Introducing National Nurse Team Member Terri Polick

As a child growing up in Iowa, Terri Polick learned the importance of neighbors helping neighbors. That’s why she supports the establishment of the Office of the National Nurse. Terri grew up in a family of nurses. She remembers the stories her family members told her about their nursing practice and how they helped people in their community; the nervous new mother who worried about her baby’s diaper rash, the woman down the road suffering from “the grip,” and the elderly man dying at home, surrounded by his family. Their stories about caring for others inspires Terri today. Every American deserves a nurse. When the Office of National Nurse becomes a reality, nurses from around the country will be given the opportunity to do what we do best—help their neighbors lead happier and healthier lives.

NATIONAL NURSE PROPONENT HONORED

National Nurse Proponent Teri Mills has been honored by being selected as a 2005 recipient of the Oregon Center for Nursing's Florence Nightingale Medallion. Ms. Mills, a respected and popular instructor of nursing at Portland Community College, was presented with the medallion during a faculty meeting.

She was further recognized at the college's Pinning Ceremony for the Nursing Class of 2005. At that ceremony, Teri was thanked publicly for bringing honor to the college and the profession of nursing, and for, in the words of Florence Nightingale herself, "distilling thoughts into actions that bring results."

Thank you, Teri, for your untiring efforts to inspire your students and to enhance and uplift the profession of nursing.

Rutland Herald Letter To The Editor

Hooray for these Vermont nurses!!!

Nurses don't ask for gifts

October 29, 2005
Many of you in the Rutland community may have recently received a letter from the chief nursing officer of Rutland Regional Medical Center, asking you for a donation to the "Honor a Rutland Regional Medical Center Nurse" program. The donations are reportedly being placed in a fund for nursing education and for upgrades in patient equipment. The letter encourages you — our patients and your families — to send a donation for this fund in honor of "our remarkable nurses at Rutland Regional Medical Center whose compassion and professionalism have impressed you and is worthy of recognition," as stated by the chief nursing officer of RRMC.

Let it be known that many nurses at RRMC apologize for this letter you received. We had no knowledge of the letter's existence; nor did we have knowledge of the stated fund's existence. Many of our colleagues, neighbors, and family members received these letters, and this is how the RRMC nurses learned that our patients were being asked for donations in our names.

We do not question the intentions of our chief nursing officer in sending you the letter you received. We know that her intentions were not to upset the RRMC nurses, and certainly not the community. However, we would like our patients and their families to know that we do not approve of asking you for monetary donations to show your gratitude for what we do. Had we known about these letters before they were sent out, we would have voiced our disapproval.

We would like you, our patients, to know that your kind words, your cards and letters, your smiles, and your thank-yous that you give to us, far exceed any monetary donations we would receive for showing us the recognition for a job well done. We, as nurses, strive to maintain our professionalism, and we feel that requesting donations from you is not acting in a professional manner. For those of you who already have sent a donation to this fund, we sincerely thank you. However, we want you to know that the nurses who cared for you were very aware of your gratitude before you even left the hospital, as we are for all of our patients.

Once again, we apologize for the letter you received in the mail. We do not condone asking you to fund our profession, our continuing education, or any other professional endeavor we may take on. We love being nurses, and we have a deep compassion for those we nurse. This is gratifying enough for us.

LAUREN OBERG, R.N.

Rutland

(Sixteen additional nurses also signed this letter.)

Support the National Nurse Campaign

Please consider purchasing a button, magnet, bumper sticker, mug, mouse pad, or poster for yourself or your favorite nurse when you begin your holiday shopping. You will be helping to spread the word about the National Nurse Campaign.

This merchandise is for sale at www.cafepress.com/nationalnurse

We will be introducing Terri Polick to you in our next post and also plan to let you know about some exciting support we received this past week.

Meet Members of the National Nurse Team

Team member Alisa Schneider
with Teri Mills in Washington, DC

Alisa Schneider, RN, MSN, CNE
Joining the Team
After living in beautiful Alexandria, Virginia the past five years I experienced a strong pull to return home to Oregon. My work in Virginia focused on improving the voice nurses have in influencing health care policy as so many times these decisions are made without the insight of a nurse. Because I believe the nurse's primary role is to advocate for people who cannot advocate for themselves or who do not have adequate information to make reasonable health decisions, it is imperative that nurses take an active leading role at the policy shaping table. Now, although leaving my work in Virginia was very difficult, immediately upon my return I was reminded that like tall pines, innovative ideas continue to grow in Oregon. I joined the National Nurse Team and now I find myself among the most energized team of nurses, educators, and supporters ever; and this energy is focused around influencing health policy with a practical idea for improving the health of the country-The Office of the National Nurse.

Health Care Costs are Illness Care Costs.
Too many Americans have to live without health care services due to rising costs, and there will be no quick or easy fix for this growing problem. Prevention of illness is going to be our best defense against the rising costs of health care. In order to focus the country on the value of preventive practices it must be made a priority for our government, health care providers, and the American public. The Office of the National Nurse would support that focus by providing access to education on health issues for all Americans. Nurses consistently rank higher in public trust than other health service providers, so information and clarification about preventive health practices would likely be better received from nurses than other providers.

Along with preventing illness is the need for this country to effectively respond to large scale emergency situations so those at risk do not become ill or injured from lack of adequate response. The Office of the National Nurse provides a system of providing credentialed nursing teams who work in their community, identify those community members at highest risk, and preplan for their needs in the event of an emergency. Imagine if we had only had these teams available in the Gulf region, many more lives would have been saved and many nurses who worked until they could no longer, would have had back up relief.

The Road to Prevention
The National Nurse Team has been working hard to get the message out about the need the Office would fill. It has been made easier by all the support from a growing grass-roots effort, but policy influencing requires many, many supporters sharing their voice. In order to help in this effort, I want to urge you first to take a walk every day, then take a minute out of your day and :
1-Write a personal letter of support to your Representative or Senator.
2. Call the nursing organizations you belong to and tell their leaders you support legislation for a National Nurse.
3. Encourage nursing organizations/groups/individuals to write their own letters of support to Rep. Lois Capps.
4. Write letters to the editor of your local newspapers and nursing journals you subscribe to.
5. Purchase buttons and bumper stickers at www.cafepress.com/nationalnurse
6. Donate color Xerox printing for the National Nurse informational packets-drop Teri an email if you can help with this.
7. Sign up to receive the National Nurse newsletter at www.nationalnurse.blogspot.com
8. Write Teri at teri@nationalnurse.info with your comments, suggestions, and ideas.

It would be my pleasure to hear your ideas or talk with you about the initiative!
Look for future postings of "Meet Members" for an introduction to team member Terri Polick!

Alisa Schneider with team member Terri Polick
in Washington, DC.

National Nurse Team Featured on Portland Community College's Website

Two members of the National Nurse Team, Alisa Schneider and Teri Mills are featured on the Portland Community College website- www.pcc.edu

Here's a short list of what the proposed legislation an Office of the National Nurse will accomplish:

1. Give public recognition to the work nurses do every day and help stem
the nursing shortage by attracting others to the profession.
2. Collaborate with members of the health care team to determine the
health care agenda for America.
3. Participate each week with an expert nurse to address the entire
nation, not just a targeted population, on ways to prevent disease and
promote health (for instance, how to have a healthy heart or strategies
to prevent diabetes).
4. Utilize the Internet to make the above information available in
multiple languages to reach our diverse population.
5. Encourage every nurse licensed in the U.S. (there are presently 2.7
million nurses) to volunteer to be a member of a National Nurse Team in
their own community.
6. Organize and promote four nationwide health education days per year
that will be coordinated and delivered by the National Nurse Teams in
every city and town across America.
7. Build an infrastructure of ready available nursing teams that could
assist during the time of a national disaster/epidemic.

Please add your name to the petition to create an Office of the National Nurse and sign up to receive our newsletter.

National Nurse Proposal Hits AFT National

AFT National met the National Nurse Team during its June visit to Washington D.C. We remain in contact with them as we continue to move our proposal for a National Nurse forward. This probably is difficult to read but if you would like to receive a copy, please drop Teri an email at teri@nationalnurse.info

Katrina’s First Responders Need Our Help

As many of you know, the nation demonstrated an outpouring of support and gratitude for our first responders and their families after 9/11. We should do no less for those who stayed behind and cared for our fellow Americans in their time of need. The sad truth is 50 percent of Biloxi’s firefighters, nurses, EMTS, and police lost their homes and remained separated from their families to help others, and the same is true for a shocking 80 percent in New Orleans.

Now it is our turn to help these inspirational and committed Americans.

Please write your tax deductible check payable to First Responders Relief Fund and mail it to First Responders Foundation 545 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10017

The National Nurse Team extends their appreciation to you and we will be writing another update on our own activities soon.