The Official Publication of the Alaska Nurses Association Circulation 7,700 to every Registered Nurse, Licensed Practical Nurse and Student Nurse in Alaska
Volume 62 • No. 3
September 2012
Heart of Alaska Nurse— Lorraine Phillips
Page 6
The Affordable Care Act benefit payouts. Any lifetime limits will be phased out by 2014. • Your insurer cannot cancel your plan after you get sick based on a technicality or discriminate against your children if they have a preexisting condition. • If you are an adult under age 26, and one or both of your parents have a health plan, they may be able to add you to it. If you have adult children, you can probably keep them on your plan until they are 26. • You may be entitled to coverage of preventive services without out-of-pocket expenses. (as of 8/2012, well-woman visits, contraception, HPV testing, breastfeeding support/supplies/ counseling, domestic violence screening/ counseling, and more)
In June, the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a landmark law affecting the entire health care system. The ruling means that in addition to changes already made to US health care through the act, other provisions of the law will be implemented as planned. Nurses, as trusted health care professionals, will need to educate themselves on the ACA as both providers and consumers as they are looked to for accurate information. One way to understand the Affordable Care Act is to break it down by how a person gets their health insurance as reported by the Washington Post in the ADN 6/30/12: I am Insured though an employer Already in place • Your insurer cannot set a lifetime limit on
A Silent Epidemic
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Spotlight Series The Other Frontiers
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The Affordable Care Act continued on page 12
Alaskans Protecting Alaska Safeguard Yourself, Your Family, and Your Patients Against Influenza In interim results for the 2010-2011 influenza season, the CDC reported data from states on the ‘coverage’ or percent of population that had gotten immunized with the ‘flu’ vaccine. Alaska coverage rate for adults, those 18 years and above, was 36.6%, the lowest of the states. Iowa, at 50.5% was the highest. The 2010-11 season was notable because it was the first time that the influenza vaccine was recommended for all people age 6 months and above and it was a season in which vaccine supplies were plentiful. [MMWR, 6/10/11]. Alaska nurses are critical to improving Alaska’s statistics. Influenza is the cause of over 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths each year. It is easily spread from person to person by droplets during coughing and sneezing of infected persons. Transmission can also occur by touching a contaminated surface with flu virus and then touching your eyes, nose or mouth. According to the CDC, “The single best way to protect against the flu is to get vaccinated
each year. Everyone 6 months and older should get vaccinated.” That includes women in any trimester of pregnancy and women who are breastfeeding. In fact, pregnant women infected with influenza are five times more likely to become seriously ill than non-pregnant women making it even more important that they be immunized. Influenza symptoms may include sudden onset of fever, body aches, headache, tiredness, cough, sore throat, and nasal congestion. People develop symptoms 1-4 days after they are infected. Adults can spread the virus to others 1-2 days before developing symptoms to 5 days after symptoms start. Children can spread influenza to others 10 or more days and shed the virus for several days before symptoms start. To prevent the spread of influenza in those already infected follow infection control guidelines including hand hygiene, Standard and Droplet precautions. For in-patients that are diagnosed with influenza, the duration of
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Droplet precautions (wear mask if within 3 feet of patient) is 7 days after symptoms start. If you suspect your patient to have influenza symptoms, notify the physician and your Infection Control Department. Steps to reduce spread of influenza to other patients and staff, are Respiratory Hygiene/ Cough Etiquette (Hand Hygiene after contact with respiratory secretions, cough and sneeze into your sleeve), and follow Standard and Droplet Precautions. Visitors and staff with influenza symptoms should refrain from visiting patients until they are well and staff should be excluded from work for the duration of the illness. Getting vaccinated reduces your chances of getting ill and spreading it to your vulnerable patients, your co-workers, and your family. Become an advocate of immunization to your patients, family and co-workers. It will save lives. Reference: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, http://www.cdc.gov/flu/groups.htm 8/10/12.
Inside This Issue Editorial. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Nurses’ Role Critical in Promoting HPV Vaccine. 9
Alaska Respond: One Year Later . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Membership Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
New Nursing Group Organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Other Frontiers—Cuba. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Role of the Breast Cancer Nurse Navigator . . . . . . 4
The Other Frontiers—Vietnam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Nurses in the News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Board of Nursing Update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Heart of the Alaska Nurse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Labor Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Upcoming Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The AaNA Vision Empowering Alaska nurses to be dynamic leaders, powerful in both the health care and political communities.