The State Board Of Nursing

Nursing is a health care practice that is more directed onto care of individuals by ensuring their recovery and quality assurance in health. Their scope of practice is differentiated by their approach methodologies. Nursing has diversified and in response to the rise of practice, prior education and training is now effected in many states in America. One of the states, Kentucky, has well-established schools, frontier schools, and colleges to facilitate the dependability of nursing practitioners. In conjunction to the status requirements of nursing and certification of the American nurses Association, the state of Kentucky has formed the Kentucky Board of Nursing, a Commonwealth agency of Kentucky. The board is a distinctive entity in the nursing profession whose objective is to protect the public's health welfare through the development and reinforcement of laws and regulations that govern safe health practice through nursing.

A profession can be defined as a “prestigious occupation with a high degree of identification among its member that requires a length and rigorous education in an intellectually demanding and theoretically based course of study; that engages in rigorous self-regulation and control; that holds authority over clients; and that puts service to society above simple self interest” (Schwirian, 1998, p. 6). Nursing is just that, and with its specific body of knowledge, standards, and codes of ethics, it is only fitting that it be self-regulated (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2012). The College of Nurses works with registered nurses, registered practical nurses, and nurse practioners to determine whether or not standards and best practices are met and that the public’s safety is protected.

Nursing practice is controlled by the individual, state’s Board of Nursing, which oversees and defines the nurses’ scope of practice; hence, ensures that nursing practice is guided by the nurse practice act of that state. Legislation also influences nursing practice, with technology facilitating new break-through in scientific research; the need for changes and or advances in healthcare are detrimental to new and improved regulations within the individual states or at a national level. Additionally, private and or public corporations also affect the practice of nursing in different ways; the policies and funding within these entities may limit the resources

As a nurse it has happened to be an essential need to be conscious of the legal aspects associated with caring and serving people in the health industry today. Unfortunately, only fewer people want to get into the health care field fearing the legal aspects and the predictable law suits. The Tort Law is one of the legal aspects of the law that most nurses is more familiar with. This is the law that involved misconduct and negligence cases, which many nurses take the time to study in depth. This is one of the most universal and well-known laws, something that nurses and doctors must be familiar with, to maintain their care resourcefully.

The Illinois State Board of Nursing is overseen by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR). To have an agency that ensures the safe practice of nursing by monitoring license compliance and to take action against those that practice unsafely, protects the safety of the public. Therefore, any person who deems a nurse’s behavior or action in violation of a law or rule can file a complaint.

enhance quality. Some of the nursing issues in health care reform are; access to care,

The number one priority of the Registered Nurse should be to provide holistic, patient-centred, safe and evidence based care to every patient. Patients who are admitted into hospital or seek healthcare services externally through clinics or the community usually expect to receive the safest and the highest quality of care possible from that facility. Registered Nurses have a major responsibility to ensure that this is achieved. To help guide nurses and other healthcare workers in the right direction, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia created and enforced the “Registered Nurse Standards for Practice”. These standards aim to assist healthcare practitioners in providing high quality and safe care to every client. The standards also aim to prevent any form of harm or negative consequence to the patient during and after their time in any healthcare facility. This paper will discuss the reportedly increasing issue of elder abuse, the responsibilities of the Registered Nurse and the associated Standards of Practice when faced with a patient or family that is experiencing this type of harm. The standards discussed in this paper will be Standards 2.5, 2.9 and 6.6.

The meeting I attended was the Arizona State Board of Nursing via livestream on September 17, 2015. This meeting is open to the public to attend or watch online livestream which is what I did. The members of attendance were: Board President Randy C. Quinn, RN, MSN, CRNA, Board Vice President Carolyn Jo McCormies, RN, MS, FNP-BC, Board Secretary Terri Berrigan, LPN, C-AL, and Board Members Lori A. Gutierrez, BS, RN-C, DON-CLTC, CBN, Jana Machesky, LPN, Kathryn L. Busby, J.D., Dr. Kimberly A. Post, DPN, MBA/HCM, RN, NEA-BC, M. Shawn Harrell, RN, MS, and lastly Melinda Pheanis Preston, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC. According to the Arizona Board of Nursing mission statement their organization protects and promotes the welfare of the public ensuring that each person holding a nursing license of the practice of nursing license or certificate is competent to practice safely (“Mission Statement,” n.d.). The purpose of these board meetings is to discuss any regulations that need investigating so they keep the nursing standards to protect the public. This involves bringing forth nurses to discuss any disciplinary actions that have been brought up against them or that needs further review.

The Arizona State Board of Nursing (AZBN) is an organization that protects the public by ensuring that all nurses holding a license or certificate are competent to practice safely. The board approves education programs and also regulates the practice of nursing (Arizona State Board of Nursing, 2012). The board holds a meeting almost every month to discuss issues and rule on present cases. The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss agenda items of the attended Arizona State Board of Nursing’s monthly professional meeting.

The Texas Nurses Association (TNA) District one meeting for the El Paso area, took place on September 20, 2016 at 1845. The President of District one, Paula Meagher was unable to attend the meeting as she was ill. She did however provide us with a list of the current Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) issues that TNA is engaged in. The issue that really caught my attention was Texas Occupations Code, section 157.011 (b-1) which deals with APRN restrictions on writing prescriptions for Schedule two controlled substances. The TNA website states:

Attending the meeting held by the Missouri State Board of Nursing located at the education center in Jefferson City, I was able to sit in on two hearings with my classmates. There would have been more but no one else had shown up. The first hearing I was able to sit in on was a disciplinary against the nursing license due to a failed drug screening. This was an older lady who couldn't remember what she had taken and didn't know why the test would come back positive. She had multiple no call, no shows along with showing up for work under the influence and smelled of alcohol. The Missouri State Board of Nursing suspended her license. My belief on this case is that the lady was lazy and guilty due to the way she presented herself to the Missouri State Board of Nursing.

Professionalism is a very important key in the nursing profession. It is what paints a good image for a business or, in this case, an organization, people will most likely choose the professional organization over the unprofessional, because with the nurses that are professional they have great quality in customer service. Examples being, nurses that are professional aren’t rude or disruptive, they handle business in a kindly manner, following directions and policies etc. Unprofessionalism in nursing practice continues to hinder the expansion of the field. There are many things that nurses do that are highly unprofessional at the workplace. A few major unprofessional mistakes nurses tend to do is, bullying, breaking HIPPA, and behavior. To me, these are the biggest mistakes that really pop out at me.

The American Nurses Association (ANA) is a full-service professional organization that symbolizes the interests of registered nurses through its constituent and state nurses associations. The ANA implements the nursing profession by raising high standards of nursing practice, honoring the rights of nurses in the work field, promoting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by pushing the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. Their mission statement is, “Nurses advancing our profession to improve health for all.” Some of ANA’s main focuses are reformation of the health care system so that it delivers primary health care in the communities, growing roles for

In the early 1980s it came to light that while the supply of nurses had reached a record high, only 80% of hospitals nationwide had adequate nurse staffing levels (American Nurse Credentialing Center, 2011, p. 8). To address this issue a taskforce was formed within the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). Through an initial study of 165 hospitals, the AAN determined the characteristics of healthcare organizations that were magnetically attracting and retaining nurses as employees (American Nurse Credentialing Center, p. 9). In this study the AAN found “Forces of Magnetism” that contributed to the high level of job satisfaction amongst nurses, superior quality of care, low job turnover, and high level of nurse involvement in leadership, decision-making, and research. In the early 1990s, catapulted by the findings of this initial study, the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) developed the Magnet Recognition Program. The intention of the ANCC’s Magnet Recognition Program was threefold: To reward hospitals that demonstrated “excellence in the delivery of nursing services to patients;” to encourage quality in the nursing work environment to support practicing professional nurses; and to guide navigation for the dissemination of evidenced-based clinical nursing practice (American Nurse Credentialing Center, 2011, p. 14).

Advisory groups, also, play an important role in the regulation of safe patient care (OBN, 2016a). Continuing Education, Dialysis, and Nursing Education are the three advisory groups that report to the Ohio Board of Nursing (OBN, 2016a). The first Advisory group, Continuing Education, oversees the processes of the OBN Nursing Approvers, examines modifications made to the Nurse Practice Act and addresses problems associated with ongoing education (OBN, 2016a). These members include continuing education approvers, providers, and members at the state and national level (OBN, 2016a).