September 2015 Newsletter Bullets

Posted almost 10 years ago by Regina Sanders

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September_2015_FNPN_News_Bullets (7.1 MB)

Good Morning!

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:

Quote of the Month:

"The level of care an NP can provide is determined by academic education, clinical experience, and certification. We aren't asking states to define our scope of practice; we are asking states to acknowledge and allow it to the full extent of our capabilities."

Loretta C. Ford, EdD, RN, PNP, FAAN, FAANP
Co-founder NP Program

FNPN ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Dr. Arlene Wright, Conference Chairperson

The Florida Nurse Practitioner Network would like to thank our distinguished guests who joined us at the 2015 Conference "Nurse Practitioners: 50 Years and Growing Strong. This was the 12th Annual Conference that FNPN has sponsored and yet again the Conference was an incredible success

This year the Educational Conference was held at the beautiful Sanibel Harbour Resort & Spa in Fort Myers. In addition to the breathtaking environment, attendees had the opportunity to learn and network with exceptional and distinguished speakers including our keynote speakers retired NASA astronaut, Dr. Story Musgrave and the executive director of the board of nursing, Joe Baker, Jr. We were also honored to recognize Rep Matt Hudson who was in attendance for our meet and greet for his commitment and dedication to supporting NP practice.

We would also like to thank our corporate sponsors, participating exhibitors and all of the distinguished speakers. Without your support, the conference would not have been the success that it was.

Once again, we thank you for attending the 2015 Florida Nurse Practitioner Conference, and we look forward to putting the invaluable information put forth by our participants to good use, as we work toward overcoming the challenges of our current health care system.

FNPN ELECTIONS

It is time once again to begin the election process for the Florida Nurse Practitioner Network. This year, our First Vice-President, Secretary, Membership Director and (3) Nominations Committee positions will be nominated and voted on.

For those that may wish to run, the positions of First Vice-President, Secretary, Membership Director and Nominations Committee hold the following responsibilities:

First Vice-President Shall:

Assume the duties of the President should the President be absent or unable to serve;
Assume other duties as assigned by the President;
Oversee health policy, media and public relations for the FNPN.

Secretary Shall:

Keep a record of proceedings from all meetings of the Board of Directors and general membership meetings;
Ensure that the Board of Directors and members are notified of elections and appointments;
Ensure that notices of meetings of the Board of Directors are sent;
Correspond with other organizations and assume other duties as assigned by the President.

Membership Director Shall:

Oversee demographic database of members;
Maintain list of Group Member officers and contacts of importance to FNPN members;
Oversee membership drives; Report status of membership to the Board of Directors quarterly;
Oversee member needs surveys as directed by the President.

Nominations Committee shall:

Prepare a slate that optimally consists of at least two nominees for each office to be filled each year and submit the slate to the Board of Directors as directed in Article

VI – Elections

Nominations for elections begin now until closure on September 15, 2015. The slate of candidates will be announced the first week of October. Ballots will be sent November 15, 2015 electronically or by mail if requested to each active member of the council for return no later than November 30, 2015. Membership must be current full member. Once again, if you are interested, we highly encourage your involvement as we continue to grow in numbers and building bridges within our community!

Sincerely,

The Nominating Committee:

Donna Lester, DNP, MS, ACNP-BC (donna.lester@lrmc.com)
Jeanne Abdou, ARNP (jabdou@comcast.net)
Yolanda Bone (yoyobone@yahoo.com)

FNPN Board Members Present Dr. Cary Pigman with AANP Florida State Advocacy Award

On Saturday, July 25 several members of FNPN joined AANP representatives to present the AANP State advocate award to Dr. Cary Pigman. Dr. Doreen Cassarino, immediate past president was one of the two Florida NPs who nominated Dr. Pigman for this prestigious award. Due to the special legislative session in June, he was unable to join us in New Orleans at the AANP national awards celebration. Our presentation was quite special as we were able to do the honors with both nominations at his hospital while he was at work. Dr. Pigman, a champion for improving Florida health care and supporting ARNPs to full practice authority, is an ED Physican at Florida Hospital Sebring.

Dr. Jean Aertker, AANP region Director, arranged the meeting and FNPN members, Dr. Doreen Cassarino, Gail Sadler, ARNP and President of the Assoc of NPs in Business, Dr. Arlene Wright, President of Lee County NPs; Dr. Rose Brault constituent of Dr Pigman's from Avon Park, and Beverly Wilson, ARNP who has worked in the ED with Dr. Pigman for years attended along with the AANP State Rep Susan Lynch. In heavy rain we drove to his hospital to join with his colleagues on duty and by some other local friends of NPs. Dr. Pigman was able to spend some time with us giving us an update on how he sees his plan to move the NP bill that originated in the House Innovative Workforce Subcommittee two sessions ago! Like all controversial bills its s process and a struggle to convince some legislators to listen to the arguments for FPA. Believe it or not, many legislators still after 50 years of the NP role in our country, do not know the level of quality care we deliver. This means everyone needs more visibility and making the effort to get out there and educate all you can! Don't underestimate the power of the word said to just one person - make our message snowball with each and every contact you make! The House members pretty much "get it" but not all in the Senate, where the barriers still very rigid and no good reason for that stance except special interests.

We topped off the celebration by delivering balloons and gourmet cupcakes to Dr. Pigman and staff with our gratitude for job well done!

All FNPN members are encouraged to stop, write and send emails to Dr. Pigman and your local Senators with stories of your practice and why FPA for NPs is vital to Florida's future. Home visits to your legislators are ESSENTIAL so they hear directly at home why we need to fix our healthcare system - before the demands exceed our ability to provide any level of healthcare! Remember, 22 states plus DC have moved forward to remove supervision and or collaboration in NP practice. Our Florida legislature needs to remove our outdated rules now!

FNPN Board Members Attend Fundraiser for Senator Grimsley

FNPN President Dr. Janet DuBois and Immediate Past President Dr. Doreen Cassarino where honored to be invited to a fundraising event for Sen. Denise Grimsley held in Jensen Beach on Aug. 29th . Both DuBois and Cassarino spent time with Sen. Grimsley discussing the ARNP bills that she was planning on filing in the Senate and discussing strategies to move the bills forward and incorporate language that would allow Florida ARNPs to have full Controlled Substance prescribing privileges. In addition, they presented the Senator with 64 checks totaling over $3000.00 which were collected from ARNPs throughout the state in support of the Senator's re-election campaign. Senator Grimsley expressed her sincere thanks and appreciation for all the support ARNPs across the state have demonstrated. Dr. DuBois and Dr. Cassarino enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Sen. Grimley, Martha DeCastro, Barbara Lumpkin, Bonnie Skelaran and other distinguished guests. The event was sponsored by Bob Levy and the Florida Hospital Association.

FNPN PAC Update

Dr. Laureen Fleck, FNPN PAC Chairperson

Nurse practitioners are in the media daily. Our value to the healthcare system is challenged in a variety of settings, including the primary care setting. The physician shortage will impact consumers of healthcare regarding access to care and affordability of healthcare. Nurse Practitioners can help fill this void in this ever changing environment.

Our Political Action Committee (PAC) is funded by you...members and the people we associate with. Thank you for all the contributions we receive, especially in theses financially challenging conditions.

The PAC uses these funds to support candidates that are campaigning for public office. These candidates represent US! The constituents' (people living in their districts) are the loudest voices they hear. Find out who your legislative representative is and get to know their position on ARNP issues (Fla.gov)

PAC report from FNPN Annual Conference August 2015:

We are proud to announce that attendees donated in excess of $4,000.00.These funds were deposited directly and will be used for future PAC contributions. A special rally was conducted for Senator Denise Grimsley, an avid and tenacious supporter of ARNP issues! Many of your individual checks were handed to Senator Grimsley at her campaign event attended by our President Janet DuBois and Past President Doreen Cassarino on August 29, 2015. This presence in the political arena is viewed very positively by the candidates and keeps our issues in the public eye.

Thank you ALL!

Membership

Dr. Pamela Johnson, Membership Chair

Florida Nurse Practitioners Network strategic goals direct statewide leadership of this organization; 1) To share and promote advanced practice nursing in Florida in the context of an ever-changing health care environment and in consideration of diversified patient populations, 2) To impact health policy through articulation as the authoritative resource and voice on issues of advanced practice nursing in this state, 3) To improve health of citizens by ensuring ongoing professional growth and development through provision of educational activities for advanced practice nurses, which includes deployment of programs that maximize organizational and fiscal sound resources, in addition, 4) To utilize strategic planning to assure organizational effectiveness as statewide leadership for advance practice nursing.

In an article dated March 11, 2015, Derek Fraser discussed six strategies to build trust within associations in order to engage and sustain members. Fraser's six strategies are to maintain your focus, retain a consistent tone, be first with important news, retain a degree of impartiality, be accountable and interactive, and be accurate as well as interesting.

On August 25, there were 859 active FNPN members: 237 students, 22 retirees, and 600 full members. This is GREAT NEWS! However, we hope to exceed 1000 MEMBERS by December 2015!!

As FNPN elections approach, members are urged to consider candidacy for office. We are 859 people sharing interest in our profession, organized with purpose, giving of our time and finances shaping the future of APN in Florida. If each member encourages one person (ARNP, student, or retiree) to join FNPN - membership would exceed 1000!

Job Announcements!

There have been many new job postings around the state on our website 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!

FNPN SHINING STAR-Dr. Cheryl Brandi

Dr. Cheryl Brandi, DNSc, ARNP, NP-C has spent over the past year creating and establishing the first NP position at the Roskamp Neurosciences Research Institute Clinic in Sarasota. Her overall mission has been to demonstrate the value that a NP can bring to the clinic. Although already an experienced adult NP, establishing credibility in a specialty role has involved extensive self-education in both diagnosis and management of the ambulatory neurology patient, as well as becoming an assessor for clinical trials, since there is no specialty certification for NPs in either domain. She has become credentialed in certain blinded clinical trial assessments such those for Multiple Sclerosis. Additionally, she expanded access to and continuity of care for the clinic by initiating home and ALF visits for clients who have difficulty making clinic appointments. She currently has a 97% patient satisfaction rating.

One of her passions is expanding awareness among community professionals and lay personnel regarding the need for early screening and intervention for memory decline. She has since presented on the topic at AANP and FNPN, and has submitted abstracts for future presentations. She has begun speaking on the topic to local groups. For example, she spoke recently as part of a Brookdale ALF education series. Future presentations are scheduled for a local YMCA branch, a speech therapist meeting, and a community "university" affiliated with a local independent living facility. She is now attending local county senior council meetings to market for her institute and solidify a NP presence. Part of the marketing effort involved personally revising the clinic brochure to include her bio-sketch. She is also working on her credential to become a Certified Dementia Practitioner.

The year has also been spent in educating clinic personnel and physicians regarding NP scope of practice, capabilities, and barriers to practice. She worked closely with administrative staff in insurance credentialing processes in order to see patients independently, improve timely access to care and prevent scheduling gaps. Her plans for the future include further marketing initiatives for Roskamp Institute, for the NP role, and refinement of a proposed nursing research project.

Around the State and Around the Nation

Minute Clinic Opens in Southwest Florida

The first Minute Clinic opened in Southwest Florida on August 28th. Invited to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony was FNPN Immediate Past President, Doreen Cassarino. Also attending included Senator Garret Richter and Representative

Matt Hudson. The Clinics will be staffed by family nurse practitioners and several more are planned to be opening in the area in the very near future

Governor Rick Scott Appoints Three to Florida Center for Nursing Board of Directors

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Governor Rick Scott announced three appointments to the Florida Center for Nursing Board of Directors.

Samira Beckwith of Fort Meyers, is the president and chief executive officer of Hope Hospice and Community Services Inc. She succeeds Martha DeCastro and is appointed for a term beginning July 1, 2015, and ending June 30, 2018.

Dr. Doreen Cassarino of Naples, is an advanced registered nurse practitioner at Millennium Physician Group. She succeeds Janice Hoff and is appointed for a term beginning June 4, 2015, and ending June 30, 2016.

Dr. Barbara Williams, of Vero Beach, is clinical psychologist and advanced psychiatric nurse practitioner at Mind Health. She succeeds Leslie Kent and is appointed for a term beginning June 4, 2015, and ending June 30, 2016.

American Nurse Practitioner Foundation Scholarships and Grant Announcement

ANPF is proud to announce our 2015 funding cycle is now open. We are offering 12 scholarships at $2,500 each for a total of $30,000. Our education funding opportunities are available to all nurse practitioners in the US. All DNP and NP students who have completed one semester of their program are encouraged to apply.

The scholarships are funded (in part) through a donation to American Nurse Practitioner Foundation by Take Care Health Systems, LLC, which is a subsidiary of Walgreen Co. and the management company for Healthcare Clinics at select Walgreens.

The Following Scholarship Awards Are Available:

12 scholarships @ $2,500 each.

Scholarship Applicant Requirements:

All requests are due by 5:00pm CST Friday, October 9th, 2015.
All applicants must complete at least one semester of course work.

You will need the following information to apply:

CV.
Letter of Recommendation.
Official University transcript.

One page summary:
Tell us a little about yourself and your goals upon graduation. Please include information about how funding will be used.

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

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.

Send us your articles

It is wonderful to spotlight Nurse Practitioners and highlight happenings in your area. Please submit names and events to floridanpnetwork@gmail.com. FNPN newsletter welcomes your input!

CEU filing exemption for ARNPs

The Florida BON Executive Director, Mr. Joe Baker, has confirmed that ARNPs who are nationally certified through one of two methods (National Commission for Certifying Agencies or the Accreditation Board for Specialty Nursing Certification) may be eligible to be exempt from the Florida CE requirement for license renewal.

In order to qualify, you must go to www.cebroker.com (the basic account is free) and log in. If you don't already have an account, you must register for you. Once you're in the system, follow the links to "Report Hours/Exemption". Follow the prompts and add your certification document. Your exempt status should be reflected during your next license renewal application.

Many thanks to Mr. Baker for clarifying the process and informing us about this exemption at the Annual FNPN Conference this past weekend!

Make Plans to Attend the 50th Anniversary Gala

AANP and the University of Colorado College of Nursing invite you to attend the 50th Anniversary Gala, commemorating the first NP program that originated in 1965 at the University of Colorado, College of Nursing and School of Medicine. Join your friends and colleagues for an informative and entertaining evening on October 2, 2015 in Denver, CO. For more information about the celebration, including ticket prices, sponsorships, and event schedule, please click here. We hope to see you in Denver at the Gala.

DOH Are You Renewal Ready? Webinar

The Florida Department of Health will verify your continuing education records when you renew your professional license. It is important that you report your continuing education requirements prior to your license renewal. You are invited to join live webinars hosted by the Department of Health, Division of Medical Quality Assurance, to better understand this change.

The webinars are not mandatory. This is simply a tool we are using to help reach licensees that may need assistance with creating their CE accounts in the tracking system. During the webinar participants will see a demonstration of the continuing education tracking system, including how to create a Free Basic Account, view your course history and report continuing education. You will also see an overview of the Department of Health's website.

Webinars are approximately 30 minutes and are Eastern Standard Time. Participants will be able to ask questions at the end of the presentation.

To register for an upcoming webinar please visit www.flhealthsource.gov/webinars

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