National Nurse Project Update

http://www.NationalNurse.info

To those interested in the National Nurse proposal and to our supporters:

We have been busy and so much to report! We would like to thank and recognize our newest supporters:

• The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) has agreed to support the proposal and is writing a letter of support to be delivered to Rep. Lois Capps who we understood would be the sponsor of a bill to create the Office.

• The Public Employees Federation/AFL-CIO (PEF) circulated a petition at their recent convention and these signatures were passed on to Lois Capps.

The National Nurse team has been busy educating nursing organizations about the proposal including the Oregon State Board of Nursing (OSBN) and the Oregon Council of Associate Degree Nursing Programs (OCAP). We have been invited to present at Oregon Nursing Leadership Council (ONLC).

We have submitted a proposal to present at the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) national convention in April and are interested in presenting at the National Student Nurses Association’s (NSNA) convention in Baltimore.

Please contact us if you are interested in having us present at your meeting or convention.<!--Break-->

You may have noticed that others continue to write about the National Nurse proposal. You can find us in JONA, Oct. 2005, The RWJ Executive Nurse Fellows Program, Part 1: Leading Change, vol. 35, No. 10.

AFT included an article in their October monthly newsletter On Campus. Teri and Alisa were introduced on the Portland Community College’s homepage in September at: http://www.pcc.edu/about/profiles/national-nurse-debate.html .

Back in May, when Teri’s proposal was first introduced in the New York Times, Nursing Advocacy, an association dedicated to ensuring an accurate portrayal of nurses in the media, discussed the National Nurse proposal at: http://www.nursingadvocacy.org/news/2005may/20_nyt.html .

If you are interested in viewing other publications that have presented the National Nurse please contact Teri at teri@nationalnurse.info . Others have contacted us and future publications are planned. Look for articles in your state nursing association newsletters and journals.

More exciting news: we have had conversations with many new supporters via E-mail and telephone. Mary Pat Couig, the Assistant Surgeon General, Chief Professional Officer for Nursing, spoke with Teri and Alisa about the proposal and had encouraging ideas for following up with visits to the Surgeon General and the Secretary of Health. We believe she understood how the proposal would complement the work they are doing on prevention.

We have new National Nurse merchandise at http://www.cafepress.com/nationalnurse including mouse pads and posters. We encourage you to consider purchasing items for the holidays for your favorite nurse (that could be you)!

Thank you for your interest and support and please forward this newsletter to a friend of nurses, and encourage them to sign up to receive the next newsletter at: www.nationalnurse.info.

Sincerely,

Teri, Alisa and Terri