ANA representative named to CMS patient safety panel
Lillee Smith Gelinas, MSN, RN, CPPS, FAAN, editor-in-chief of the American Nurse Journal and an American Nurses Association (ANA) and Texas Nurses Association member, was recently selected to serve on the Patient Safety Measures of Hospital Harm Technical Expert Panel (TEP) through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The purpose of the TEP is to develop and maintain patient safety measures of hospital harm related to falls, postoperative bleeding, and diagnostic errors for CMS quality and payment programs, such as the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program and the Hospital-Acquired Conditions Reduction Program.
“ANA congratulates Ms. Gelinas on her appointment to this CMS patient safety panel,” said ANA President Ernest Grant, PhD, RN, FAAN. “Her leadership and expertise on patient safety issues will no doubt help move this important work forward.”
The TEP’s objectives are to improve patient safety and reduce or eliminate hospital-acquired conditions, to evaluate and address performance gaps, identify and incentivize opportunities for improvement, and to develop, maintain, reevaluate, and implement patient safety measures, including electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) for falls, post-operative bleeding, and diagnostic errors for CMS’ hospital-level quality reporting programs.
A strong nursing presence in decision-making related to patient safety measures is critical, particularly when it comes to avoidable hospital harm. Nursing care is the frontline of preventing these types of harm, and ANA continues to be a leader in ensuring that nursing is represented in these discussions. Payers and health systems are transitioning to measuring patient safety through eCQMs, which presents the profession with the opportunity to demonstrate the central role of nursing in patient safety.
Guidance for improving allocation of nursing resources
Although the relationship between nursing care and safe, high-quality patient care is widely understood today, healthcare leaders have difficulty agreeing on a systematic method for allocating nursing resources, according to a new report published by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). The American Nurses Association (ANA) and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership coauthored the report with HFMA. The report also was endorsed by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.
“Nurses have a direct impact on quality of care and patient and family satisfaction. It is time to shift the nurse staffing paradigm so that the contributions of nurses to positive patient outcomes are understood, valued, and viewed as a priority investment rather than a discretionary expense,” said ANA President
Ernest J. Grant, PhD, RN, FAAN.
With 2020 declared the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife, this 19-page report is especially timely and critical in advancing an important nursing priority.
It explores the different sources of stress that nursing and finance leaders routinely encounter in the course of their work. Enhancing mutual understanding of their respective professional roles and challenges can help the two groups work together toward shared goals, according to the authors. ANA Past President Pamela Cipriano, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the lead ANA author.
The report, The Business of Caring: Promoting Optimal Allocation of Nursing Resources, also calls on healthcare leaders to pioneer creative nurse staffing approaches, assess the impact of new technology on all phases of care, strive for fierce collaboration, and agree on principles for allocating appropriate nursing resources for patient care. These principles include the following: nurse staffing makes a critical difference for patients and for the care experience; safe nurse staffing leads to better patient outcomes; and optimal staffing reduces nurse turnover, which in turn reduces the cost of care.
The report is available at bit.ly/nursingreport.
2020 Navigate Nursing webinar series
American Nurses Association (ANA) membership includes a variety of programs and products created specifically for RNs, including many that are free or offer member savings. The 2020 Navigate Nursing webinar bundle features expert speakers on topics designed to enhance your career and work-life balance. The bundle is free for ANA members ($75 for non-members).
Upcoming webinars include:
March 25
Innovations by nurses for nurses:
Self-care every nurse needs
Presented by Kathleen C. Attonito, MSN, RN-BC, an ANA-New York member, and Nicole D. Benincasa, MS, LMHC, this webinar focuses on how one organization gathered input from frontline nurses and experts to design innovative programs and structures to meet the complex self-care needs of individuals and nursing teams.
May 20
Nurses Month webinar: Magnify your voice—
Use storytelling to advance nursing
This webinar offers techniques on how to share your nursing story, presented by Carolyn Jones, producer and director of the documentaries The American Nurse and Defining Hope. You’ll learn how to construct a narrative that communicates your motivations, the value of your work, and the challenges you face every day.
August 19
Mental health of nurses:
Supporting your nursing
colleagues when they need it most
Presented by LaKeetra Josey, PhD, APRN, PMHNP-BC, a Delaware Nurses Association member, this webinar examines the impact nursing has on mental health and shows you how to improve your skills in identifying and offering support for mental health challenges in your colleagues and your yourself.
November 11
Real solutions for workplace bullying and incivility
If you’re a nurse, a significant chance exists that you’ve experienced or witnessed bullying in the workplace. ANA has developed a position statement and the #EndNurseAbuse campaign to address issues like bullying and incivility on the job. You’ll learn how organizations can take this issue from concept to action.
Learn more about the series and register for all four webinars at nursingworld.org/continuing-education/2020-navigate-nursing.
IMD call for nominations for 2020 ANA elections
The Individual Membership Division (IMD) of the American Nurses Association (ANA) was established by an amendment to the ANA Bylaws on June 26, 2003. The purpose of the IMD is to provide the organizational structure to permit ANA-Only Members (those who elect to join ANA directly at the national level only) to participate in ANA governance, as well as the programmatic work of ANA as expressed in the ANA Bylaws.
The IMD is soliciting nominations for chairperson and secretary.
To review the roles and responsibilities of each position, please access the IMD Operating Policies and Procedures, under the resources tab at nursingworld.org/membership/individual-member-division.
The terms of office for each position are 2 years, from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2022.
This is the official notice of the 2020 election. To qualify as a candidate for office, the nominee must be a member of the ANA IMD (ANA-Only membership category). Emails with information for the nomination process and criteria will be sent starting April 15. If you don’t have an email on file with ANA, you’ll receive print notifications. The due date for nominations is May 15.
Recognizing certified nurses March 19
Certified Nurses Day™, celebrated annually on March 19, is a day of recognition that honors nurses worldwide who contribute to better patient outcomes through board certification in their specialty. Employers, certification boards, education facilities, and healthcare providers take this day to publicly acknowledge nurses who care enough to earn and maintain the highest credentials in their specialty, demonstrating their commitment to nursing professionalism and excellence.
Certified Nurses Day is celebrated on the birthday of Margretta “Gretta” Madden Styles, EdD, RN, FAAN, a renowned pioneer and expert in nurse credentialing. Styles, who was an accomplished advocate for nursing standards and certification, advanced nursing practice and regulation worldwide for more than two decades.
Certified Nurses Day is the perfect opportunity to invite all nurses to advance their career by choosing certification. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) provides free downloadable tools and celebration ideas at certifiednursesday.org.
Winners of the ANCC Certified Nurse Awards are announced in conjunction with Certified Nurses Day. The awards showcase certified nurses in various specialties who have made impactful and valuable contributions to the nursing profession and the field of healthcare.
To view the outstanding nurses who exemplify the
value of continuing professional development through certification as the 2020 Nurse Award recipients, visit bit.ly/ANCC_CNA_Winners.
Celebrating Nurses Month in 2020
As part of the ANA Enterprise’s efforts to celebrate and elevate nurses’ essential contributions to health and healthcare during the Year of the Nurse and Midwife, it will expand National Nurses Week—traditionally celebrated May 6 to 12—to a month-long celebration in May.
The theme for Nurses Month is “You Make a Difference,” and each week will focus on activities to support nurses, advance their practice, and encourage future generations of nurses:
• Self-care Week—May 1-9
• Recognition Week—May 10-16
• Professional Development Week—May 17-23
• Community Engagement Week—May 24-31
In addition, the American Nurses Association (ANA) is hosting a webinar, “Magnify your voice—Use
storytelling to advance nursing,” at 1 pm ET on May 20. Carolyn Jones, award-winning filmmaker, teaches participants how to better tell the story of their nursing journey. Free to everyone, registration for the webinar is available at nursingworld.org/continuing-education/magnify-your-voice-use-storytelling-to-
advance-nursing.
To promote Nurses Month in local communities and media, download the Nurses Month toolkit, which includes a Nurses Month logo to use on promotional materials, in social media, and at celebrations and activities, at anayearofthenurse.org.
In partnership with The Washington Post, ANA is presenting Star Nurses, a nurse-recognition event on May 12 to honor outstanding nurses in the Washington, D.C., area. The Post is accepting nominations from patients or their families, colleagues, or anyone else who is familiar with exemplary care from a nurse in D.C., Maryland, or Virginia. To learn more, visit pages.nursingworld.org/starnurses.
All nurses, hospitals, and other stakeholders are encouraged to participate in and promote Nurses Month to help recognize nurses and educate the public about the profession’s invaluable work. Be sure to share your Nurses Month activities on social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter at #ANANursesMonth. With your help, this landmark year can raise the visibility of the nursing profession—enhancing nurses’ influence in policy dialogue, as well as spurring expanded investment in education, practice, and research.
