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July 2010 FNPN New Bullets

Posted almost 14 years ago by Regina Pommer

Good Afternoon!

As we begin July 2010, we would like to bring you up to date on what’s new in your own backyard of Florida. In this newsletter you will find the following:

Contents

• Message from the FNPN Board of Directors

• Education Updates and upcoming CE events

• Legislative Update!

• Membership Update

• Job Announcement

• FNPN PAC Update

• Around the State and Around the Nation

• News You Can Use

 

Quote of the Month:

“Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with Vision is making a positive difference.”

Joel Barker 


 

Message from the FNPN Board of Directors

Submitted by Janet DuBois, DNP, CNE, ARNP, FNP-BC, FAANP

2nd Vice President

FNPN Annual Conference: Nurse Practitioner Entrepreneurship: Transforming the Future of Florida’s Healthcare. Join us for our 7th Annual Conference at the Tampa Airport Marriott Hotel, July 16th and 17th. The conference begins with registration at 12:00 pm on Friday with our first session starting at 1:00 pm (lunch is provided). This promises to be a very different and interesting session, focusing on entrepreneurship and practice building. We have gathered together NPs who have started their own successful business to discuss their strategies as well as all aspects of building a successful practice. The rest of the afternoon sessions follow the entrepreneurship theme and continue to focus on practice building strategies, including marketing and billing and coding. These afternoon sessions are a must for anyone who is considering becoming a truly “independent” practitioner in their own business or as a partner with another provider!

The afternoon sessions are followed by a meet and great buffet and presentation by Dr. Danni Wells from Sanofi Aventis. Dr. Wells has presented for FNPN in the past and has always been well received. She will focus on new treatment modalities for A Fib.

Our Saturday sessions begin early with registration between 7:00 and 8:00 am and our breakfast presentation beginning at 8:00 am with a presentation on Stroke sponsored by Boehringer-Ingelheim.

Our keynote speaker is Mimi Secor, MS, MEd, FNP-C, FAANP. Mimi is a national speaker and consultant and has worked for 31 years as a Nurse Practitioner specializing in women's health. She is also a visiting scholar at Boston College and guest lecturer at the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions. Not only has she been published extensively, but she also has years of media experience including as a radio host, as a guest on Good Morning America, interviews with the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe and many others. She has received several awards in patient care and education.

Of course, as always, we’ll have a great exhibit all with a wide variety of vendors including pharmaceutical companies, public health agencies, radiology and more!

We hope you join us for the exciting conference! For more information, go to the website and click on the 7th Annual Conference link.

 

********************SAVE THE DATE********************

July 16th and 17th , 2010 FNPN 7th Annual Conference

 

Education Updates:

The following important educational opportunities have been posted for July and August; be sure to check back on our website at www.FNPN.org for additional updates and additions!

Jul 16th, 2010

  • 7th Annual FNPN Conference
  • Friday, July 16 2010 at 12:00pm ET Tampa - Florida 9.0 CE credits

Aug 5th, 2010

  • Immunization Update 2010 Webcast
  • Thursday, August 05 2010 at 9:00am ET Internet Event

Aug 14th, 2010

  • Pain Medicine and Controlled Substances: Risk Management ...
  • Saturday, August 14 2010 at 7:00am ET Orlando - Florida

 

Legislative Updates:

Jean Aertker DNP ARNP COHN-S FAANP

The FNPN Annual Conference is thrilled to feature our guest legislative speaker on Saturday, July 17th at the 10:45 am- 12 noon session. Dr.Tay Kopanos, the new AANP Director of Health Policy and State Issues will begin our legislative update to give you a sense of the national picture of health care and hone in on Florida issues. Come hear Dr Kopanos "State of the Profession" address on health regulation and policy and where NPs fit into the overall plan of health reform. Her role at AANP is to focus on improving patient access to health care, removing barriers to effect health care delivery and bringing stakeholders together to improve workforce delivery and utilization. Hear her thoughts on Florida issues and how they compare to other state NP practice environments and strategies we all can use to promote our profession. It will be an exciting venue, don't miss this opportunity!

There is still time to register at www.FNPN.org

 

Job Announcements!

There have been many new job postings around the state on our web site at www.FNPN.org for those of you that may have an interest. On our new website, the most recent postings are on the front page. A new feature will allow postings to be visible for 60 days. Please feel free to pass this along to your colleagues who may be interested in it as well, or who may have an interest in finding out more about our network. For those of you that have found jobs on our website, please be sure to let us know!

Do you know an employer who might find the FNPN Job posting a worthwhile site? If so, please be sure to tell them about the website and the fact that on average 20 or more jobs are posted each month. The traffic to our website is incredible and we have more and more folks seeking employment through this site than ever before. Let them know you saw it on the FNPN Website!

 

Membership Update

Armando Riera-Membership Chair

Renewal Reminder

Membership in FNPN runs on an annual basis Jan-Dec.

Please renew your membership today.

Membership in FNPN can be as a group or individual member.

Individual members belong and receive many benefits as part of their membership-frequent communication during the legislative session (or special sessions), a paid lobbyist based in Tallahassee, access to posted job opportunities, access to posted upcoming conferences and many more benefits. If you belong to your local NP group you are not an FNPN member until you join FNPN individually, group and individual membership are two separate levels of membership. I encourage you to visit our newly redesigned web page today www.FNPN.org and while you're there you can renew online.

Group Presidents please renew today and continue to be an integral part of our growing organization. We value our group members as this creates a vital network of NP groups throughout the state. These groups help disseminate information about trends, issues and changes impacting NP's at the state and national level. As a group member we will also assist with conference planning and obtaining approval for CEU's if offered. We will also assist with promoting your conferences and activities and can provide assistance or link you with support in web design.

Just a reminder, students and retired ARNPs have special rate dues, and we encourage you and your peers to join!

 

FNPN PAC Update

Marifrances Gullo - PAC Chair

The purpose of the FNPN~PAC is to promote the ARNP profession through advancing the outcome of political issues or legislation. This is accomplished by contributing to the support of worthy candidates for State or Local offices who we believe have demonstrated their support of the principles to which this professional organization is dedicated. To further their purpose the PAC is empowered to solicit and accept these voluntary personal contributions (up to $500 per year per person). These contributions are used to attempt to influence the selection, nomination , or election of any individual to any State or Local office. Your decision to make a PAC contribution will help to continue our efforts wherever possible. Contributions can be made @ www.FNPN.org via Pay Pal…or your check payable to FNPN-PAC sent to P.O. Box 25422, Tampa, FL 33622.

Let’s make things happen together!

Thank you for your support!!

 

Around the State and Around the Nation

Faith Coleman, ARNP on healthcare and making a difference

Faith Coleman, ARNP, has worked diligently to make a difference to her patients. The reality is that without her unending support, many of these patients would likely be left without any health care access at all. Coleman, a nurse practitioner in Bunnell, Fl., recently received a CNN hero nomination for being a “medical marvel”, showing dedication to the enhancement of human health.

Coleman was uninsured when she found out she had kidney cancer, which inspired her to help others with similar financial and health issues. A cancer survivor since 2004, she has since co-founded a free clinic in Florida to help the uninsured access healthcare. The clinic has treated more than 6,700 people since it opened in 2005. In March 2010, Dan Rather Reports came to the clinic to get a firsthand look too...his crew came to the Free Clinic and filmed all week-end. His show featured the clinic.

In March she traveled to Williamsburg, VA to receive the prestigious Dr. Benjamin Rush Award, a tribute to a special person. Now, there are talks about doing a follow up piece on Faith’s continued efforts. We are very proud of our FNPN member and wish her well. If you have a chance, be sure to let her know to keep up the awesome job!!

 

Senator Don Gatez

flatly declines to support ARNP offer to improve health care to Floridians

Submitted by FNPN Member, Stan Whitaker;

July 6, 2010

Today I called in to the Burnie Thompson Show in Panama City Fl. Senator Don Gatez was the call in guest (Senator Gatez is the Senate Health Committee Chair.) I spoke to him about rising Medicaid costs in Florida and suggested that Nurse Practitioners could help hold these costs. I sited example of Tennessee, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. I asked if this was something that the legislators would consider looking at next session. His response, “ABSOLUTLY NOT”. He would not consider it and he gave three reasons to back his opinion. Senator Gaetz stated that there was no difference in any of these states in costs. He believes that high malpractice insurance premiums were the reason we could not get doctors to come to Florida. And lastly, he would not allow other professions to intrude into medicine. At this point I was cut off and not allowed a response. Do we allow this slight against NPs and our Profession to go unchallenged or do we accept to this obvious insult. Please respond to the Panama City newspaper at www.newsherald.com and to Senator Gatez at his web address is gatez.don.web@flsenate.gov his Destin office phone is 850-897-5747

AANP needs your help as soon as possible with information about your patients that may have lost jobs or have potential job loss with the oil spill in the gulf. With these job losses or potential job loss, is there a problem with loss of insurance, access to health care? NPs can plan to help cope with a potential flood of people who have lost their livelihood due to the oil spill. Turn around time is key here. Please respond to me as quickly as you can so that AANP can respond appropriately (MECooke@aol.com). Thank you so much for your help, Cindy Cooke NP-C, FAANP, AANP Region 11 Director

Below please find a fact sheet that includes important information and resources for those in the healthcare profession, as it relates to potential human health effects from the Gulf Oil Spill. Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers on the Gulf Coast Oil Spill I hope you find it helpful, please share with your colleagues. I welcome any questions you may have.

Thank You, Ann Rowe-McMullen, PIO, Florida Department of Health, Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response, ann_rowe-mcmullen@doh.state.fl.us

Click Here


 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH URGES PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES TO PREVENT WEST NILE VIRUS AND OTHER MOSQUITO-BORNE ILLNESSES

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Department of Health (DOH) emphasizes the importance of protecting against mosquito-borne diseases during the summer rainy season, which include peak mosquito activity months. DOH works with partner agencies, including the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, mosquito control agencies, and state universities year-round to monitor for the presence of illnesses carried by mosquitoes including West Nile virus infections, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, malaria and dengue. DOH advises the public to remain diligent in protecting themselves from mosquito bites by following the “5 D’s,” which are:

  • Dusk and Dawn – Avoid being outdoors when mosquitoes are biting.

  • Dress – Wear clothing that covers most of your skin.

  • DEET – Use repellents containing DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide, or N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide). Picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, IR3535 and permethrin are other repellent options.

  • Drainage – Check around your home to rid the area of standing water, which is where mosquitoes can lay their eggs.

Using repellent can help protect against being bitten by a mosquito. Follow these tips for correct repellent use:

  • Read label directions carefully for the approved usage before applying a repellent to skin. Some repellents are not suitable for children. According to the CDC, mosquito repellents containing oil of lemon eucalyptus should not be used on children under the age of 3 years. DEET is not recommended on children younger than 2 months old.

  • Products with concentrations of up to 30 percent DEET are generally recommended. Mosquito repellents containing picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, or IR3535 can also be applied directly on skin. Permethrin can be used on clothing.

  • Apply insect repellent to exposed skin, or onto clothing, but not under clothing. o Infants should be kept indoors or mosquito netting should be used over carriers when mosquitoes are present.

DOH also offers these tips for eliminating mosquito breeding sites around your home:

  • Clean out eaves, troughs and gutters.
  • Remove old tires or drill holes in those used in playgrounds so water can drain.
  • Turn over or remove empty pots.
  • Pick up all beverage containers and cups after use.
  • Check tarps on boats or other equipment that may collect water.
  • Pump out bilges on boats.
  • Replace water in birdbaths and pet or other animal feeding dishes at least once a week.
  • Change water in plant trays, including hanging plants, at least once a week.
  • Remove vegetation or obstructions in drainage ditches that prevent the flow of water.

Most people who become sick from mosquitoes have mild symptoms like headache, fever, dizziness and fatigue, but more severe symptoms are possible. DOH urges anyone with severe symptoms to consult their primary care physician or seek immediate medical care. Physicians should contact their county health department if they suspect an individual may have a mosquito-borne illness. DOH laboratories provide testing services for physicians treating patients with clinical signs of mosquito-borne disease. The mission of the Department of Health is to promote, protect and improve the health of all people in Florida. For more information on mosquito-borne illnesses, visit DOH’s Environmental Health Web site at http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Environment/medicine/arboviral/index.html or call your local county health department. Monitoring wild bird deaths can help officials track the spread of some mosquito-borne diseases. Anyone who discovers a dead bird is encouraged to report it on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s website at www.MyFWC.com/bird/.

 

News You Can Use

Statement from Secretary Sebelius on Proposed CMS Rule to Expand Medicare Preventive Services and Expand Access to Primary Care

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) took another important step to help improve the health status of Medicare beneficiaries. The proposed regulation will implement the new preventive health benefits created under the Affordable Care Act for the seniors and persons with disabilities who rely on Medicare for their health care coverage.

The new rule proposes to make two significant improvements to preventive care benefits under Medicare: Beginning January 1, 2011, Medicare will cover annual wellness visits so that doctors and patients can develop a personalized prevention plan that takes a comprehensive approach to improving the patient’s health. Also beginning January 1, 2011, Medicare beneficiaries will no longer have to pay any out-of-pocket costs for most preventive services – including that annual wellness visit.

To help make sure that Medicare beneficiaries have access to primary care doctors, the rule would also boost payments for primary care services. The proposed regulation would also increase access to services by creating payment incentives for general surgeons as well as expand access to other types of health care providers.

Improving access to preventive services and primary care is a top priority for HHS. The proposed rule is just one part of a broader effort we are making to improve the health status of Medicare beneficiaries – and all Americans. We recently announced the allocation of $500 million from the Prevention and Public Health Fund – created by the Affordable Care Act – to invest in the training and development of primary care professionals as well as preventive care activities and public health infrastructure.

With these new benefits under Medicare, and investments in our health care system, the Affordable Care Act is continuing the Obama Administration’s historic work to promote wellness and reduce chronic disease.

For more information, see proposed rule at http://www.federalregister.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2010-15900_PI.pdf

Unemployment will lead to greater health care gaps, are we prepared? Unemployment map shows the geography of the recession. Eye opener! http://bit.ly/3xsef0

The Florida NP Network has taken the next step to keep our members informed. Keep abreast of changes in your practice around the state and around the nation. You can join us today on Facebook under Florida Nurse Practitioner and Twitter under FloridaNP. We hope to hear from you.

Click Here to print July Bullets


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