We hope everyone had a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!
Linda DeLamar was able to retrieve some of the interior posters we had used to promote awareness of CRNA’s. Individuals who had sponsored a poster were able to pick one up. We also sold a few.
We would like to thank the following individuals for sponsoring or purchasing a poster(s):
Yvelise Guiterrez
Sharon Morgan
Galyna Buyakevych
Robert Adams
Michele Aragno
Sharon Baker Witzel
Terry Lahita
Anne Novak
Richard Troast
Thomas Malie
Christine Bedrock
Heather Farrell
Natasha Kirilick
Tracy Castleman
Teresa Greenhalgh
Jean Tama
Ferne Cohen
Margie Weidenmiller
Margaret harris
Monica Komasinski
Linda Higger
If you would are interested in a poster, they are $20.00 per poster. This will help us offset costs. Upon receipt of your donation, we will send you a Thank You card with a NJANA pin (they are very nice) & we will be sure to mention your name on the webpage.
Checks can be made payable to NJANA (in the memo line, put poster sponsor). Please send checks to:
NJANA
c/o Linda DeLamar
109 Woolmans Lane
Mount Laurel, NJ 08054
As you know, we held our annual Fall Meeting on Saturday October 27th at the Hightstown Holiday Inn. We had 102 participants! There were 56 CRNA's and 46 students.
On behalf of your BOD, we would like to thank all of you who were able to participate.
We had very good topics, presented by excellent speakers which was reflected in the evaluations. Several student from UMDNJ presented research topics & had some poster presentations. They did a wonderful job!!!
At this time, we are planning our spring meeting. It will be March 29th 2008.
When we plan meetings, we take many things into consideration prior to selecting a date in an effort to make it possible for the majority of people to be able to attend. Due to other events in the spring and conference room availability this was the best date for the spring.
During the state update, I reviewed several items:
Increase Public Awareness / Education
Your BOD as well as some of our members, have been working hard to promote awareness about Nurse Anesthetists. We have had booths at a couple of events & assisted at a booth for AANA at the American College of Gastroenterology meeting in Philadelphia in October.
If any members are involved in any projects that are promoting our profession, please let us know. We would love to hear from you!
Continue to strengthen our relationship with other organizations
We continue to enjoy a very good relationship with other organizations, including NJSNA. There is strength in numbers. Just as an FYI:
As of August, 2007
RNs:
Active: 108, 535
Inactive: 9, 879
APNs:
Active: 3, 820
Inactive: 676
CRNA’s
Active: 512
LPNs
Active: 21, 237
Inactive: 1, 561
Continue to strengthen OUR state organization
It is very important to do this both financially & through member participation.
AANA Membership / State Membership
Just as an FYI, if you belong to AANA, you are also a member of a state. You do not pay separate dues to belong to a state. Usually, your state membership is determined by your home of record when you became certified. Often, members change their state affiliation when they move. Some members choose to belong to the state where they are employed.
As a member of AANA, a portion of your dues goes back to your state, so that we can provide educational meetings, pay for mailings, have a website, etc.
There are several important ways in which AANA utilizes your dues to benefit you. For more information, you can go to the AANA website.
If someone is not a member of AANA, or NJANA I do not have their contact information.
NJSNA Membership / APN Forum
If you are interested in becoming a member of NJSNA (New Jersey State Nurses Association), without being a member of ANA (American Nurses Association), you can do so. The annual dues are $130.00
Forum of Nurses in Advanced Practice
I recently attended one of their forums. The APN's have a forum where they have continuing education as well as a business meeting.
They also have an education day just prior to the NJ Nursing Convention, which is held in Atlantic City each spring. The next one is April 2-4 2008.
Legislation had been reintroduced as of February 2007 regarding the Nursing Compact. So far, 21 states are a part of this compact. The NJ BON is working on this.
APN Regulations
At the October BON meeting, the APN regs were discussed. There were 126 comments submitted. I discussed this at the fall meeting. Some of the comments were quite interesting.
The BON was very clear that the Master's degree requirement does not have to be an MSN. As long as the content of the program is in a nursing specialty, it will be approved.
Once the regs are published we will have one year to complete the application process. During this initial application process, ALL CRNA's will go through the same process, whether or not you have a Master's Degree.
One of the requirements will be to have 6 hours of CDS (controlled dangerous substances) during initial certification only.
As we get closer, we will be addressing educational options. There are currently several programs that offer such training. Some are done as a 1 day seminar. We are also exploring other options.
The Board of Nursing voted to approve the proposed rules with several small revisions. They must now be reviewed by other entities in the Department of Law and Public Safety.
It is expected that they will not be published as an adoption in the New Jersey Register before May/June, 2008.
As an FYI:
The HealthCare Institute of NJ, the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey and the New Jersey Department of Health & Senior Services are partnering to host a Summit on the issue of diabetes and its challenges to New Jersey's Latino community.
The Summit will be held on March 19, 2008 at Rutgers University in Piscataway. The program will look at key diabetes issues in the Latino community and will offer CME credits for all health professionals.
For further information, contact Bill Healey of the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey at healey@hinj.org.
Elections
I would like to remind everyone that next spring we will be having elections. If you are interested in serving on the BOD, please let us know. You can download a copy of the willingness to serve form from our website.
Recently, Tony Luciano resigned from the position of president-elect. He will continue to serve as ex-officio. I appreciate his assistance during this past year.
Russ Lynn has been appointed to assume the president-elect position. Russ will also be running for the president position during the next election. The position of president must be voted on by the membership.
I would also like to thank Jamie Eisenberg and Kurleigh Thomas (our current student representative) for also expressing interest in running for a board position. It is important that we incorporate new members so we can keep our association alive.
If you think you cannot be on the board because you have no experience, believe me, all of us felt the same way when we initially came on the board. Through mentoring by our colleagues, we learned. It has been an amazing education.
If you would like to be involved, but are not sure about being on the board, we would certainly welcome having you help on a committee. Let us know.
If you have questions or feedback, let us know.
As always, your BOD is here for you.
As a reminder:
We have many members for whom we do not have e-mail addresses (or innacurate ones) and we have colleagues who work in NJ, but are not members of NJANA so we do not have contact information for them. We ask that you please share this information with your colleagues, especially the APN regulations information. If anyone would be interested to be added to the list, please have them contact us through the website.
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST..
Please look at the AANA website frequently. There have been bylaw changes which were voted upon at the national meeting in August. Among the changes are a Dues increase and voting mechanism changes. Look at the AANA website for more information or contact one of the BOD members.
There is also important information about Anesthesia and Medicare cuts that you should read!!
The Medicare Academic Anesthesiology and CRNA Payment Improvement Act, HR 6184. You can link to the AANA website for detailed information.
Message to Congress: Support and cosponsor
All health care providers will soon have one unique health care provider identifier number (the NPI). This is mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1966 (HIPAA) under its Administrative Simplification provisions and is part of the government's effort to standardize healthcare transactions.
The NPI will replace all legacy provider numbers (e.g. UPIN, Medicaid Provider Number, Medicare Provider Number, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Numbers) in standard transactions as of May 23, 2007. This identifier will be required to conduct normal health care operations as it affects claims, billing, and registration.
Go to www.nppes.cms.hhs.gov/nppes and the process takes 20 minutes or less. You will have your number within 5 days. Check with your current anesthesia group manager as they may have already taken care of this on your behalf. If not, you should do this now.. This could affect your future marketability and if you are doing agency/locums work, some groups are requesting it now.
NURSING COMPACT
Legislation concerning the nursing compact has been reintroduced by Assemblyman Conaway. The BON is addressing this. When we have more information we will let you know..
On Thursday March 15th, Alma Saravia was recoginized as one of the Outstanding Women of Burlington County during an awards dinner. Angie Richman and Linda DeLamar attended this well deserved awards dinner.
Alma L. Saravia is a health care attorney and lobbyist for Flaster/Greenberg whose clients consist of industrial and corporate health care providers as well as statewide professional associations that include the New Jersey Association of Nurse Anesthetists. In 2003, she was profiled in a special issue of the New Jersey Law Journal titled, "Women and Minorities in the Legal Profession" as "one of New Jersey's most expert and accomplished lawyers in the field of healthcare law, both in the public and the private sector." Ms. Saravia was honored by the Foundation of the New Jersey State Nurses Association -- the Institute for Nursing, with its 2005 EPIC award. The EPIC award is given to, "exceptional people impacting the community, the advancement of health care and the profession of nursing."
Her representation of clients has included matters such as:
- appealing a regulation unlawfully restricting certified registered nurse anesthetists' right to practice;
- serving as special counsel in the drafting of health care regulations and legislation;
- appealing the imposition of medical protocols imposed upon physicians treating patients injured in an automobile accident and;
- representing health care providers before the licensing boards.
To hear Alma's oral argument before the NJ State Supreme Court go to http://njlegallib.rutgers.edu/supct/args/A_92_04.php.
Flaster/Greenberg is a multi-disciplinary law firm with more than 60 attorneys in 23 practice areas. The firm represents a diverse business clientele, including publicly and privately held companies in areas ranging from manufacturing and high technology to real estate and service industries. Flaster/Greenberg also represents individuals in estate and tax planning as well as in alternative dispute resolution, civil litigation matters, family law, and adoption. The firm's website is http://www.flastergreenberg.com.
Dan Simonson recently published an article 'Anesthesia Staffing and Anesthetic Complications During Cesarean Delivery: A Retrospective Analysis' in Nursing Research January/February 2007. To read this article follow the link Nursing Research - Abstract: Volume 56(1) January/February 2007 p 9-17 Anesthesia Staffing and Anesthetic Complica.
WHAT OTHERS ARE DOING …
Linda DeLamar is the contributor for the chapter on Anesthesia in Alexander's Care of the Patient in Surgery, 13th edition, which was published in November.
Tony Luciano & Claire Golden continue to be very active participating in medical missions with Healing The Children, providing care in Columbia & Peru.
Mary DeRosa and Rose Mullen have come up with a great fundraising idea for the association! After some research, they found that by people 'donating' their old cell phones, we can raise money. These donations are also tax deductible. For information as to where to drop off your phone, you can contact Mary at MBDD4ROSE@aol.com. You can download a receipt for tax purposes.
Tracy Castleman will be the NJANA representative serving on the Governors Nursing Merit Award Committee. We were recently invited to serve on this committee. Tracy discussed this at the Fall meeting.
Linda DeLamar & Russ Lynn attended the AANA Fall Assembly in Colorado Springs November 9-11. It was a great meeting. They had an opportunity to network with other state presidents as well as the AANA leadership.
Jamie Eisenberg, Marlo Didonna & Trish Gorman participated in a special fundraiser for the Blair Wright Medical Fund. They had information from AANA and did B/P screening. Even though they were not selling anything, they were able to help increase donations for this cause. I have included the information regarding this event. If anyone would like to donate, there is till time to do so. The information is below.
The fundraiser is being held for a two year old boy named Blair Wright who is fighting the battle of his life. Here is his story, in his mother's words:
Our world stopped on August 10, 2007. I went upstairs for a brief period and Blair unlocked the front door, walked down the steps which he never does by himself and went to the pool in the back yard. When I came downstairs to get him ready to go to class I discovered the front door open. Being 300 ft from the road and living in the woods, I was frantically looking for him in the front. Finally after several minutes, my heart leapt out of my throat and I ran to the pool where I found him. I got him out, started CPR and the EMTs took it from there. He is now diagnosed with significant global brain damage.
Blair now is breathing on his own through a trach and getting fed through a G-tube. He just was moved to a Sub-acute Facility since he was not making rapid/consistent progress, but he is progressing. Blair is showing his spunk and stubbornness, so I know healing and recovery is not unrealistic. His progress is slow. I know he understands things: I ask to say ‘bye, bye¯he moves his index and thumb together, which was his old way. I ask him to push the toy and you see his hand moving to do it (he will eventually turn it on, but everyone sees that he tries). I ask him to raise his head and he will do it ( or try if he is tired). I ask him to kick and he will, but very weak with a little foot movement .He makes rotten faces at the things he does not like, he cries, he smiles at when I do silly things. He gets frustrated when he can’t do something. It is far from what he was, but I see that he is in there and I will be his cheerleader and teacher every step of the way, no matter the cost, time, or physical effort.
To give a donation to the family's medical fund contact Brandi Dockett at brandidockett@strollerstrides.com for more information.
Several NJANA members attended the AANA meeting in Denver. There were many excellent topics and speakers. Art Zwerling did an excellent presentation. We are fortunate to have him speaking at our Fall meeting.
The Colorado Association of Nurse Anesthetists had a fundraiser at a local comedy club which was outstanding!
Election results were announced as well. We welcome Steve Alves as the new Region 1 director.
You will have an opportunity to meet Steve at our fall meeting.
If you have not been to a national meeting in awhile, you should really think about going. It's a wonderful opportunity to network, make new friends, see old ones and obtain CE as well. It is also a good opportunity to attend the business and resolutions meetings to see what is going on in your association.
Just a reminder... When you have time, check out some of our links. The NJSNA web page has a lot of useful information. Legislative updates are there as well. Don't forget to look at the AANA web site from time to time too!
