Nursing Law & Order

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 [email protected]. 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.

Altered Standard of Care in Disasters

Does the nursing standard of care change during a natural disaster? If so, what is the standard of care?

The American Nurses Association Quadrennial Policy Conference is titled Nursing Care in Life, Death and Disaster. The date is June 20-22, 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia.

The conference "...will inform the nurisng profession, policy makers, government and other disaster planners and responders regarding reconciliation of the professional, legal, and regulatory conflicts of a diminished standard of care during a major disaster."

A Call for Abstracts is posted on the ANA website at www.nursingworld.org and abstracts are due on Friday, January 5, 2007.

Ohio Association of Advanced Practice Nurses

I presented a poster yesterday evening at the OAAPN Annual Meeting and I attended a CE session titled ABCs of Ohio Law for APNs. The presenters included a past president of the association and an advanced practice consultant with the Ohio Board of Nursing.

The session was well attended with over 150 attendees. I presented a poster on The American Association of Nurse Attorneys (TAANA) Business & Legal Guidebook.

In your opinion what are the ABCs of Law for APNs?

Make a Decision

I want to say thank you again to the minority nursing students at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing for the invitation to be part of a panel presentation on career options for nurses. The panel included an emergency room nurse who is also a ARNP and currently a second year medical student, an OB RN, a RN with experience in occupational health and home health, and a RN with expertise in pediatric oncology.

I graduated from nursing school 13 years ago but seeing those eager faces debating and discussing career options reminded me of myself in 1992-1993. It was either graduate school for a MSN or law school for a JD. I decided to attend law school and it was a good decision just like the decision to attend nursing school was a good decision. If I knew then what I know now, I would have sought a dual MSN/JD. Hindsight is always 20/20.

I used to work in a large firm. I started my own law practice because I wanted to represent, counsel, and advise individual nurses. There are not many law firms focusing exclusively on the needs of individuals nurses. This was another good decision.

What were some of my bad decisions? I borrowed way too much money in law school and there were obvious ways to decrease my need for students loans. This may not be a "bad decision" but I wish now I had attended nursing and/or law school outside of the Cincinnati area. You can always move back home and Cincinnati for better or for worse is home for me. 

Nurses, its never too late to make a career change, continue your education, or enter a different specialty in nursing. Start your own business, complete your BSN, moonlight as a agency nurse for extra cash, seek certification, etc. Make a decision. What are your career options? What did you tell yourself you would accomplish after 5 years in nursing? 10 years in nursing? 15 years in nursing? 20 years in nursing?

KCNPNM Conference

I had fun exhibiting at the Kentucky Coalition of NP & NM Regional Conference at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center this week. I met NPs and NMs from Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Mississippi, Virginia, Indiana, Michigan, and West Virginia.

I displayed TAANAs (The American Association of Nurse Attorneys) poster for its Business & Legal Guidebook for Nurse Practitioners. See www.taana.org. I had excellent booth attendance for two of the three days and sold 14 books.

Many NPs didn't know that an association for Nurse Attorneys existed or that TAANA published a legal and business guidebook. I am looking forward to the meeting next year in Northern Kentucky.

KCNPNM Conference

The Southern Ohio/Kentucky chapter of The American Association of Nurse Attorneys (TAANA) is exhibiting at the Kentucky Coalition of Nurse Practitioners & Nurse Midwives (KCNPNM) Annual meeting and conference next week at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, Kentucky. You can purchase the NP Legal and Business Guidebook written by TAANA members at the booth. See www.taana.org for additional information on the Guidebook.

I spoke at this conference last week and I am excited to return as an exhibitor this year on behalf of TAANA. Topics for the conference include a discussion on the Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) and a wide variety of clinically focused sessions.

Leadership Institute

I spoke yesterday at the TN Nursing Leadership Institute at Falls Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee. I spoke on Legal Issues for Nurse Leaders. The TN Nurse Leadership Institute is a week long program for BSN prepared nurses (or nurses with diplomas or ASN degrees and enrolled in a BSN program). The attendees were primarily staff nurses in hospitals. The attendees were not nurse managers.

Do you think we need Leadership Institutes for nurses? Does your state nurses association or specialty nursing association offer Leadership Institutes?

Nursing Spectrum

I just finished browsing the Feb. 2006 Midwestern Edition of Nursing Spectrum. There were some interesting articles in this edition including Putting the "We" in Team that highlights a program designed to bridge the gap between staff nurses and leadership, A New Look at Older RNs, Magnet Recognition-a Journey, Not a Destination, and Remote Control, an article that discusses electronic ICUs assisting bedside RNs. See Nursing Spectrum. Regardless of your specialty in nursing you may be able to find an article or two of interest in Nursing Spectrum.