Good Day!

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

• Presidents Message
• Student Loan Defaults: How This Can Affect Your Nursing License
• FNPN Membership Update
• 2019 Conference Update
• Around the State
• From AANP
• Job Announcement
• News You Can Use
• Register for “Safe and Effective Prescribing of Controlled Substances" course

    

Quote of the Month 

   “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

 

Presidents Message

Dr. Arlene Wright, President 

Happy 2019!  FNPN ended 2018 by sponsoring the inaugural Loretta Ford Golf Tournament and birthday celebration which proved to be a huge success. The event was a collaborative effort spearheaded by our own Executive Director, Dr Jean Aertker for which Dr. Ford has now officially anointed us as the “NP Force”.  For those who participated we sincerely thank you for your time , passion and commitment. This will now most likely be an annual event.

Our Board of Directors held our annual retreat recently. We are diligently working on measures to provide more opportunities for our members to promote professional growth as well as outreach to assist our grassroots groups with the support of our region directors and executive director to be even more successful in their endeavors.

Our conference committee is hard at work coordinating our 2019 conference which annually unites NP’s from around the state and beyond to network, learn and celebrate our profession.

The legislative session is now in full swing.  Our 1st VP of legislation, Dr Doreen Cassarino will be keeping our members updated on any newsworthy items during session and beyond! 

The call for abstracts for poster presenters and our 7 minute rapid fire presentations are now open and we strongly encourage practicing NP’s as well as students to submit. Our goal is always to provide a platform to showcase the talent that exists among us.

This year again, we will be honoring our NP of the year. We hope that we will have an abundance of nominees to celebrate!   Our scholarship team will also be seeking candidates for the Jean Aertker health policy scholarship and the PhD/DNP student scholarship. Stay tuned for further details! 

Each newsletter we have asked our region directors to spotlight local NP’s making a difference in their communities which you will be reading about from our region 1 Director this month, Dr Kathleen Wilson.

We thank you all for your support as we continue to forge ahead making the sunshine state the best place for NP practice! 

Student Loan Defaults: How This Can Affect Your Nursing License

Dr. Vicky Stone-Gale, FNPN Region 4 Director

The Department of Education has now started the process of forwarding student loan default notices for all professions to the Florida Department of Health, Division of Medical Quality Assurance.  In the past nine months there has been an overabundance of notices regarding nurses defaulting on student loans, therefore requiring the DOH prosecuting attorneys to begin preparing these cases to go before a Probable Cause Panel of the Board of Nursing. This panel will then review all documents and decide whether there is enough evidence to prove probable cause exists in the case to move forward with a discipline on the licensee in default of his/her student loan. All student loan recipients are obligated to pay back any funds borrowed to obtain their education and not doing so violates the contract one has signed with their lender.

Any licensee who has probable cause found by the Board will be issued a discipline on their nursing license with the minimum disciplinary action imposed to include:

1. License suspension until a new payment plan or scholarship obligation is agreed upon;
2. Probation for the remainder of the student loan or scholarship obligation; and
3. 10% fine equal to the defaulted loan amount

The Florida Statute 456.072(1) is stated as follows:

 (k) Failing to perform any statutory or legal obligation placed upon a licensee. For purposes of this section, failing to repay a student loan issued or guaranteed by the state or the Federal Government in accordance with the terms of the loan or failing to comply with service scholarship obligations shall be considered a failure to perform a statutory or legal obligation, and the minimum disciplinary action imposed shall be a suspension of the license until new payment terms are agreed upon or the scholarship obligation is resumed, followed by probation for the duration of the student loan or remaining scholarship obligation period, and a fine equal to 10 percent of the defaulted loan amount. Fines collected shall be deposited into the Medical Quality Assurance Trust Fund.

If you are unable to pay your student loans due to financial hardship, illness, or any other reason, it is important to reach out to your lender to give them an opportunity to work with you on a payment plan. Do not put your nursing license at risk and lose your ability to practice in the profession that you worked so hard to achieve. Ignoring late notices and emails will not make your obligation go away.

Related Article

Florida Board of Health suspends health care licenses over student loan defaults

By Adam Walser  

LAKELAND, Fla. — As many as 100 health care workers have lost their license to practice in Florida because they can’t repay their student loans – a new crackdown potentially putting hundreds out of work, the I-Team found. Read the full story

 

SAVE THE DATE - The 16th Annual Conference August 15-17, 2019

NP’s: LEADING THE WAY AND SHARING THE VISION TO SHAPE THE FUTURE 

Orlando World Center Marriott, 8701 World Center Drive, Orlando, FL 32821

Conference room block was a sell out last year so plan to come and reserve you room at this lovely resort at a great rate! 

Speaker Diana Jordan will share “The Healing Power of Laughter!” Nourishing the Nurse Within You

Now accepting submittals for Poster Abstracts and Rapid Fire Presentations 

For more information CLICK HERE  

 

First Inaugural Dr. Loretta Ford Golf tournament

Dr. Jean Aertker, FNPN Executive Director

                                                                                                                                              The Florida Nurse Practitioner network was the host of the Inaugural Dr. Loretta Ford Golf tournament and Birthday Celebration on December 8, 2018 at the Continental Country Club in Wildwood FL. As you know Dr. Ford is the co-founder of the nurse practitioner role in 1965 while she was faculty at the University of Colorado College of Nursing.  We are fortunate that Dr. Ford chose Florida to be her home after her illustrious career in academia. She's also an avid golfer, so with her birthday in December, we decided to celebrate her love of golf and her 98th birthday!

 

FNPN called together “The NP Force Team” comprised of nurse practitioners who were attending the AANP national conference last June in Denver where the idea came alive! Jean Aertker chaired the group that included Arlene Wright, Doreen Cassarino, Wendy Paracka, Janet Dubois, Regina Pommer, Frank Manole from North Carolina, Kahlil Demonbreun from South Carolina, Sophia Thomas from New Orleans, Penny Jensen from Utah, Nancy Boyer from Mount Dora & New York, and Valerie Monrad, Dr. Fords daughter. Our goal was to raise money for Dr. Ford scholarship funds at both the University of Colorado and University of Rochester Nursing. With the help of many nurse practitioners and friends we raised over $10,000 for her charities!

 

Several members of FNPN were able to join us for the golf tournament and luncheon and we had a ball. We started off the golf tournament at 8 o'clock sharp with a Florida traditional Mimosa's toast at the first tee. We then climbed into our appointed golf carts and completed nine holes in a scramble with one of our nurse practitioner colleagues Meredith Heyde NP from South Carolina taking two  of the golf awards! Regina Pommer, FNPN Admin. Assistant, spied the first gator on hole 13 while golfers Lauren Baptista and Jeanne Barrone enjoyed the water holes! Wendy Wright and Janet DuBois were seen speeding around the course in a golf cart, urging the players on. The Inaugural Ford Cup was won by Jay and Bud Bartholomew from CCC for best overall score.

 

Friends and neighbors of Dr. Ford's from Continental also joined in to help us celebrate her birthday! We had a wonderful luncheon that to the lunch team- Doreen Cassarino, Stacia Hays, Arlene Wright Kim Curry, Gail Sadler, Jeannie Merritt, with many great tributes for Dr. Ford - the sportswoman, the pioneer, the legend and leader who is known and cherished worldwide. We presented Dr. Ford with an AANP cardigan embroidered "Dr. Loretta Ford, The Original Nurse Practitioner". We had giveaways and raffles and one of the best gifts all attendees received was a CD documentary created and donated by Dr. Sue Hagedorn entitled “Nurse Legends” featuring Dr. Ford in a tribute to nursing’s great disruptive innovator produced in 2012. Sue is a nurse practitioner and a movie producer from New York and Colorado. She also created the Florida NP video for FNPN several years ago during our quest for controlled substance authority.

 

We had over 70 attend the luncheon that was decorated beautifully, or the Christmas holiday and the tables were made special by the sparkling poinsettia plants donated by Penny Jensen. Nurse practitioners flew in from around the country to celebrate this day. Gretchen Schumacher from Michigan, also an avid golfer was able to play at a golf course in Orlando that her father had designed and where she played golf as a child.  We had great fun decorating for the event and Wendy Paracka did an outstanding job of decorating Dr. Ford's golf cart. It was quite funny watching Dr. Ford take off with the streamers and glitz and the queens crown on top of the golf cart. Many thanks to the golf leaders Frank Manole, Gretchen, Sophia Thomas, Penny, and Kahlil Demonbreun for making this event a success.

 

We thank all our sponsors who donated swag for the attendees and especially the staff at University of Rochester for those great treats sent for the golf players bags. Our goal as the NP Force is to continue to build funds for Dr. Ford's foundations at both schools and build them to a level to be eternal funding to benefit future nurse practitioners. 

A special thank you to Michael Wien, son in law of Wendy Paracka who did the photos for us!! 

If you missed this event, maybe you and your group would like to join us again next December and do it again!  We know Dr. Ford would love that! 

A few Words from Loretta

For all those special people who made this inaugural golfing tournament a phenomenal, memorable event!  I can’t recall in my long career when such a celebration had so many dedicated, committed and talented leaders who ‘pulled it off’ so beautifully, seemingly without effort.   Notice I said ‘seemingly’ because I think you pulled it off with great effort, efficiency, energy and full engagement. Thanks to Michael, the pictures will live in infamy, or at least the way I play GOOF will.   Thanking you seems so inadequate; just know “You made my Day”.  The NP Force lives on:  Forward and upward!

Love to you all.

Lee

 

FNPN Membership

Dr. Cindy Parsons, FNPN Membership Chair

 

Happy New Year is 2019 the year of change for Florida’s Advanced Practice Nurses? Are you a member and part of the driving force or are you sitting on the sidelines hoping it will happen. Being a member and contributing to your statewide APN group is one of the best investments you can make. Why you ask? Well here are some reasons why:

Benefits of Membership

By joining FNPN, you become a part of a network of thousands of nurse practitioners who have made a personal commitment to their high level of professional standards, to their careers and to their profession. We are very proud to support nurse practitioners and nurse practitioner students by providing them with valuable services, resources, educational and networking opportunities they need to be successful.

 

Professional Advocacy 

Professional Advocacy is the cornerstone of FNPN since its inception in 2002. Over the years FNPN has worked diligently to improve patients access to care and remove barriers to NP practice. Through our national affiliations we help resolve federal barriers to practice. Your membership will help you to protect your practice and your profession.

 

Education and Networking  

Local Membership There are four regions and approximately 30  local groups to serve our members.  They are staffed by nurse practitioner members who volunteer their time to provide leadership, education, meetings, teaching events and more. Your colleagues are often your best source of insight and a range of expertise. FNPN can assist you in finding your local group and the opportunity to connect with nurse practitioners and other professionals across town and around the state. The leadership of local groups receive free registration for FNPN annual conference to help us stay connected. Last year we implemented Regional Representatives so we know have better resources and support for local groups

Education FNPN offers conferences, events and meetings at state, local and regional levels. Our annual conference is attended by hundreds of NPs and our members receive preferred pricing.

Networking Opportunities connect with NPs and other professionals at our state and regional conferences, local chapter meetings and events, or visit us on Facebook and Twitter. Networking brings about many possibilities! 

Resources 

24 Hour Access to Information, Resources, News and Updates - When you need information or have questions after business hours, our website is still working for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can find forms, instructions, state and national links, rules and regulations, news and updates on our website. 

Practice Resources are available to our members who need information or that have questions: scope of practice, management advice, risk management, required practice agreements, licensing, certification, professional conduct, Medicare, Medicaid and more. There is a vast amount of information available at your fingertips, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on our website, or you can call or e-mail us for further assistance. FNPN promotes ethical and professional practice for all NPs.

  

NSO Professional Liability Insurance FNPN endorses Nurses Service Organization (NSO) for professional liability insurance. They are the nation's largest provider of nurses’ professional liability insurance. NSO has an advisory board of nursing professionals to advise them on current nursing practice and to provide input about insurance needs and new product development. NSO is a proud supporter of FNPN.  

 

ENP Network is an effective resource for the nurse practitioner. Whether you are searching for a job, searching for a preceptor, posting a job opening or seeking to network with other NPs, you will be reaching the right people. Members receive a discount on job postings. 

 

Member Discounts

Student Membership Discount-To support NP students we offer a substantial discount on their annual membership dues. American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) The FNPN is a member of AANP and our members receive $10 off AANP annual NP membership dues. 

 

FROM AANP

Doreen Cassarino, Vice President Legislation

Region 11 Leadership Gathered in Tampa on January 26, 2019

Jean Aertker, AANP Region 11 Director convened the annual invitational meeting for leadership from the 4 states (MS, GA, AL, FL) and USVI Islands on Saturday, January 26 at the Tampa Marriott Airport Hotel. Several FNPN Board Members were in attendance including Arlene Wright-President, Janet DuBois-Immediate Past President, Doreen Cassarino-VP Legislative Affairs, George Byron Smith-Treasurer, Cindy Parsons-Membership Director, Kathleen Wilson-Region 1 Director and Vicky Stone Gale-Region 4 Director. Forty-five NPs and AANP Fellows came to hear about AANP's forecast for 2019 & beyond presented by President Dr. Joyce Knestrick and Senior Health Policy Consultant and past AANP Policy Director Dr. Jan Towers, along with Ms. Jamie Kings, State Policy Analyst. State Reps, Katie Rhodes (AL), Stacia Hays and Arlene Wright (N and S. FL) Janet Ross (GA) and Linda Watkins (MS) gave us updates on state issues. Our biggest concern continues to be all barriers in NP practice especially in MS where State law and Federal rule conflict and NP were ordered to cease prescribing DME for Medicaid patients despite MS law allowing this. MS state estimated that over 80% of all DMEs were ordered for the patients over the past several years was done by NPs who also provide their home health and know the patient’s needs. Federal law requires only physicians to write such orders. Another rule that is outdated.

 

The keynote afternoon speaker was Dr. Amy Anderson, Health Policy Consultant from Texas, who spoke on coalition building. Her presentation was excellent and shared many ways for our region to build strong coalitions to better care for our patients and enable them to choose NPs. Her message about coalition building gave us key points on selecting partners and making shared goals to be successful. We were challenged to define how to choose best partners and members and define contributions that all can bring. Identifying preterits establishing Trust, develop a budget and allocate resources help coalitions to become visible. Dr. Anderson shared that not all coalition are effective and conflicts do arise. It was great information.

 

Our FNPN team also presented to Dr. Jean Aertker, a special video tribute and purchased an AANP walkway brick in her name to place at the new AANP Headquarters building in Austin Tx. Jean Aertker has served as Region Director from 2013 to 2019. She plans to retire this year from her practice, but we know she will still stay involved with our efforts to build our network and help Florida remove all barriers to NP practice! You can honor a fellow NP or be proud of your achievements and help build the walkway for the future of NPs by purchasing an exterior paver or an interior honor wall personalized plaque by going to https://building.aanp.org

 

It was great to network with first time attendees and hear the issues facing the profession and patients from around our region, and brainstorm on how to increase our regions “coalition" efforts to move pro-NP and pro-patient efforts forward in Florida. AANP also invites you to keep the efforts to recruit new partners going by joining in with the WeChooseNPs campaign and helping patients tell their NP stories and telling yours.  

 

FNPN members may wish to visit https://www.wechoosenps.org/share-your-story to learn more about the effort and share your patient stories. We can build a stronger network this way. I hope to see you at AANP National Conference June 18- 22 in Indianapolis this year.

Around the State

Be sure to click here for the FNPN calendar of upcoming events

Current groups: Resources that are available to you from FNPN:

1.Are you in need of meeting ideas or sponsors? 

1. Growing your groups board or recruiting people to fill your board positions. 
2. Ideas for community outreach to enhance APRN’s viability 
3. Creating speaker panel available for media outlets to contact for experts opinions. 
4. Group promotional merchandise resources
5. Political involvement how FNPN can help your group get involved.
6. Leadership resources. 

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 90 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!

News You Can Use

 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.

                                                                                                                                            

FNPN is currently updating our website to include FAQs on Practice, Policy, Billing and Coding.

 

CE Broker

Did you know that full members can get a discount to CE Broker?

Click here to find out more

 

NP ISSUES IN THE NEWS

Number Of Nurse Practitioners Surpasses 270,000- forbes

By Bruce Japsen Senior Contributor

The number of licensed nurse practitioners has eclipsed 270,000, a nine percent increase from just 10 months ago, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners said. Read the full story

 

Call the midwife! (If the doctor doesn't object) - nbcnews.com

By Anna Gorman, Kaiser Health News

Hospitals and medical practices are battling outdated stereotypes and sometimes their own doctors to hire certified midwives, linked to fewer C-sections.  Read the full story

Bill would expand scope of practice for Psychologists - Florida Politics

By Drew Wilson

Bill (SB 304) filed Friday by St. Petersburg Republican Sen. Jeff Brandes would allow psychologists to prescribe drugs, including controlled substances, an ability that would blur the line between them and Psychiatrists. Read the full story

 

 

Register for the "Safe and Effective Prescribing of Controlled Substances" course

Below are the instructions on how to register for the online "Safe and Effective Prescribing of Controlled Substances" course offered by FNPN and FHA. 

Make sure that you create a user ID and password to enter into the "Student ID" area.

You must download the content in order to get to the exam. Once you download the content the exam should appear. 

Please contact CareLearning in the instructions for any questions or technical issues.

Thank you for your continued support of FNPN. We are proud to offer this course for a nominal fee ($5.00) as our way of supporting our members. 

First-time Registration – FHA/FNPN Members:

1. Go to http://www.carelearning.com/login/fhanp_fl 2. Click “New Student Enrollment”, enter the required information and click “Submit”. Create a user ID and password to input into the "student ID" area.
2. From the Student Main Menu click “Course Catalog (Register for a Course)”
3. Click the course title “Safe, Effective Prescribing of Controlled Substances”
4. Click the “Register” button and enter your credit card information
5. Click “Back to Student Main Menu” to access the course

First-time Registration – Non-FHA/FNPN Members:

1. Go to http://www.carelearning.com and click “Course Catalog”
2. If you are asked to enter the state in which you are employed, select “Florida”.
3. Click the category “Safe, Effective Prescribing of Controlled Substances”
4. Click the course title “Safe, Effective Prescribing of Controlled Substances”
5. Click the “Register” button
6. Click “New Student Enrollment”, enter the required information and click “Submit” (Organization: “Florida Hospital Association”. No enrollment key is necessary.)
7. Enter the additional optional information and click Submit.
8. Enter your credit card information
9. Click “Back to Student Main Menu” to access the course

To Return to the Student Main Menu (Classroom):

1. Go to http://www.carelearning.com
2. Click Student Login
3. Enter your Student ID and Password and click “Enter”
4. You must download the content in order to get to the test questions.

Need Help? Contact careLearning at 866-617-3904 or support@carelearning.com.