SACRAMENTO CHAPTER NEWSLETTER – SEPTEMBER 2006



SACRAMENTO CHAPTER NEWSLETTER – SEPTEMBER 2006

Welcome back to Northern California for those of you who were able to attend the Annual Meeting in San Antonio where we learned that ENA’s membership has grown to over 31,700 members. How exciting! We hope that more of you can attend next year when the meeting will be in Salt Lake City. (September 26-29) Or perhaps, we’ll see you at the Leadership Conference in Boston in February 22-25. Bring your parka!

We were pleased that Sacramento Chapter member and ENA Co-Founder Judy Kelleher could attend the annual meeting along with her daughter and grand-daughter (both emergency nurses!). Chapter President Carole Mennell and some of her staff were also able to attend. California had two more of its members as part of the second class of 13 inducted into the Academy of Emergency Nursing – Vicki Sweet of Orange Coast Chapter and Diane Schertz of Sacramento Chapter. Congratulations to all.

At the National Board of Directors meeting, there was review and approval of reports from various task forces and work groups. We learned that we have a very favorable financial status due to the wonderful increase in membership. Due to new requirements by the ANCC, there will be changes in the make up of Education Committees (at least one member will have to have a BSN). It was recognized the biggest impact will be felt at the State and Local levels. CECH will now require a 60 minute hour of instruction instead of the previous 50 minute instructional unit which will result in fewer CEUs available educational events within the current time constraints. ENA is participating with the Center for Disease Control’s TIIDE Project (Terrorism Injuries: Information, Dissemination and Exchange). There are plans for increased collaboration with ACEP on emergency care issues. It was noted that they will be discussing a resolution to support increasing the number of CENs working in our nation’s emergency departments. They will be meeting in New Orleans this fall. Also check out the joint statement to JCAHO on the issue of Medication Reconciliation on the ENA website at . Another issue that remains on the radar is tbe Doctor of Nursing Practice. (Still an area of debate in the nursing community.)

There was lively debate in the General Assembly over 2 Bylaw changes and 4 Resolutions. Officer eligibility requirements bylaw was defeated but the bylaw creating a “Senior Membership” Classification was approved. Four resolutions were passed:

1. ENA will develop a position statement to identify specific competencies/training that clinical nurse managers should have to supervise emergency department clinical staff.

2. A work group of Clinical Nurse Specialists will be formed to work with the ENA Nurse Practitioner Validation Task Force to develop a practice framework for CNSs to be presented to the ENA Board of Directors.

3. ENA will form an Emergency Management/Preparedness Group to collaborate with other agencies to develop strategic initiatives in the area of mitigation, planning, response and recovery.

4. The Nominations and Resolutions Committees will explore qualifications and requirements for National Elected Positions and present this to the General Assembly in the form of a Bylaws Amendment.

There were 3 very good general sessions. The Keynote featured Dr Linda Aiken who has done a lot of work on the issue of the nursing shortage. Her presentation of “Saving Lives Through Investing in Nursing” was very insightful and of course supportive of nursing and its contribution to healthcare. There was a panel discussion by 3 ENA members who worked on the Institute of Medicine Report on the “Future of Emergency Care in the U.S. Health System.” It was interesting to hear the purpose of the IOM and how it functions and of course we’re proud of ENA’s participation in this process as it presented testimony to the Legislature in Washington, D.C. The closing address was a very dynamic presentation given by former Oregon Governor and Emergency Physician John Kitzhaber entitled “On the Road to Revolution, Fear and Loathing in the U.S. He presented his ideas on how we should administer and deliver health care in the future. He presented information on the Archimedes Movement, a grassroots movement to change the basic way we view health and challenged us to be a part of the revolution. Interested in reading more about this, visit .

Emergency Nurses Week is October 8-14, 2006 and the theme is “Always Ready, Always Caring.” This year we are going to head south to Stockton to have a luncheon meeting on October 13, 2006 in celebration of ENW. As of time of publication, our speaker plans have not been finalized but we will have a one hour CE presentation with our “dutch-treat” lunch (1130-1330) at:

El Torito’s

2593 W March Lane

Stockton, CA 95207 (209) 957-6891

We hope you will be able to join us, please RSVP to Carole Mennell at (916)537-5125 by October 10th so we can notify the restaurant of the number in our party. There will be door prizes!

We have already begun planning for another CEN Review Course in May 2007 and look forward to hearing from you, the members, about what your needs are and we can always use some help. Get active in your profession and start today by returning your ballot for the 2007 Chapter Officers. (See enclosed)

There are lots of good things ahead—including a State Educational Offering in Tahoe in April so stay tuned and/or visit .

CalENA is a co-sponsor of Propostion 86---VOTE YES

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