After contacting Delegates Donald W Merricks and Daniel W Marshall we received a response from Delegate Merricks. He responded by email explaining his personal involvement in the development of the bill.
"Thank you for your email and your interest in HB253. For your information, this bill was carried over to the next session in order for me to meet with the nursing professionals and come up with a plan to incorporate the corpsman program into our nursing licensure program. The bill incorrectly stated that a corpsman could achieve RN status by completing the exam. The intent of the bill was only for licensed practical nursing. The reason behind the bill came from my legislative assistant whose sister passed away last year having fought a brave battle with breast cancer. The hospital where she was admitted had numerous "foreign" nurses assisting her and one individual who was most helpful was a corpsman but could only change her bed pan and change the sheets on her bed. Corpsman go through extensive training and work in field hospitals handling nursing duties and more. With a shortage of nurses and the future looking like a shortage will continue, it seemed reasonable to develop a program that would give credit for the corpsman training. In addition, we have several military bases in Virginia and this type program would hopefully keep good people here in Virginia. West Virginia and California have programs such as this now. While I do not wish to take away from the education portion of nursing, I do want to somehow give credit for the training a corpsman receives.
Thanks again for your interest and I hope this clears up any issues you may have."
Merrick identified a mistake in the bill that was brought to our attention involving the licensure of medical corpsmen to RN. This should be corrected to state that medical corpsmen will only be able to obtain LPN licensure. If these amendments are made to House Bill 253, we will then be in support of it.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Developments and Stakeholders
Daniel W Marshall is a stakeholder that we decided to contact because he is a co-patron of the bill. Donald W Merricks is also a co-patron to Virginia House Bill 253 that we contacted. Both delegates were contacted by email. These delegates are key stakeholders because they directly influence whether the bill will be passed or not. We are taken back by the fact that neither delegate has a military or medical background. Three of the group members contacted each delegate and included a link to the blog and asked questions inquiring why they are in favor of the bill.
Since January 11, 2010 the bill has not had any changes. It has been prefiled and order printed, and no developments have occurred. On March 14, 2010, the bill gained attention as the subject was introduced on National Public Radio.
Since January 11, 2010 the bill has not had any changes. It has been prefiled and order printed, and no developments have occurred. On March 14, 2010, the bill gained attention as the subject was introduced on National Public Radio.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Position and Action Plan
Position:
As students enrolled in a baccalaureate nursing program, we do not support Virginia House Bill 253. We believe that nursing requires a certain level of education, which medical corpsmen do not receive as part of their training. According to corpsmen.com, medical corpsmen receive training equivalent to the civilian level of an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). The skill base of an EMT consists of things like performing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), responding to acute medical emergencies, transportation to an acute facility, and other basic life supporting techniques. These skills are not equivalent to those of a registered nurse (RN). RN’s are focused on providing holistic care while corpsmen’s education remains skill-based.
Evidenced based research submitted to Texas A&M University by Antiona Scialdo reveals, “higher pass rates for a private first class and specialist, as compared to lower pass rates of corporals and sergeants. Additionally, soldier students in the study who had completed at least one college unit (had attended college), had a 92% pass rate as compared to those who had not completed any additional education or college after high school (75.0%).” This suggests that having a college education is imperative to successfully completing the NCLEX on the first attempt.
We believe medical corpsmen lack education in understanding the nursing process, which is vital to the everyday practice of an RN. Limited knowledge of pharmacology and pathophysiology of acute and chronic diseases may also be a concern. The ability to evaluate evidence based practice and research may enhance the RNs ability to implement best-practice based on most recent literature and the highest standards of care. Medical corpsmen may also lack experience in teaching primary prevention techniques vital to a healthy community.
According to Halloran, “Florence Nightingale described military men as the worst nurses in 1863.” Today, we recognize many positive qualities which corpsmen can bring to a hospital setting; however, having a formal nursing education would greatly add to their expertise and would be imperative to their nursing practice. After serving, corpsmen would be eligible to enroll into an accredited nursing program with guaranteed acceptance into pre-determined schools. As an incentive for programs to accept corpsmen, schools could receive government tax breaks for reserving a specific amount of seats for them.
Action Plan:
-We will contact key stakeholders and legislators in order to inform them of the potential consequences of passing VA HB 253.
-Once we have gotten in touch with key stakeholders and legislators, we will suggest amending this bill to include guaranteed acceptance of corpsman into a nursing program.
-We will contact additional nursing organizations such as American Nurses Association with the goal of inviting additional lobbyist groups to support our position.
Stakeholders:
As mentioned in a previous post, there are several groups that will be impacted by this bill.
They include:
-Current and future nurses
-Military corpsmen
-Hospitals
-Community/Patients
-Accredited nursing programs
-Health care professionals
-Future military recruits
-National board of nursing
-Legislators (pictures and names posted)
As an exaggerated example of our position, we have provided a Grey's Anatomy video clip demonstrating the impulsive characteristics that a military trained health care professional can have.
For those who are unfamiliar with the curriculum of an Associate or Baccalaureate program, we have provided information in the post below.
As students enrolled in a baccalaureate nursing program, we do not support Virginia House Bill 253. We believe that nursing requires a certain level of education, which medical corpsmen do not receive as part of their training. According to corpsmen.com, medical corpsmen receive training equivalent to the civilian level of an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). The skill base of an EMT consists of things like performing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), responding to acute medical emergencies, transportation to an acute facility, and other basic life supporting techniques. These skills are not equivalent to those of a registered nurse (RN). RN’s are focused on providing holistic care while corpsmen’s education remains skill-based.
Evidenced based research submitted to Texas A&M University by Antiona Scialdo reveals, “higher pass rates for a private first class and specialist, as compared to lower pass rates of corporals and sergeants. Additionally, soldier students in the study who had completed at least one college unit (had attended college), had a 92% pass rate as compared to those who had not completed any additional education or college after high school (75.0%).” This suggests that having a college education is imperative to successfully completing the NCLEX on the first attempt.
We believe medical corpsmen lack education in understanding the nursing process, which is vital to the everyday practice of an RN. Limited knowledge of pharmacology and pathophysiology of acute and chronic diseases may also be a concern. The ability to evaluate evidence based practice and research may enhance the RNs ability to implement best-practice based on most recent literature and the highest standards of care. Medical corpsmen may also lack experience in teaching primary prevention techniques vital to a healthy community.
According to Halloran, “Florence Nightingale described military men as the worst nurses in 1863.” Today, we recognize many positive qualities which corpsmen can bring to a hospital setting; however, having a formal nursing education would greatly add to their expertise and would be imperative to their nursing practice. After serving, corpsmen would be eligible to enroll into an accredited nursing program with guaranteed acceptance into pre-determined schools. As an incentive for programs to accept corpsmen, schools could receive government tax breaks for reserving a specific amount of seats for them.
Action Plan:
-We will contact key stakeholders and legislators in order to inform them of the potential consequences of passing VA HB 253.
-Once we have gotten in touch with key stakeholders and legislators, we will suggest amending this bill to include guaranteed acceptance of corpsman into a nursing program.
-We will contact additional nursing organizations such as American Nurses Association with the goal of inviting additional lobbyist groups to support our position.
Stakeholders:
As mentioned in a previous post, there are several groups that will be impacted by this bill.
They include:
-Current and future nurses
-Military corpsmen
-Hospitals
-Community/Patients
-Accredited nursing programs
-Health care professionals
-Future military recruits
-National board of nursing
-Legislators (pictures and names posted)
As an exaggerated example of our position, we have provided a Grey's Anatomy video clip demonstrating the impulsive characteristics that a military trained health care professional can have.
For those who are unfamiliar with the curriculum of an Associate or Baccalaureate program, we have provided information in the post below.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Associates Degree v. Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing
A baccalaureate degree program at a public university, such as James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, requires 120 credit hours of nursing courses as well as general education (GE) courses to supplement a degree with the title “Bachelor of Science in Nursing.” GE courses required for all majors include things like writing, communication, government, history, and literature. In addition to those GE courses, a nursing major is required to take GE courses totaling 27 credit hours and specific to processes of chemistry, statistics, human anatomy, physiology, microbiology, nutrition, and psychology of human development. Once GE courses are complete, a nursing curriculum totaling 61 credit hours must be completed. Classroom requirements focusing on fundamentals of nursing, portfolio development, evidence based practice, skills lab, mental health nursing, adult health disease pathophysiology and pharmacology, gerontology, women’s health nursing, and community health promotion total 40 of the 61 credit hours strictly designed for nursing majors. The remaining 21 credits consist of clinical requirements focusing on mental health nursing, medical surgical nursing, gerontology, pediatric nursing, community health nursing, and women’s health nursing. Students completing all of the courses in these various areas of nursing ensure for a well rounded RN upon graduation. When placed in the work force, these nurses will be able to demonstrate a holistic approach to nursing care.
Based on Northern Virginia Community College’s curriculum, admission to an Associates Degree nursing program requires a few pre-requisites. These include: attending a nursing information session, having a high school diploma or GED, completing one unit of high school level algebra and two units of science, (for example 1 biology unit and 1 chemistry unit, with a “C”), the student must qualify for English College Composition and Mathematics for Allied Health, the student must take the National League of Nursing Pre-Admission Examination and receive a score at the 50th percentile in verbal abilities, mathematics, and science, must have a minimum 2.5 curricular GPA, and submit a portfolio of various documents to the nursing department .
Once accepted, the two-year program consists of certain classes and a total of 69 credits to graduate, much less than the 120 credits needed to graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree. In the first year, students must take and pass with a C or better, Human Pathogenic Concepts in Health, combined Anatomy and Physiology, and Introduction to Psychology. Other classes taken during the first year include: Orientation to Health Care I, Introduction to Medical Terminology, Nursing I, Community-Based Nursing in a Multicultural Environment, General Pharmacology, Essentials of Maternal/Newborn Nursing, Psychiatric Nursing . This first year comes out to be 42 credit hours.
The second year of the program consists of Intercultural Communication, Humanities/Fine Arts Elective, Second Level Nursing Principles & Concepts I, Second Level Nursing Principles & Concepts II, Nursing Dimensions, and Nursing Organization & Management. This comes out to be a total of 27 credits and a combined total of 69 credits to graduate. This Associate program is based on learning nursing fundamentals, skills, and nursing care, while a Bachelor’s degree also has classes teaching evidence based research, and leadership skills. Many of the nursing classes and prerequisite classes are only 2 credits, while the same classes offered at 4-year program are 3 or 4 credits. It is safe to say that at a four-year program, classes are going more into depth on the topics taught in class.
Based on Northern Virginia Community College’s curriculum, admission to an Associates Degree nursing program requires a few pre-requisites. These include: attending a nursing information session, having a high school diploma or GED, completing one unit of high school level algebra and two units of science, (for example 1 biology unit and 1 chemistry unit, with a “C”), the student must qualify for English College Composition and Mathematics for Allied Health, the student must take the National League of Nursing Pre-Admission Examination and receive a score at the 50th percentile in verbal abilities, mathematics, and science, must have a minimum 2.5 curricular GPA, and submit a portfolio of various documents to the nursing department .
Once accepted, the two-year program consists of certain classes and a total of 69 credits to graduate, much less than the 120 credits needed to graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree. In the first year, students must take and pass with a C or better, Human Pathogenic Concepts in Health, combined Anatomy and Physiology, and Introduction to Psychology. Other classes taken during the first year include: Orientation to Health Care I, Introduction to Medical Terminology, Nursing I, Community-Based Nursing in a Multicultural Environment, General Pharmacology, Essentials of Maternal/Newborn Nursing, Psychiatric Nursing . This first year comes out to be 42 credit hours.
The second year of the program consists of Intercultural Communication, Humanities/Fine Arts Elective, Second Level Nursing Principles & Concepts I, Second Level Nursing Principles & Concepts II, Nursing Dimensions, and Nursing Organization & Management. This comes out to be a total of 27 credits and a combined total of 69 credits to graduate. This Associate program is based on learning nursing fundamentals, skills, and nursing care, while a Bachelor’s degree also has classes teaching evidence based research, and leadership skills. Many of the nursing classes and prerequisite classes are only 2 credits, while the same classes offered at 4-year program are 3 or 4 credits. It is safe to say that at a four-year program, classes are going more into depth on the topics taught in class.
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