Nurse Practitioners of Oregon FP3

Letter from the chair – 2009

Highlights of Chairs Letter:

Oregon State Legislative Session will be drawing to a close soon. We had one bill introduced on behalf of NPO/ONA. This bill will ease some of the administrative headaches faced by those who currently have to personally dispense medications to your patients while anyone else in the office can do this nonjudgmental function for a physician’s patient.

There is also a lot of discussion regarding a bill attempting to get prescriptive authority for Psychologists. For more discussion on this bill go to Nurse Practitioners of Oregon’s Collective X website to engage your colleagues in debate.

There was a health care reform forum held in Oregon City on Saturday May 9th. Discussed was health care reform and universal coverage and even more importantly, universal access to a primary care system that can handle the needs of all Americans.Susan King RN MSN presented the need for inclusion of Nurse Practitioners and Clinical Nurse Specialists in the primary care home model of care delivery.

The Executive team of NPO plans to travel around the state to meet with local groups of NPs to talk about the activities of our professional organization.

Another new group has been started in the Portland Metro area thanks to the organizing efforts of Karen Reisinger FNP and Larlene Dunsmuir FNP. We have started a Journal Club and it will be topic focused. The next meeting will be June 15th at 7pm at South Tabor Family Medicine office. Contact Larlene at larlene.Dunsmuir@providence.org if you want more information.

Please contact Mariah Taylor at oprahsangel2000@msn.com. regarding your interest in NPO leadership. This year we will need a new secretary, nominating committee chair, and chair elect. Information about these positions has also been compiled and is available from tangedal@oregonrn.org

The annual educational conference in Eugene at the Valley River Inn on October 22-25, 2009. Reserve this time in your schedule!

Health InformationTechnology provision Stimulus fails to include APRN's

The HIT provisions in the Stimulus bill fails to include APRN's along with other providers in the Medicare portion of the bill.
(Click here to read more)

Join our NPO Groupsite powered by the CollectiveX platform for groups

This Groupsite will enable NP's to share, network and coordinate our efforts. All information provided through this platform is maintained for the use of NPO Groupsite members.
Please click the link below so you may quickly and easily participate in NPO Groupsite.

Signup is simple and takes less than a minute. Join our NPO Groupsite powered by the CollectiveX platform for groups. Go to http://www.collectivex.com Then chose Groupsite Directory at the top. Type in NPO to find our site.

All NP's Required to complete WCD material review to provide Workers Comp Care

Since October 2004 the State of Oregon Workers' Compensation law has required licensed nurse practitioners treating Oregon injured workers to certify they have reviewed informational materials provided by the Workers' Compensation Division (WCD). This requirement applies to all nurse practitioners treating Oregon injured workers, whether treating in lieu of an attending physician or under the supervision of an attending physician.

The required informational materials: Nurse Practitioners' Guide to Oregon On-the-Job Injuries and other relevant administrative rules, bulletins, and forms, can be reviewed at the following WCD web address:
http://www.cbs.state.or.us/external/wcd/rdrs/mru/nurse_pract.html

Licensed nurse practitioners must certify that they complied with this requirement by signing and then faxing the Nurse Practitioner Statement to the Workers' Compensation Division. The Nurse Practitioner Statement is also available at the web address above and a nurse practitioner's completed statement may be faxed to WCD, (503) 947-7725.

Upon receipt of the statement, the division assigns a number to the nurse practitioner, and that individual is an "authorized" nurse practitioner. If you have any questions, please contact Barbara Smith, (503) 947-7568, or send e-mail to Barbara.R.Smith@state.or.us.