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May 1, 2006 - Only three individuals have been honored by the Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses (MARN) with its coveted “President’s Award.” The recipient is selected for his or her “persistence and courage to do the right thing while making a difference in health care.”
Barbara A. Blakeney, MS, RN, a Massachusetts nurse and President of the American Nurses Association was the first recipient in 2004, and Karen Daley, MPH, RN, also a Massachusetts nurse, and past president of both the Massachusetts Nurses Association and the Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses received the award last year.
At its 5th Annual Spring Convention in Bedford, Massachusetts, earlier this month, MARN President Susan Krupnick, MSN, APRN, BC, CARN, chose a recipient who was not a nurse, but who she said met the award’s criteria of persistence, courage, and doing the right thing in health care.
The 2006 MARN President’s Award was presented to Senator Richard T. Moore (D-Uxbridge), the Senate Chairman of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, and primary sponsor of legislation to improve the profession of nursing and the safety of patients. The Patient Safety Act (S. 1260), sponsored by Senator Moore, will allow Massachusetts nurses to determine the safest staffing ratio for the patient in each unit within each hospital.
According to the American Nurses Association (ANA) of which MARN is an affiliate, Moore’s approach will protect patients by creating a public accountability process for establishing safe registered nurse staffing levels.
“ANA joins the Massachusetts Association of Registered Nurses in supporting Senator Moore’s proposed legislation because it holds hospitals accountable for appropriate nurse staffing, and requires frontline nurses to be an integral part of the staffing decision-making process,” said Blakeney. “While ANA has long supported upwardly adjustable, minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, we also believe that staffing systems must consider both individual and aggregate patient needs and unit support functions. ANA favors S. 1260 because it takes these factors into account.”
“One size doesn’t fit all when it involves the number of nurses needed to provide quality care for patients in any given hospital unit,” explained Blakeney. She explained that the solutions offered in the proposed Massachusetts Patient Safety Act are based on scientific evidence, including three studies published in 2002 – one in the New England Journal of Medicine, one by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and another in the Journal of the American Medical Association – which found direct links between nurse staffing levels and better patient outcomes.
Based on this evidence and findings from ANA’s own report, Nurse Staffing and Patient Outcomes in the Inpatient Hospital Setting (2000), Blakeney stated that ANA supports the development of a nurse-driven staffing plan that takes into consideration the following nursing-sensitive measures:
• number of patients on a unit including admissions, discharges and transfers;
• level of intensity of care for all patients;
• the architecture and geography of a unit;
• availability of supportive unit technology;
• availability and appropriate numbers of ancillary staff;
• level of preparation and experience of the nursing staff; and
• input from direct care RNs into the development and revision of the staffing ratios.
“We agree with Senator Moore’s assessment that government intervention is necessary when simplistic marketplace solutions do not protect patients. We commend the Senator both for putting patient-care concerns first and for addressing a nurse staffing crisis that is fast reaching crisis proportions, not just in Massachusetts but across the nation,” said Blakeney.
In remarks accepting an “Outstanding Living Nursing Legend Award,” Karen Daley also praised Senator Moore for his leadership, not only in nurse staffing, but also in passing state legislation to protect nurses from needle stick injuries. Daley, herself, was a victim of such an accident that resulted in her contracting both HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C. Daley proudly stated that Massachusetts is a role model in nursing safety and credited Senator Moore for moving the bill through the legislature. “The Massachusetts needle-stick law passed in 1999,” she said, “effectively has more teeth than the federal law, because hospitals’ licenses are tied to compliance with safe sharps regulations. Under the federal law, OSHA is authorized only to fine and issue citations to violators.”
The mission of MARN is to foster the continued development of professional nurses and high standards of nursing. Its goals are: to recruit and retain a culturally and professionally diverse RN membership; to advance nursing through education, practice and research; to support, respond to, and advocate for the individual nurse; to lead and shape change in health care delivery and policy; and to initiate and sustain collaborative partnerships, and to advocate for patients, families and communities.
For more information on Senator Moore, please log onto www.senatormoore.com
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