Category: Health Care

A Divided Senate Confirms Cabinet Nominees

  

Earlier this week, we recapped the flurry of confirmation activity we expected during the week of February 6th-10th.  Congress barnstormed through a series of contentious confirmation votes.

On Tuesday, the Secretary of Education nominee, Betsy DeVos, was confirmed by a slim 51-50 vote in the Senate with Vice President Pence casting the tie breaking vote. The following day, Senator Sessions was confirmed almost entirely along party lines with a 52-47 vote to have him lead the Justice Department as Attorney General. In a procedural move, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell prevented Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) from reading a letter opposing Sessions’ nomination for a federal judgeship written by civil rights icon Coretta Scott King to the U.S. Senate back in 1986; McConnell invoked Rule 19 of the Senate Rules. The rule, which states that ‘No senator in debate shall, directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another Senator,’ is rarely invoked and thus drew widespread criticism. Unsurprisingly, the procedural silencing only drew wider attention to the now famous letter.

On Wednesday, the President’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, told Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) that he found the President’s comments on the judiciary both “demoralizing” and “disheartening.” Senate Democrats, however, continue to cast doubt over Gorsuch’s ability to be an independent judicial check on the President’s authority.

Congressman Tom Price (R-GA), on Friday, was confirmed by a vote of 52-47 to become Secretary of Health and Human Services. Following extensive debates over ethics and Price’s investments in healthcare companies he had jurisdiction over as a member of Congress, Republicans called the early morning roll-call vote at about 2:00 AM. He was sworn in later that morning by Vice President Mike Pence.

Lastly, the ninth circuit federal court of appeals unanimously ruled to uphold a lower court’s ruling blocking President Trump’s travel ban from seven majority-Muslim countries. The lawsuit was filed by the Washington state Attorney General, and is a significant setback for a Presidency that’s only three weeks old.

Nurse Workforce Legislation Introduced in House

  

Yesterday, Congressman David Joyce (R-OH), joined by a bipartisan group of colleagues, including Reps. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Patrick Meehan (R-PA), and Kathy Castor (D-FL), introduced the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2017, (H.R.959).

joyce

Since the start of the 115th Congress, ANA has been working with key champions in the House to re-introduce the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act, legislation that incentivizes nurses practicing in rural and medically underserved communities, and supports advanced nursing education, diversity grants, National Nurse Service Corp, nurse faculty loan forgiveness, and geriatric education.

ANA is currently working with its Senate champions to introduce companion legislation in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we’ll be busy gathering cosponsors and pushing to advance the bill.

Last year we successfully passed the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act in the House but ran out of time in the Senate.

Help us push these critical programs over the finish line by contacting your Members of Congress.

Nursing Code of Ethics Stands with Human Rights and So Do I

  

I am writing today to express support for all of the nurses who advocate for the rights of all human beings.  I am Liz Stokes, a Senior Policy Advisor for the ANA Center for Ethics and Human Rights, and have been a nurse for many years.  I spend each day informing, elevating, and advancing nursing ethics and human rights.  I stand with nurses in the fight for human rights with two things in my arsenal: (1) my stethoscope (because nurses do wear stethoscopes) and (2) the Code of Ethics for Nurses with Interpretive Statements (the Code).   When I became a nurse, I took an oath to commit to the tenets of the profession, including the Code.   “Nurses must always stress human rights protection with particular attention to preserving the human rights of vulnerable groups such as the poor, the homeless, the elderly, the mentally ill, prisoners, refugees, women, children, and socially stigmatized groups.” Interpretive Statement 8.4

What this blog is not:

  • A post about my political affiliation
  • My personal perspective on religious affiliation

This post is a reminder to my fellow nurses that we have an ethical obligation not only to stress human rights protection, but also to care for all.  We do not get to choose who we care for.  The word “patient” does not include identifying factors such as race, ethnicity, status, economic worth, criminal history, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, immigration status, physical appearance, spiritual belief, disability, mental health, culture, or any other measure.  When a patient is in need, we answer the call of duty that we all were trained for.  We do so with compassion and respect and without bias or discrimination (intentional or unintentional).  This means that we have to be aware of our own biases in order to overcome them.  Take this opportunity to self-reflect.  What are your implicit biases? Take this moment to refresh yourselves with the Code that binds us and affirms, “A fundamental principle that underlies all nursing practice is respect for the inherent dignity, worth, unique attributes, and human rights of all individuals.” Interpretive Statement 1.1

Our profession is incredible.  We are the most trusted profession.  The power and influence we have on our patients, communities, and the world is profound.  Even when our personal perspectives vary- and they undoubtedly will- we must live up to our ethical obligations and be unified in our fight for equality in the treatment of all patients and zealous protection of human rights.

Over the last few weeks, many nurses across the world have expressed fear, uncertainty, sorrow, anger, and powerlessness on behalf of their patients and themselves.  Journaling, blogging, and other forms of written expression can be effective and therapeutic methods of dealing with intense emotions.  Please feel free to comment below and share your stories of advocacy and protection of our primary commitment- our patients.