Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/447665
News | Briefs 4 J U N E 2 0 0 5 C A L I F O R N I A N U R S E C all or write your representatives today to show your support for the following CNA-sponsored bills. Visit www.assembly.ca.gov and www.senate.ca.gov to find your legisla- tors. This information is current as of press time, but for the latest, please visit www.calnurses.org. NURSING E DUCATION E X PANSION, AB 232 Carried by Assembly Members Juan Aram- bula (Fresno) and Jerome Horton (Ingle- wood); This bill appropriates $45 million for workforce expansion of much-needed registered nurse educa- tion slots at community colleges. It also standardizes prerequisite admission criteria for all public registered nurse prelicensure programs in California to streamline the process for the devel- opment of nursing faculty. The money will be funded through local Workforce Investment Boards and will produce 3,000 slots for a two-year RN program. This bill is currently pending in the Assembly Appropriations suspense file because of its cost to the State. We are working with the authors on funding sources. LIF T TE AMS AND E QUIPME NT, SB 363 Carried by Senate Pro Tem Don Perata (East Bay); The bill requires all general acute care hospitals (GACHs), except rural ones, to implement "zero lift" policies on all shifts and provide lift teams, lifting equip- ment, and training to healthcare workers in order to avoid serious injuries. According to the Alpha Fund, the insurer of California's district hospitals and a supporter of the bill, patient repositioning is the top cause of disability-generating injuries, which cost the district hospi- tals over $1 million a month. The Uni- versity of California and the California Hospital Association are in opposition. This bill went to the governor last year with 6,000 letters from registered nurs- es in support, but was vetoed per the request of the CHA and the UC. HOSPITAL CLOSURE RE PORTS, SB 499 Carried by Senator Richard Alarcón (San Fernando Valley); SB 499 will require a hospital, prior to issuing notice to the Department of Health Services of a planned elimination of emer- gency medical services or closure of the hospi- tal, to prepare a public health and safety report. The report will disclose the state of their finances, provide more in-depth data on the effect a downgrade or closure will have on the community, and inform the com- munity if the hospital has received a purchase offer from another hospital operator. This will allow the commu- nity to more accurately assess the rea- sons for a proposed downgrade or closure. CNA is also pursuing $4 million funding through the budget process for a CNA-sponsored bill from last year, SB 1245 (Kuehl). Once funded and imple- mented, this law will prepare a new pool of qualified candidates for nursing faculty by expanding the innovative Entry Level Master's (ELM) Program that has been successfully implement- ed at San Francisco State University, which—through the collection of stu- dent fees for the pre-licensure sequence—covers nearly half the cost of the program. SB 1245 provides an incentive to establish ELM programs at four CSUs by funding up to half of the remaining cost to the university for up to 20 students. << ONE TO OPPOSE >> SE ISMIC RE TROF IT DE LAY, SB 16 Carried by Senator Jackie Speier (San Fran- cisco/San Mateo) and sponsored by the California Hospital Association (CHA); This bill would exempt any hospital subject Arrowhead Per Diems Join CNA In late April, 400 per diem RNs with Arrowhead Regional Medical Center and San Bernardino County Public Health Clinics voted to join in CNA representa- tion for the first time with about 750 of their RN col- leagues at those facilities. Regular full-time and part-time RNs there had voted last year to switch from the San Bernardino Public Employees Association to CNA, but per diems had historically been left out of the bargaining unit entirely. CNA lobbied the county board of supervisors to create a new per diem RN unit. Because per diem RNs work alongside and essentially do the same work as regular RNs for the county, they also wanted a say in patient care and compensation issues. "We wanted 100 percent of the RNs to be united in CNA, and finally we will be able to do it," said Donna Trepasso, an Arrowhead per diem RN. —Staff Report 2005 Legislative Update