Finishing Touches

To finish out our political action plan, we emailed Senator Durbin and Susan Motley the Executive Director of the Virginia American Nurses Association. We have not received a response from these two important political figures but hope they visit our blog. Thus far, we have not received a direct response from any of the key stakeholders we had emailed in the previous weeks except for Laurie Dohnalek. She was very interested in our blog and responded via email saying:

“This is an outstanding initiative and I applaud your interest in advocacy and policy for nursing. I have sent this information to the Legislative Nursing Council of Georgetown University Hospitals and many of the Nurse Leaders. I will continue to provide this information to any government officials that I have contact with. In addition, I will forward this to the Capitol Gang (the Oncology Nursing Society Advocacy Group) of which I am a member. Thank you for sharing this important blog with me. “

We are very encouraged by Ms.Dohnalek’s email and hope that her contacts will visit our blog site and spread the word about this new important bill. We look forward to seeing the progression of this bill in congress especially with the newly elected officials in office.

Spreading the Word

This week each of our group members contacted either a key stakeholder or legislator and invited them to follow our blog discussions. Our group is educating others in order to raise awareness on the need for capitation grants.

Laurie Dohnalek, director of oncology, aphaeresis, dialysis, and perinatal services at Georgetown University Hospital was contacted because she is a member of the Capitol Gang, more specifically Oncology Nursing Society Advocacy Group. She has a powerful voice at Georgetown University Hospital and has sent our blog information to the Legislative Nursing Council of Georgetown University Hospitals and other Nurse Leaders. Senator Warner and Webb were contacted because of his legislative power and knowledge. He is a direct link to the government and a part of the decision making process, should the bill get to the floor he will be Virginia’s representative to vote in favor of it.

Professor O’Neill is a nursing professor at James Madison University and is probably aware of the growing problem of nursing shortages. She would directly be affected by the passing of the bill through salary and nursing program changes. Dr. Mast is the department head of nursing at James Madison University and we find it important to gain the support of our own educators and supervisors. We also want to know her opinion and if she has any suggestions. Katie Finley, a Pediatric nurse at INOVA Fairfax Hospital has experienced the negative effects of the nursing shortage, which is due in large part to the lack of nursing faculty.

Currently, there are no new updates to the bill or within health care relating to our bill. It is still in the first step of the legislative process where it was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on April 22, 2009. The House Committee is currently deliberating, investigating, and revising before they go to general debate. For the most recent updates, go to http://www.govtrack.us/congress./bill.xpd?bill=h111-2043.