 54 No. 3
The Official Publication of the Alaska Nurses Association
Nurses Vote! By Dianne O’Connell AaNA Labor Program Director Political candidates on the local, state and national levels actively seek endorsement by Registered Nurses, most particularly through the nurses’ professional and labor organizations. We know that nursing in one of the highest, if not THE highest, respected professions around. Community members TRUST their nurses—apparently not only for in-person health care considerations, but also for health care questions on the state and national levels, as well. Nurses are trusted to KNOW who has the healthy well-being of people in mind when they go to the polls and when they make recommendations to others on Election Day. One might ask “Why?” Are nurses that much different from everybody else? Actually, they are not that much different and possibly that is why they are so trusted. RNs Represent All Political Persuasions There are 5,700 Registered Nurses in the state of Alaska who are also Registered to Vote. Some 2,880 of them are “undeclared” or “non-partisan.” That’s slightly more than fifty percent. For those who have declared a party affiliation, the break down is thus: 1,428 Republican 1,106 Democrat 109 Alaska Independence Party 59 Republican Moderates 57 Green Party 36 Libertarian 25 Other Nurses represent the whole spectrum of political thought in the community. And they temper this political thought whatever it might be, with concern for personal health, public health, and access to health care for all.
AaNA Leadership Bios AaNA Leadership is a diverse and committed group of RNs who have stepped forward to make sure that RNs continue to define their profession, advocate for their patients and make the profession of nursing as strong as it can be. They advocate for nurses and nursing with the legislature, Board of Nursing, in their workplaces and in our union. They bring excellence and professionalism to the many facets of their lives. We are proud of our leaders and we want you to meet them. Over the next two issues you will find AaNA Leadership Bios spread throughout the Alaska Nurse. Continued on page 3
Nurse Turnout on Election Day Nurses have a fairly decent rate of turnout on Election Day—although such things could always be improved. For instance, in the last four general elections (1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002), 40.2 percent of nurses who were registered to vote, actually VOTED in all four elections. Sadly, however, only 6.6 percent of these nurses voted in all four primary elections. (More than 48 percent of these nurses did not vote in any of the most recent primary elections!) In other words, we are pretty good voters for general elections, but dismal on primaries. Turnout by Party Affiliation Another statistic is interesting. Broken down by party affiliation above, the percentages of those who voted in all four general elections are: 41.0 percent of RN Non-partisan and Undeclared voters voted in four general elections. 40.3 percent of RN Republicans voted in all four general elections 41.2 percent of RN Democrats voted in all four general elections 28.4 percent of RN Alaska Independence Party folks voted in all four general elections 22.2 percent of RN Moderate Republicans 33.3 percent of RN Green party members 22.2 percent of RN Libertarians 44.0 percent of RN Others Vote Absentee We think that these statistics can be improved for nurses through the use of absentee ballots. Working 7:00 AM to 7:30 PM on Election Day, for instance, can damper one’s enthusiasm to rush right over to the Continued on page 3
License Renewal Fees— Where does the Money Go? Cathy Giessel, MS, FNP-CS, Board member and secretary It’s almost time to renew licenses again! Its time to start locating all those continuing education certificates and adding up the numbers. Maybe you will find yourself looking through journals and taking some CE tests to bolster those numbers—and your knowledge! In a few short months the renewal notices will be coming to your mailboxes and you may be asking the question that comes up every two years—“Where does this money go?” The Continued on page 4
August 2004
Anchorage Pain resource Fair Page 7
Legislative Thank You Page 15
ANA Delegates to Convention Page 20
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.