It truly is a point and click world and you can be involved and actually keep in contact with your local and state representatives. Many of your state nursing associations can provide the issues and the means of contact. However, it can also be done independently. So many Bills, so little time.
Do not leave how you practice up to the medical associations and hospitals. Do NOT let them be the only ones to decide your nurse to patient ratios. Truly caring about your practice, your license, and bottom-line...your patients...means taking matters into your own hands and having a voice in such decisions.
So many states have actual laws regarding staffing ratios, that protect patient care and your license. Yet, here in Florida the state has yet to allow nurse practitioners full controlled substance prescribing abilities. In addition, it is the last state to maintain this decision. And who other than ARNP's primarily care for patients in long term care facilities and patients with critical and painful end-of-life illnesses?
Also, many nurses here in Florida just keep taking the nights and days of providing care with budget minimizing staffing with little complaint. Where there are seldom written standards for what constitutes 1:1 acuity. AND NO LUBRICATION for the pleasure of having that severely critical patient paired with another patient.
It is LUDICROUS any time that patient acuity is based on a budget or staffing. By definition Patient Acuity MEANS Patient situation and level of care. And who should decide that but the nurse at the bedside. FINAL ANSWER.
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I am in Tallahassee right now. JUST finished a full day of lobbying our stat senators and reps. For the first time ever the bill allowing ARNP to prescribe and practice within the full scope of their training passed a committee and is on to the next phase of the process. The collective voice really can make a difference!
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