Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/322740
4 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G A P R I L | M AY 2 0 1 4 NEWS BRIEFS MICHIGAN I t was disturbing footage, but the teacher's point hit home. As part of her class for nurses and nursing students attending the Michigan Nurses Associ- ation MARCH! events, National Nurs- es United educator Heidi Hoechst played a video of patients in beds on a conveyor belt as part of a healthcare assembly line. The video spurred discussion of how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act claims to encourage hospitals to focus on quality and affordable care, but many institutions are interpreting the law as license to concen- trate on efficiency and profit at the expense of their patients. The Michigan Nurses MARCH! event, held on March 20 in Lansing, gave hundreds of nurses and nursing students an opportunity to learn more about how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act affects safe patient care and nursing prac- tice, both statewide and nationally. The class underscored the need for MNA's campaign to pass Safe Patient Care legislation, which requires hospitals to implement minimum RN-to-patient staffing ratios. Gubernatorial candidate Mark Schauer, a special guest, opened the day with a thank you to the nurses for always putting their patients first and promised to fight for safe staffing. Schauer has been a longtime friend of nursing in Michigan and was the recipi- ent of the first MNA Friend of Nursing award in 2000. In addition to the morning education sessions, MNA legislative liaisons Kelly Brunk, RN, from the Professional Employees Council of Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, and LaShon Hart, RN, from the University of Michigan Professional Nurse Council in Ann Arbor, role-played a legislative visit with Sen. Steve Bieda and Sen. Rebekah Warren. Warren is one of the cosponsors of the state's Safe Patient Care legislation, H.B. 4311 and S.B. 228. MNA members will use the knowl- edge gained through the role-plays in upcom- ing "lobby days" at the Michigan state Capitol. Workplace violence and Safe Patient Care legislation were also the topics of a Jeopardy-style game that pitted a "hospital CEO," a "patient," and a nurse against one another to answer questions. Each attendee was reminded of the importance of reaching out to their coworkers with information that they learned through the activity. The nurses in attendance all gained new perspectives on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. "It definitely taught me both the pros and the cons of the PPACA," said Brunk. Edward McTaggart, an RN from Univer- sity of Michigan Hospital, said he would share what he learned with colleagues. "I will use my [new] knowledge of ways in which technology is being used to deskill and degrade quality of care to educate coworkers," he said. The Michigan Nurses MARCH! event reminded and educated nurses and other healthcare professionals that safe staffing and patient advocacy must continue to be the top priority. Christine Winne, RN, from McLaren Lapeer Region summed it up nicely—"Patient safety comes first." —Ann Sincox Michigan RNs educate in order to agitate