Legislative Update

Submitted by: Margaret Luce, MSN, RN

Nurses’ Day at the State House is April 1, 2009, 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM. Pat Jones, Director of Health Care Quality Improvement , BISHCA, will discuss annual hospital reports re quality indicators such as health care acquired infections. The event is free and is intended to educate nurses on current health care issues and how to effectively advocate in the political arena.
VSNA, as a strategy to increase both the supply of nurses and increase access to care, advocates for funding for educational programs. For the '08-'09 academic year Vermont legislators allocated:

VSAC: $60,000 for scholarships for students enrolled in RN and LPN programs.
AHEC: $400,000 for loan repayment for new RN and LPN graduates who work in Vermont or DHMC.
AHEC: $115,000 for loan repayment for nursing faculty.
AHEC: $700,000 for loan repayment for primary care providers which includes APRNs

Legislation introduced in 2009:

The Summer Study Committee on the End-of-Life, Palliative Care, and Chronic Pain Management issued a 35 page report in January of recommended measures, including some legislative or statutory solutions, to improve care. One of the recommendations is for mandatory continuing education for physicians and nurses on chronic pain management. The House Human Services Committee is drafting legislation.

The full text for bills can be found at www.leg.state.vt.us
S. 80/H. 238 An Act Related to Safe Patient Handling.
S. 52 An Act Related to Enhancing the Penalty for Assault of a Nurse.
H. 223 An Act Relating to Assault on Health Care Worker
H. 151 An Act Related to Substitute Medical Decision Making
H. 268 An Act Relating to Prohibiting Mandatory Overtime for Health Care Employees

You can e-mail your ideas to VSNA. Thanks for the opportunity to be the lobbyist for VSNA, I am always proud to be a nurse who advocates for nursing and health care for Vermonters. Nurses are highly regarded and I am always proud to say I represent VSNA!