Urgent CAlif RN/LPN's: Bill to replace Public Health Nurses with TB Techs

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

bill moving to governor's desk will replace

public health nurses with unlicensed tb technicians

http://www.calnurse.org/gr/gralert81602.html

government relations action alert

bill moving to governor's desk will replace

public health nurses with unlicensed tb technicians

despite strong opposition by cna, sb 843 (perata)-a bill that would create a new category of unlicensed tuberculosis technician --will be sent to governor davis for his signature any day now!

this ill-conceived bill would allow unlicensed and minimally-trained technicians to inject intradermal tb antigen and measure the tb skin test results.

it would fragment the public health system and create a second class tier of public health services at a time when the need for enhanced public health care and disease surveillance is evident to all californians. proponents state that this legislation is necessary to stabilize the growth of tb cases in california despite the fact that there is no evidence to support their assertion.

call today to urge the governor to veto sb 843

governor gray davis

1st floor state capitol

sacramento, california 95814

916-445-2841

fax [phone]

talking points for call:

"hello, my name is _____________, i am a (public health) nurse in ______________ county. i am calling to urge the governor to veto sb 843 a bill that endangers the public health by taking public health nurses out of people's homes and replacing them with unskilled high school graduates. the fragility of our public health system coupled with the threat of widespread bioterrorism means that we must have more public health nurses not fewer.

please don't sign this ill-conceived bill."

or email the governor directly by clicking here [email protected]

you can cut and paste the sample letter above into the body of the email or write your own message to the governor

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

more facts about sb 843:

a march 22, 2002 press release by the department of health services announced

"tb rate remains stable in california as state observes world tb day."

the announcement by dr. diana bonta went on to state that the rate of 9.5 cases per 100,000 residents was the same last year as the previous year.

it is apparent that the proponents of this bill have misinterpreted the tb data and indicated to the legislature that there was an increase in the number of tb cases in california.

this public health service "band-aid" is a short-sighted expenditure of public funds that will result in poor outcomes and will divert money better spent on increasing the number of public health nurses who provide comprehensive healthcare services.

[sjoe]

Frankly, if that's all the techs are supposed to do, what's the problem? This isn't rocket science or brain surgery.