Oct 5th 2004: PSNA Advanced Practice Nurse Lobby Day

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

advanced practice nurse lobby day

october 5th

advanced practice nurses have made great legislative strides in the past few years. in order for us to continue with this positive momentum, we need you. make plans now to attend the advanced practice nurse lobby day! bring your friends, family and students to fill the front steps in support of our efforts. we need to make a strong showing in order to keep nursing issues at the forefront of legislators minds, particularly with the current session coming to a near close with legislation impacting our nurses still on the floor. here are several specific bills presently pending:

hb 1911 disability physicals for dpw

hb 1913 teacher physicals for crnps

hb 1721 cns title protection

sb 580 crnas

hb 1722 nurses health program for impaired nurses

these bills are just to name a few. whatever does not pass by the end of this year will die and must be re-introduced in the next legislative session, which is an extremely arduous task.

you are asked to arrive by 11:15 a.m. and meet in the east wing for lobby training (area under the escalators). make sure you allow time for security getting into the capitol building. you will be given a packet of information and the lobbyists and organizational leaders will prep you so that you are knowledgeable about the various bills and issues.

the rally will begin at 12:00 noon on october 5th, in the capitol rotunda. we are hoping to have the following speakers: senator mary jo white and representatives pat vance, mary ann dailey, anthony deluca, and stephen barrar. the media will be there to cover the rally. you are then encouraged to visit your senators and representatives in the afternoon. (call ahead to schedule an appointment with your legislators)

the legislative reception is from 4:00 - 6:00 pm in the east wing. all legislators will receive an invitation to attend. this is an informal chance to chat with your senators and legislators over hors d'oeuvres and beverages. they have another function later that evening, so they will not all be leaving in the afternoon and we expect that there will be more legislators in attendance.

carpool if you are able to. the western part of the state is chartering a bus.

(attached is the form to complete if you are interested.)you can partner advanced practice nurses with legislative experience with students and "legislatively naive" nurses for scheduled visits. packets are made up for each legislator with information from all apn groups (crnp, cns, cnm, crna).

remember to wear your white lab coats and wear comfortable shoes. there is a lot of walking . the white lab coats are important because they make a powerful statement when there are a couple hundred of us in the capitol building!

house of representatives:

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/representatives_alpha.cfm

senate:

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/senators_alpha.cfm -

let us know if you are planning to attend so that we can make sure we have enough materials for everyone. you may confirm your attendance by emailing [email protected].

we hope to see you there!