My 2 Cents

Joe Flores, NP and Attorney at Law in Texas

My buddy, Joe Flores did an excellent job presenting The Nurse as A Criminal Defendant on Wednesday, November 19, 2008. The program was presented as a legal webinar offered by the Center for American Nurses. See www.centerforamericannurses.org.

Joe is a certified NP and trial attorney in Texas and he represents nurses and other healthcare professionals in licensure matters and he is also a skilled criminal defense attorney.

See Joe's website at www.floreslaw.com. See also his youtube links at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3s_FsqeEJc

•     Joe can be reached by phone or e-mail at  361.887.8670 or joe@floreslawfirm.com

•        Other legal discussions can be seen at www.youtube.com then typing in search term “Joe Flores”

 

Got Criminal Issues? What to Know about more about the Nurse as a Criminal Defendant?

The Center for American Nurses is sponsoring a series of legal webinars for nurses in 2008-2010. See www.centerforamericannurses.org.

The November 19, 2008 webinar features my colleague Joe Flores as the expert presenter. Joe Flores is a practicing NP and an attorney in Texas and he represents nurses in licensure and criminal matters.

I am looking forward to this webinar because of the content. More and more nurses are being charged with crimes or have criminal convictions that impact the suitability for licensure. A number of the posts and comments on this blog involve criminal conduct and criminal convictions.

I am the moderator for the webinar and we are looking forward to your participation in the webinar and any questions you pose after the webinar. There is a question and answer component after the lecture component.

For additional information about Joe and his law practice see the firm's website at http://www.floreslawfirm.com/.

The Nurse as A Criminal Defendant

Joe Flores, RN, MSN, JD with the Flores Law Firm

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

7pm to 8:15 EST

Download nurseascrimdefendant.pdf

House Bill 346 "The Staffing Bill" CE in Cincinnati, Ohio

If you live in the Greater Cincinnati, Ohio, you may be interested in attending this free CE program sponsored by the Registered Nurse Association and the Southwestern Ohio Nurses Association on October 21, 2008. See this flyer.

Download 081021_inservice_flyer_ceu1.pdf

What to Do When the State Board of Nursing Calls

You answer the phone and its an investigator from the Nursing Board, what do you do? Or you receive a letter from the Nursing Board regarding a complaint filed against your license, what do you do?

The Center for American Nurses is hosting a series of legal webinars for nurses in 2008-2009. The Center for American Nurses is a national professional association offering workforce advocacy products and services to individual nurses.

The first webinar is:

title: What To Do When the State Nursing Board Calls

date: Wednesday, October 22, 2008

time: 7pm-8:15pm EST.

My esteemed colleague, Nancy Brent is the presenter.

Nancy Brent, RN, MS, JD is a nurse attorney in Chicago, Illinois and has extensive experience in licensure defense and health law matters. Nancy is also the featured nurse attorney expert on Nursing Spectrum and authors Brent's Law.

Registration information will be available soon at www.centerforamericannurses.org.  

Indiana State Nurses Association Psychiatric Nurses Meeting and CE

http://www.indiananurses.org/events/083108%20psych%20meeting%20registration.pdf.

I am thinking about attending this meeting for the CE. I like the content however I am already driving to Indianapolis twice in October as of today.

It cost me $100 to gas up my boat (premium gas from Shell) and drive from Cincinnati to Indianapolis (this is past downtown Indy and near the airport) and I will have to gas up again ($75) and drive back to Cincy.

How many conferences have you attended this year?

The fall will be here in no time and you know that means for nurses: conferences, seminars,in-services, and conventions.

How many have you attended this year?

I am attending the Kentucky Law Update next month presented by the Kentucky Bar Association for CLE. I need the credits for my Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana law license.

I am attending more webinars and teleconferences related to my law practice. I have attended three webinars offered by Lorman Education this summer and I will register for several more this year.

I will attend a program on chemical dependency offered by the Indiana State Nurses Association in Indianapolis in October. I will also attend the Ohio Attorney General Administrative Law Seminar this winter if its offered again.

I don't have to renew my Ohio RN license until 2009 so I don't really have to worry about CNE this year.

National Mental Health Conference in Indianapolis

There is a National Mental Health Conference next month in Indianapolis, Indiana June 23-25, 2008 that I would like to attend.

Especially the sessions on chemical dependency, dual diagnosis, and criminal behavior related to chemical dependency. Alot of my law practice involves chemical dependency, chemical impairment, criminal conduct/convictions, and issues related to medication administration, documentation, and handling with nurses. The conference registration is reasonable for a three day conference also.

Its only a 90 minute drive from Cincinnati to Indianapolis anyway.

The conference takes place at the same as the Center for American Nurses Membership Council Meeting  www.centerforamericannurses.org and the ANA House of Delegates www.nursingworld.org.

Its a tough choice: attending national professional association governance meetings that get messier and more bizarre with each meeting or attending a conference that has direct applicability to my tri-state law practice. Or is it a tough choice! What would you do?

I already committed myself as a delegate of both organizations to attend when I ran for office in October 2007, so I will be in Washington, D.C.

However, the link for the conference is:

http://www.in.gov/idoc/unlockingthemystery/index.htm.

Webinar for Future Nursing Leaders

Are you a nurse leader? Are you aspiring to be a nurse leader? Do you want to polish your skills to be a leader of nurses? What does it take to be a nurse leader in today's nursing workplace?

Consider attending this webinar.

See http://centerforamericannurses.org/tools/mayjune08webinar.pdf for additional information.

Continuing Education for Nursing Licensure Renewal

I presented a nursing seminar last week in Illinois. The State of Illinois does not require continuing education for RN/LPN licensure renewal. This will change starting in May 2008 however.

I know Indiana does not require continuing education for RN/LPN licensure renewal. Does your state require continuing nursing education for licensure renewal?

What your opinion? Is there a link between continuing education and competency? Is there a link between continuing education and professionalism? Do you think CE should be required for nursing licensure renewal?

Nursing Core Competencies

At the Center for American Nurses LEAD Summit 2008, Dr. Mary Ann Alexander, Chief Officer of Nursing Regulation for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing www.ncsbn.org, will present current research and findings about past, present, and future issues related to continued nursing competence.

Dr. Alexander was interviewed by the Center for American Nurses staff for the February 2008 edition of Nursing That Works.

See http://www.ohnurses.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=2326.

Las Vegas Here I Come, Again!

I love Las Vegas! If I win the Mega Millions lottery today, I would buy a vacation home in Henderson, Nevada and say goodbye to this Midwest weather from November to April every year.

The National Black Nurses Association is having its annual meeting and conference in Las Vegas this year and I never need an excuse to stay at the Mandalay Bay. See http://www.nbna.org/conferences/conf08/conference_registration_form.pdf.

The conference is August 4th-8th. My fiance's (no, I am not engaged but it sounds better than boyfriend) birthday is July 28th. My b-day is July 2nd. I am thinking about surprising him with a trip to Las Vegas for his birthday. What do you think?

I don't that we will stay at the Mandalay Bay; its located at the far end of the strip, near the Luxor and Excalibur. I prefer to stay in the middle of the strip at the either the Flamingo, Bellagio, Treasure Island or Paris Hotel.

Where do you stay when you travel to Vegas? Oh and what you say on this blog, stays on this blog!

Portfolios, Presentation, Publication, and Promotion Conference

I attended a nursing conference today sponsored by the Southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky chapter of STTI. The conference, The P's and Q's of Writing for Promotion, Publication, Presentation and Portfolio was well attended with almost 100 attendees at the Sharonville Convention Center.

I especially enjoyed the afternoon breakout sessions on Competency and the Professional Nursing Portfolio and Designing a Professional Poster Presentation.

I don't normally leave nursing conferences feeling refreshed and excited. I found the material very much applicable to my legal practice. The sessions I attended were as follows:

Disseminating your Evidence: How to Get Published. The keynote speaker was Marilyn Oermann, PhD, RN, FAAN.

Strategies for your Publication: View from an Editor, Reviewer, and Authors. This was a panel presentation.

Designing a Professional Nursing Portfolio

Professional Portfolio: Providing Evidence of Competence

I do a far amount of writing and publication; well, not as much as I used to, but its adequate. I also speak frequently on legal issues in nursing and submit abstracts for national, regional, and local poster presentations. Professional portfolios are hot and I have some ideas here that will be launched on my website in the near future.

Safeguarding Your License: Dodging Legal Minefields

I may be coming to area near you soon! I am presenting a 6.0 contact hour course for Cross Country Education. The title is Safegaurding your License: How to Avoid Legal Minefields in Nursing Practice. See the attached brochure. Download cceseminarbrochuremarch08.pdf

Schaumburg, IL- March 11

Bloomington, IL- March 12

Chicago, IL- March 13

Madison, WI- March 25

Appleton, WI- March 26

Milwaukee, WI- March 27

Regional Forensic Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio

What: Regional Forensic Council's 4th Annual Educational Conference

When: Thursday, March 13, 2008

Where: Cincinnati, Ohio

See the attached brochure for additional information. Download RegionallForensicCouncil2008.pdf

Nurses are More Likely to Reported to the Board of Nursing, Than Named as A Defendant in a Med Mal Case

Wynne Simpkins,a dear nursing colleague of mine, and I are presenting a seminar sponsored her company, RWS Education, LLC. Wynne is a former Ohio Board of Nursing employee and the former Executive Director of the Licensed Practical Nurse Association of Ohio (LPNAO). See www.lpnao.org.

Ohio Board of Nursing Disciplinary Investigations: Can It Happen to You?

The seminar is scheduled for April 23, 2008 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Registration is limited to the 75 attendees. See the attached brochure for additional information. Download RWSeducationbrochure.pdf

I won't jump up on my soapbox (I am very clumsy and I may just fall again), but all nurses should be familiar with the legal and professional regulation of nursing practice and use those foundations to establish personal guidelines for self-regulation.

Does it surprise you that you as a nurse are more likely to be reported to the state board of nursing at some point in your career than you are to be sued and named as a defendant in a medical malpractice or nursing negligence case?

Why then, is there so much fuss about nursing malpractice and nursing negligence? Why is there an emphasis on negligence and malpractice as opposed to board of nursing disciplinary investigations and licensure matters?

Who can we as nurses blame for our misplaced focus on the potential civil liability, when we are much more likely to be facing administrative liability before a state board of nursing or someother healthcare licensing board than being named and sued for negligence or malpractice?

What's your mission?

I plan to blog for the remainder of the week regarding my observations from the Ohio Attorney General Administrative Law Seminar. This seminar and the underlying tones and messages from the seminar gave me something to think about driving from Columbus to Cincinnati this evening.

I have also decided that 2008 is the year for me to move forward with starting my non-profit; the focus of the non-profit will be nursing law and regulation, and assisting nurses with legal issues. I have wanted to do this for several years and I hesitated because I assumed that one day one or more of the many national or state nurses association would start to fill in the gaps in this area.  I am volunteering for job!!!! 

I love practicing law and will continue my law practice. However my goal in practicing law and consulting has always been to connect with individual nurses about the law, legalities, and legal issues in nursing. To a certain extent, I am able to accomplish some of this as a licensure defense attorney. This is my mission and I am passionate about representing, counseling, and advising nurses.  Just like a nurse, I know, always in rescue mode, don't remind me?

What do you think about the concept of a non-profit focusing on nursing regulation and legal issues?

I am also pleased to announce that next year, I will be presenting with Cross Country Education and conducting a 6 hour legal seminar for nurses. The seminar will begin in March 2008 in Illinois and Wisconsin. I want to reach out to more of us about the law, legalities, and legal issues in nursing and presenting with a national company provides me with this opportunity on a larger scale.

What's your mission? What are your professional goals for 2008? 

Its Nursing Convention Time!

Are you involved in a national, state, or local nursing association? If not, you should join a nursing association because its sole purpose is to advocate for the best interests of its membership. Join an association and attend a few meetings. You will be hooked.

I attended my first Ohio Nurses Association Convention in 2001. A few hundred nurses meeting for several days discussing issues that impact nursing. I love it! I attended the ONA Convention in 2003, 2005, and I will attend the 2007 Convention in Columbus, Ohio next month.

I am running for office again this year. I am running for ANA Delegate Unspecified (I have to run as unspecified because I am not a full-time clinical nurse) and Center for American Nurses Delegate. There is a full slate running for ANA Delegate Unspecified and Center for American Nurses Delegate offices again this year.

The American Association of Nurse Attorneys (TAANA) annual meeting is in November 2007. I am not sure if I am attending although I find the course offerings very interesting. The Conference is being held in Newport, Rhode Island and I can't imagine how much it will cost me to fly from Cincinnati, Ohio to Warwick, Rhode Island and then travel (rental car or shuttle bus) 40 minutes to the Hyatt Regency in Newport. Next year's conference will be in Lexington, Kentucky, which is an 75 minute drive from me here in Cincinnati.

I am waiting for an ANA, TAANA, or Center for American Nurses meeting to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada. I guess I will have to wait a little longer.....

American Academy of Nurse Practitioners

The AANP Annual Conference takes place this year in Indianapolis, Indiana from June 20-June 24, 2007. I am presenting a poster at the conference this year and I am looking forward to attending the educational sessions offered. If you are attending and would like to get together for dinner, please email me at ldw@nursing-jurisprudence.com. This is my first AANP Conference. Although, I am not a NP,  I represent, counsel, and advise NPs and I am excited about attending the conference.

For additional information about the Conference, see www.aanp.org.

2007 Kentucky Coalition of NP & NM Conference

The KCNPNM Conference takes place again this year at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, Kentucky. The Conference runs April 24-28, 2007. For additional information see, www.kcnpnm.org.

Nurses Democratic Caucus

The Nurses Democractic Caucus is sponsoring a CE program, Nurses and Politics: A Practical Application for Democratic Nurses and Students, on Saturday, April 28, 2007 from 1-4pm at the Ohio Democratic Party Headquarters in Columbus, Ohio.

The cost is $10.00 for no-members and is free to members. Membership in the Nurses Democratic Caucus is open to any licensed nurse or student. The Nurses Democratic Caucus is a political action committee, affiliated with the Democratic party. For additional information, see the NDC website at www.ohdemnurses.org.