UAMS Hosts Statewide Conference to Showcase Advances in Nursing Research

By Chris Carmody

Nurses and nursing students from across the state gathered April 5 on the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) campus for a conference that highlighted recent advances in research.

Organized by the UAMS College of Nursing and the UAMS Office of Continuing Education, the 2024 Arkansas Nursing Research Day conference focused on the theme of “Nurses as Active Drivers of Positive Change in Health Care.” The event featured a mix of podium and poster presentations from students and nursing professionals who are striving to improve health outcomes through research and evidence-based projects.

Janiece Taylor, Ph.D., RN, assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, served as guest speaker for the conference’s morning keynote session, giving a lecture on equity in pain management. She started her speech by asking attendees whether they had ever experienced pain, drawing a show of raised hands throughout the auditorium.

UAMS Hosts Statewide Conference to Showcase Advances in Nursing Research

Nicholas Odom, associate professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, delivers a guest lecture during the afternoon session of the Arkansas Nursing Research Day conference. Image by Bryan Clifton

AUDIO: Governor Hutchinson’s Weekly Address | Nurses Make A Difference

LITTLE ROCK – This is National Nurses Week in Arkansas, and today I’d like to talk about how the pandemic has highlighted the value of our nurses and about the laws the General Assembly passed this year that allow nurses to offer more services.

Over the past year, nurses have risked their health to care for COVID patients in hospitals, private homes, nursing homes, and prisons and jails.

Susie Marks, executive director of the Arkansas Nurses Association, says that many nurses, especially bedside nurses, have worked in settings they never thought they’d work in.

Some Arkansas nurses served in COVID hot spots in New York, Texas, and Louisiana. Nurses don’t run from danger, Ms. Marks said, they run towards it. Those who worked in other places returned to Arkansas with innovative solutions for patient care and to minimize risk to health care workers.

Registered nurses are the largest health care profession in the United States, and 60,000 of them work in Arkansas. The theme for this year’s National Nurses Week is “You Make a Difference,” a nod to the unparalleled care and service they have provided during the pandemic.

Professional nursing is an indispensable link in the care of hospitalized patients, and the demand for registered nurses is growing as Baby Boomers age, and as the quality of health care and medicine helps Americans live longer than ever.

The cost-effective safe and high-quality health care services that registered nurses provide will play an ever-more important role in our health care delivery system.

The General Assembly passed several laws this year that expand the services that nurses can offer. Act 569 allows Advance Practice Registered Nurses to serve as a primary care provider in the Medicaid Program without a physician agreement. This allows people who live in rural areas to see an advanced practice registered nurse for certain care and prescriptions rather than drive to a city.

Act 412 creates the Full Independent Practice Credentialing Committee, which can grant full practice authority to certified nurse practitioners.

Act 449 allows a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist to work in consultation with licensed physicians, dentists, and others who are licensed to order anesthesia.

And Act 607 grants full practice authority to Certified Nurse Midwives, which allows them to evaluate patients, diagnose medical conditions, and order diagnostic tests, and initiate and manage treatment and care plans.

These new laws expand access to medical care and allow nurses to work to their education level.

As we add nursing programs at the high school and community college level, and increase the ability of nurses to provide services, Arkansas is poised to increase the number of nurses. As we have seen during the pandemic, we can’t live without them. Nurses make all the difference. Thank you, nurses, for choosing this profession.

AUDIO: Governor Hutchinson’s Weekly Address | Licensing Law May Help Fill Gap in Workforce

LITTLE ROCK – For years, we have struggled to find enough teachers, nurses, and other licensed professionals to fill jobs in Arkansas, and today I’d like to talk about Act 746, a law that will help overcome that challenge by enlarging the field of employees. I signed it into law this week.

Senator Bart Hester, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, said that Arkansas has worked hard to find solutions to the shortage of professionals while a solution that could fill thousands of jobs was right in front of us.

Representative Clint Penzo co-sponsored the bill, which allows certification of a professional who is in Arkansas legally but isn’t a U.S. citizen.

The bill says that agencies that grant certificates or licenses for certain professions may certify or license a person who “fulfills the requirements to practice an occupation or profession in this state and … who holds [the] Federal Form … known popularly as a ‘work permit. … ’ ”

Under this new law, as many as five-thousand residents of Arkansas who were born in another country can work, which immediately enlarges the potential workforce for dozens of occupations from teacher to nurse to veterinarian to architect to civil engineer.

Mireya Reith, founder of Arkansas United, has worked on this and similar legislation for a decade. During past legislative sessions, we passed a law that allowed the certification of teachers and nurses who weren’t U.S. citizens. But that left out those that need a license. Legislators from both parties supported the bills enthusiastically for all other professions. So this year, the General Assembly passed what became known as Act 746, which covered a multitude of professions and was a big victory for the young people who are talented and ready to build their future in our great state.

The certification bill, combined with bills that allow qualified noncitizens to apply for the Governor’s Scholarships and instate tuition, opens up many paths for noncitizens and helps fill critical gaps in certain industries.

The laws have made the future brighter for Javier Luna, a senior at Central High who was born in Mexico City but has lived in Arkansas since he was four. He had recently learned that under the current laws, he could not get his engineering license in Arkansas. When he learned about this possibility of the new law, he volunteered to support it in the General Assembly. He testified before two committees, and he joined us at the capitol this week when I signed it into law.

This is a special Arkansas moment. The General Assembly passed Act 746 across party lines with unanimous support. All of Arkansas benefits.

Nurses Come Out of Retirement To Assist With COVID-19 Vaccinations

By ANTOINETTE GRAJEDA

As the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine continues across Arkansas, some nurses are coming out of retirement to help with the distribution. Nurses says it's been challenging because they don't have enough vaccines for all of the volunteers.

https://www.kuaf.com/post/nurses-come-out-retirement-assist-covid-19-vaccinations

STOCK IMAGE