an update - DC convention summary-
"ANA House of Delegates Shapes Direction of Nursing -
Washington, DC --Gathering in our nation's capital, nearly 600 nurses took bold action on a number of far-reaching nursing practice and global health measures during the American Nurses Association's (ANA) annual House of Delegates (HOD) June 29 - July 1. These measures included adopting a revised code of ethics
for nurses, approving a national agenda to address the current staffing crisis and emerging shortage and urging Congress to step up global funding for AIDS prevention........
"There are critical issues in health care that nurses are ideally suited to address," said ANA President Mary Foley, MS, RN, following the meeting. "As a multipurpose organization that uses diverse strategies to represent the nation's nurses, ANA will look to its leaders in the House of Delegates (HOD), as well as its members, to shape the future of nursing."...........
The following are highlights of actions taken during the meeting. Full texts of resolutions will be available online at ANA's website, NursingWorld.org..........
Code of Ethics:
Delegates overwhelmingly approved a revised ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses, which details the ethical obligations and duties of every individual who enters the nursing profession. Last revised in 1985, the new Code contains nine key provisions or ethical standards that were designed to more accurately reflect the ethical challenges nurses face while practicing in today's health care environment. The new Code emphasizes subtle changes in health care relationships, as well as the RNs' right to practice in an environment that is safe and that protects patients' and nurses' rights......
Call to the Profession:
To address the current staffing crisis and the impending nursing shortage, ANA recently issued a "Call to the Profession," designed to bring nursing leaders and organizations together for a nursing summit this fall to address the value and image of nursing and how they affect recruitment and retention. To support this initiative, delegates passed a resolution that ensures that this national agenda will focus on nursing's role and value in health care delivery, and will outline necessary changes including diversity issues within the workplace and health care industry to promote accessible, quality health care delivery........
Support for Professional Practice:
Two actions that had been approved by the ANA Board of Directors just prior to the HOD were unveiled during the meeting. These were a Bill of Rights for RNs and a definition of patient abandonment, both results of directives from the 2000 HOD..........
The Bill of Rights for RNs is a series of statements meant to reiterate the importance of the nurse's rights as a patient care provider. It's a reminder to employers, patients and nurses that RNs have a right to working conditions, protections and compensation that supports RNs efforts to provide safe, quality patient care without compromising their own health and safety and ethical practice.........
The definition for patient abandonment is based on case law, the Code of Ethics for Nurses and definitions used by state boards of nursing, and differentiates between patient abandonment and refusal to work mandatory overtime. The approved definition says patient abandonment is a unilateral severance of the established nurse-patient relationship without giving reasonable notice to the supervisor so that arrangements can be made for continuation of
nursing care by others. Refusal to accept an assignment (or a nurse-patient relationship) does not constitute patient abandonment. ........
Duplicative Paperwork:
Delegates also took on an issue that many practicing nurses face every day: completing mounds of duplicative documentation. Currently, acute care nurses spend 25 percent, and home care nurses, 50 percent, of their time on paperwork. Delegates specifically directed ANA to work toward eliminating redundant and non-value-added paperwork. Further, delegates instructed ANA to promote the collection of relevant nursing clinical data in an efficient, retrievable and comparable format.......
Nurses' Role in Organ Donation:
In another measure, delegates tackled nurses' ability to facilitate organ donation in the course of providing end-of-life care. Currently, a federal regulation states that trained "designated requestors" are the only hospital employees permitted to initiate and conduct organ donation discussions with a patient or family for the purpose of obtaining consent. This regulation has discouraged nurses in some settings from discussing donation as part of their long-standing role in providing end-of-life care. Therefore, the HOD agreed that ANA should advocate that professional nurses be recognized for their role in end-of-life care including the voluntary participation in the organ donation process and promote a truly collaborative relationship between professional nurses and procurement teams..........
Corrections Nursing:
The House also passed a resolution directing ANA to collaborate with other appropriate nursing and corrections associations, as well as accrediting bodies, to examine the critical issues impacting prison, juvenile and jail professional nursing practice. Those issues include advocating for the use of nursing standards, guidelines and policies with correctional institutions and support for the development of emergency responses that are directed by
health care staff..........
Discrimination in the Military:
The House also took action on two measures that focused on discrimination in the military and a current ANA policy that disallows the association from accepting advertising from the Uniformed Services of the Department of Defense (DOD). The current ANA policy is the result of a 1995 HOD action condemning discrimination against gays and lesbians in the military. In the first resolution, delegates directed ANA to establish a mechanism for studying discrimination experienced by nurses in the U.S. Uniformed Services from a public policy perspective and utilize data obtained during the course of its study to oppose discrimination. The House passed a second resolution stating that ANA is not precluded from accepting advertising, exhibit space and sponsorship from the Uniformed Services of the DOD, as long as there is a disclaimer attached that states ANA's position against discrimination..........
Global Issues:
Currently, more that 36 million people are HIV-positive worldwide, including 800,000 to 900,000 in the United States. In response to this health crisis, delegates exercised their global reach by passing a resolution that urges Congress to make a commitment to eradicating AIDS by allocating funds globally, particularly to sub-Sahara Africa and other developing countries that have been most affected........
Closer to home, delegates asked ANA to call on the U.S. government to immediately cease all military activity on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. The HOD also wants the U.S. government to begin a clean-up program on the island to restore its damaged ecosystem and transfer occupied lands to the people of Vieques.........
ANA Business:
Other ANA business conducted by the HOD was the approval of a resolution that increases the ANA portion of constituent member association (CMA) dues by $35, effective Jan. 1, 2002. The House had not approved a dues increase for ANA since 1989, forcing the association to rely increasingly on belt-tightening measures and reserve funds to combat ongoing inflationary costs.......
The HOD also agreed to a change in ANA's bylaws which will require all CMAs that represent RNs for the purpose of collective bargaining or their separate collective bargaining programs to become members of United American Nurses (UAN), the labor arm of ANA. The bylaws change allows CMAs or their collective bargaining programs up to four years to join the UAN, allowing delegates time to discuss the issue fully with their members............
The HOD meets annually to vote on issues important to the profession. The next meeting will be held in Philadelphia, PA, as part of ANA's biennial convention June 27 - July 2, 2002.
The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the interests of the nation's 2.7 million Registered Nurses through its constituent member state nurses associations. The ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory
agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
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http://www.ana.org
Would you like to comment?
what has the ANA done for me lately?
I don't mean to start complaining, however....
