Contacting Key Stakeholders

This week, we chose to contact the key stakeholders for the National Nurse Act 2011. Listed below is a list of who we contacted and why we chose to contact these representatives.

Rep. Robert Goodlatte (R-VA6): Rep. Goodlatte serves as representative for the Shenandoah Valley. His assistance is essential to gaining support locally. Once the National Nurse Act 2011 gains support locally, then it is attainable to gain more support outside of our community. In addition, gaining support in the Shenandoah valley would mean gaining the support of many educated individuals in the local colleges and universities. These supporters would provide invaluable assistance in gaining support for the National Nurse Act 2011.

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA9): Representative Griffith is a key stakeholder because he serves on the House Committee of Energy and Commerce, which is currently considering the National Nurse Act. As a member of the committee, his support would be critical. If the House passes the National Nurse Act, then it will move to the Senate and be one step closer to being passed.

Frederick Upton is considered a key stakeholder because the House Committee of Energy and Commerce, of which Rep. Upton is the Chair, is currently considering the National Nurse Act of 2011. Many bills do not even get to get to this point in the legislative process while many others are halted at this point and do not get any farther. It is up to the congressional committee to report the bill favorably or unfavorably to the Senate or House as a whole, then allowing it to receive consideration by the full body to move forward. By gaining the support of Rep. Upton, it could increase the chances of the act to be reported by the committee and then to move on to the House, Senate, and hopefully to be signed by the President.

Senator Mark Warner and Senator Jim Webb were contacted because they currently serve as the representatives for Virginia. Both senators offer contact forms for their constituents to contact them regarding legislation that they are concerned about. With our work on following the progress of H.R. 1119, the National Nurse Act, we considered our local representatives as key stakeholders. We are a group of students representing the activism of nurses and students from their area and it would be great to work in garnering their support or opinion on the National Nurse Act as it progresses through committees.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA30): Representative Waxman is the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which is the committee that HR 1119 has been referred to. He has also demonstrated a substantial voting record that supports both nurses and patients. He co-sponsored HR 4903, the National Nurse Act of 2006, but unfortunately the bill never made it out of the committee. Representative Waxman sympathizes with the need for a National Nurse, having stated that “[Nursing] deserves an office in the department to promote better public health”.

Political Action Plan and Key Stakeholders

We support the National Nurse Act of 2011 (H.R. 1119) This position elevates the current CNO position and establishes it as a full time role rather than part time. This would provide authority for the NN to work directly with the public in promotion of the act’s established objective on health promotion and disease prevention. These two objectives have the potential to play a key role in future healthcare changes in America, because with current trends seven out of every ten Americans will die of a chronic disease (Kung, Hoyert, Xu, Murphy: 2005).  Many chronic diseases are preventable, and there are four main modifiable risk factors that contribute to a significant portion of chronic diseases in America; poor nutritional and physical activity status, tobacco use, and excessive alcohol consumption (The CDC).  Chronic disease rates are not this high because of a lack of knowledge about the etiology of them by health researchers, but we believe rather because of a lack of education by the public about these very basic risk factors.  The National Nurse would promote health literacy and education, an obvious need for our Nation.  These chronic diseases not only put an emotional and physical strain on those affected, but a financial one on both them and the United States healthcare system as a whole.  Every year the US spends approximately 83% of its healthcare budget on chronic diseases.  This comes out to over $1.16 trillion per year (Partnership… 2004). More than just disease prevention, however, the National Nurse would be in a position to increase the roles of advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNPs) in the healthcare system.  Obama’s Affordable Care Act aims to increase the number of ARNPs in practice as primary care providers over the next five years.  As it stands, many states don’t allow ARNPs to practice to the full extent of their training, which puts a burden on the workload of physicians and decreases the number of patients that are able to be treated overall.  The National Nurse would be able to be the representation that nurses everywhere need to catalyze the changes that are necessary to have more ARNP primary care providers.

Political Action Plan:

Objective: Increase awareness of the National Nurse Act of 2011 and the need for a national nurse; work at local level to promote awareness

Tasks/Actions:

-          Set up interest forum to start small, local support group

-          Work with other healthcare groups within the community that share similar legislative views (NSA, etc.)

-          Talk to political organizations within the community to promote awareness of the bill

-          Contact local representative to voice awareness of the bill

-          Expand networking to include other university organizations of interest within the state (UVA, VCU, GMU, etc.)

Key Stakeholders:

-          Rep. Frederick Upton (R-MI6): Chairman of House Energy and Commerce Committee, committee that the bill was introduced to. His support can provide direct influence on the passing of the bill.

-          Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA16): Chairman of Subcommittee on Health, subcommittee that the bill was referred to. His support can provide direct influence on the passing of the bill.

-          Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA9): Virginia representative that is on the committee (Energy and Commerce). His support can provide direct influence on the passing of the bill.

-          Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA30): Ranking member of the committee (Energy and Commerce) His support can provide influence of the bill within his party.

-          Rep. Robert Goodlatte (R-VA6): Shenandoah Valley’s (JMU’s) representative. His support can increase awareness of the bill within our district and help voice our opinion within the legislature.

-          Sen. Mark Warner (D): His support can increase awareness of the bill within the state as well as the Senate.

-          Sen. Jim Webb (D): His support can increase awareness of the bill within the state as well as the Senate.

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Kung HC, Hoyert DL, Xu JQ, Murphy SL. Deaths: final data for 2005. National Vital Statistics Reports 2008;56(10).

The Center for Disease Control. (2011) Chronic Disease and Health Promotion. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/overview/index.htm

Partnership for Solutions, Chronic Conditions: Making the Case for Ongoing Care. September 2004 Update.

Governmental Objectives, Political Influences & Potential Impact of H.R. 1119

"Nurses play a vital role in the well-being of our country and their contributions should be recognized accordingly … It is important that we create a National Nurse for Public Health to better organize our efforts to combat the many pressing health issues we face today."

Former Rep. Anthony Weiner

The National Nurse has the potential to emerge as a representative of nursing as a whole with the capability to enhance health literacy, promote health awareness and ultimately slow the growth of preventable diseases. The governmental objectives in proposing this bill are reflected in this role because of the overall potential to reduce healthcare costs all while establishing a healthier America. The position of the Chief Nurse Officer is already established as a spokesperson within the government; however, at this time the National Nurse Act of 2011 (H.R. 1119) is focusing on increasing the visibility and influence by endorsing a full-time dedication to health promotion and disease prevention (The National Nursing Network Organization Team, 2011).

The National Nursing Network Organization (NNNO) focuses on promoting and establishing support for a National Nurse for Public Health. NNNO is a non-partisan organization that is receptive to support from any organization that values health promotion and disease prevention. This being said, support has come from some partisan supporters (The National Nursing Network Organization Team, 2011). Political influences, such as the representatives who have put their name on this bill as well as officials in the office of the Surgeon General have stated that they see the need for the transition of the Chief Nurse Officer to the National Nurse. The majority of representatives identify as Democrats. The legislative trends of this party focus on establishing stability and quality of healthcare for all Americans despite preexisting conditions. A push to establish a spokesperson for healthy lifestyles and preventative measures will aid in lowering costs and instituting a system that aims for fundamental health rather than treatment of the sick.

The impact that H.R. 1119 could have on nursing is tremendous in it’s ability to provide for a greater understanding an appreciation for nurses as a whole. By establishing the position of the National Nurse as an equal to the Surgeon General, the public recognition of the nursing role as an advocate for health promotion of patients and community would be improved (Mills & Schneider, 2007). . The National Nurse would serve as an icon within the community of nurses as well, influencing them to volunteerism and instating a common goal of health promotion, thus creating a strong nursing identity. If the National Nurse and a cohesive nursing front work towards a unified voice for health promotion their image in the media, public and private sector would be understood and appreciated for its importance in healthcare as a whole (Mills & Schneider, 2007). H.R. 1119 also improves the potential for better healthcare for clients; by the model of nurses interacting with healthy clients rather than sick patients the spending on healthcare would decrease as a result of less need for treatment of preventable disease (The National Nursing Network Organization Team, 2011). Ultimately, the National Nurse Act has the potential to establish a spokesperson for healthcare who will make people more health literate and aware of disease prevention and proportionately decrease the financial demand on the healthcare system.

For More Information:

The National Nursing Network Organization Team. (2011, September 22). Frequently asked questions -hr 1119, the national nurse act of 2011 . Retrieved from http://nationalnurse.org/faq.pdf

The National Nursing Network Organization Team. (2011, September 26). Preventable conditions lead to decline in us life expectancy [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.nationalnurse.blogspot.com/

Mills, T., & Schneider, A. (2007). The office of the national nurse : leadership for a new era of prevention. Policy, Politics & Nursing Practice, 8(64), 64-70. DOI: 10.1177/1527154407299589