Dr. Peter Buerhaus Selected To Be Keynote Speaker At Annual Nursing Summit

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania State Nurses Association (PSNA) will hold its annual Summit, “The Cost of Nursing: The Dollars and Sense of Caring,” on Friday, October 28, 2011 at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. PSNA is pleased to host keynote speaker Dr. Peter Buerhaus, PhD, RN, FAAN.

Dr. Buerhaus, a registered nurse and healthcare economist, is well-known for his focus on the nation’s nursing workforce. He is the Valere Potter distinguished professor of nursing and director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies at the Institute for Medicine and Public Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He has published nearly 90 peer-reviewed articles and is lead author of the award-winning book, The Future of the Nursing Workforce: Data, Trends, and Implications. In September 2010, Dr. Buerhaus was appointed chair of the National Health Care Workforce Commission, which advises Congress and the Administration on health workforce policy and serves as a resource for the states and localities. Dr. Buerhaus will present at both the opening and closing sessions: “Spanning the Continuum of How Nurses Matter” and “State of the Nursing Workforce.”

“This year’s Summit will encompass the current and future state of nursing,” said PSNA Chief Executive Officer Betsy M. Snook, MEd, BSN, RN. “We must remain diligent in getting a seat at the table to continue the conversations that will lead to successful healthcare reform for our state and nation.”

This year’s Summit also features a series of continuing education sessions on issues ranging from compassion’s influence on improved patient outcomes, bullying in the workplace, healthcare reform and system solutions for the reduction of medication errors. Attendees can earn up to 7.7 contact hours from the Summit with additional contact hours awarded for the practice showcase.

Online registration is now open with pricing available for PSNA members, non-members and nursing students. Please visit www.panurses.orq/summit for a schedule of events, session details and to register.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | September 30, 2011

Contact: Jennifer Neidig, 717-798-8942, jenniferneidig@panurses.org

Pennsylvania Named Future of Nursing Action Coalition to Help Ensure High-Quality, Patient-Centered Health Care

Announcement Coincides with First Year since IOM Report Release

HARRISBURG (September 30, 2011) — The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has been selected as an Action Coalition by the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, coordinated through the Center to Champion Nursing in America (CCNA), an initiative of AARP, the AARP Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), to ensure all Americans have access to high-quality care, with nurses contributing to the full extent of their capabilities.

Pennsylvania’ Action Coalition will work with the campaign to implement the recommendations of the 2010 landmark Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health. Pennsylvania’s Action Coalition is being spearheaded by the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association (PSNA) and the Pennsylvania Center for Health Careers which will act as co-leads on the initiative.

Since its release one year ago, the landmark report has made a considerable impact on the way stakeholders are viewing the nursing workforce:

• As of June 2011, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health became the most viewed online report in the IOM’s history. And it has sparked widespread activity to address the recommendations.
• CCNA has convened stakeholders through its Champion Nursing Coalition of 48 national health care, consumer, business and other organizations and Champion Nursing Council of 27 national nursing organizations to develop strategies to implement the IOM recommendations.
• In less than a year, groups have coalesced in nearly every state to respond to the IOM recommendations. Thirty-six states have campaign-designated Action Coalitions comprised of nursing, other health care, business, consumer and other leaders banded together to implement the IOM report recommendations.

“We are thrilled to add Pennsylvania to the Action Coalition network,” said Susan B. Hassmiller, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior adviser for nursing at RWJF and director of Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action. The Campaign for Action must work at every level to build and sustain the changes necessary to improve health care for all Americans, and we know the contributions of Pennsylvania’s Action Coalition will be invaluable as we move forward.

Action Coalitions also were announced today in 20 other states across the country:

Arkansas
Delaware
Georgia
Hawaii
Kansas
Kentucky
Maryland
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
North Carolina
Ohio
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Texas
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

Pennsylvania and the other states named today join the 15 current Action Coalition states already building teams and moving to action: California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Utah, New Mexico, Virginia and Washington.

“The expertise of our coalition members and our proven capacity were key factors in being selected,” said PSNA Chief Executive Officer Betsy M. Snook, MEd, BSN, RN. “As a participant in the movement to maximize the contributions of the nurses who deliver health care in our state and nation, Pennsylvania is excited to bring its energy and ideas to the groundbreaking effort.”

Snook noted that Pennsylvania’s Action Coalition initially plans to focus on the following priorities, which work to achieve the goals of the Campaign for Action: advancing nursing education to increase the number of RNs with baccalaureate, masters and doctoral degrees, increasing and expanding nurse residency programs throughout the state, enabling nurses to impact systems change and policy development, and strengthening Pennsylvania’s ability to collect and analyze inter-professional health care workforce data.
Action Coalitions are the driving force of the campaign at the local and state levels. Comprised of diverse groups of stakeholders, these coalitions capture best practices, determine research needs, track lessons learned and identify replicable models. Examples of accomplishments to date:

• Connecticut has secured funding for simulation labs and is developing common curriculum and articulation agreements.
• Florida is promoting educational transition partnerships.
• Indiana has included inter-professional education into the newly designed curriculum of its schools of medicine and nursing.

“Adding this new wave of Action Coalitions represents a major step forward in the campaign’s evolution,” said Susan Reinhard, PhD, RN, FAAN, senior vice president of the AARP Public Policy Institute and CCNA chief strategist. “Pennsylvania’s Action Coalition has already made great strides in Pennsylvania, and their application reflected capable leadership, clear goals and strong action plans.”

The campaign seeks active participation from states, national organizations and individuals from health care, business, education, government and philanthropic sectors to ensure that the recommendations are translated into actions that result in improved patient-centered care. Specifically, the Campaign for Action is working to implement the recommendations of the IOM report with an emphasis on:

• Strengthening nurse education and training;
• Enabling nurses to practice to the full extent of their education and training;
• Advancing inter-professional collaboration among health care professionals to ensure coordinated and improved patient care;
• Expanding leadership ranks to ensure nurses have a voice on management teams, in boardrooms and during policy debates; and
• Improving health care workforce data collection to better assess and project workforce requirements.

For more information about the Campaign for Action go to www.thefutureofnursing.org.

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The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action envisions a health care system where all Americans have access to high-quality care, with nurses contributing to the full extent of their capabilities. The campaign is coordinated through the Center to Champion Nursing in America, an initiative of AARP, the AARP Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and includes 36 state Action Coalitions and a wide range of health care providers, consumer advocates, policy-makers and the business, academic and philanthropic communities.

A bright pink fountain will flow throughout October at the Pennsylvania State Capitol to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness month. The East Wing Fountain at the State Capitol in Harrisburg turned PINK on Wednesday, September 28th thanks to the First Lady Susan Corbett and PA Breast Cancer Coalition (PBCC). Read more.

Town Hall Meeting

Sponsored by Pennsylvania State Nurses Association | Co-sponsored by PSNA District 22

October 20, 2011

Chester County Hospital
The Mira Conference Room
1:30pm – 3:00pm

Featured Speakers

 Senator Andy Dinniman, 19th Senatorial District | Education Committee, Environmental Resources & Energy Committee

 Representative Dan Truitt, R-156 | Education Committee

Also speaking: Betsy M. Snook, MEd, BSN, RN | PSNA Chief Executive Officer

We encourage Nurses and Nursing Students to share current legislative priorities and practice concerns including:

• Nurse Title Protection
• Delegation
• Safe Staffing
• Whistleblowing

A Q&A session will also be held. Attendees will receive a free copy of the latest Nurse Practice Act.