ADVOCACY ENA Advocacy Intensive Continued from page 17 Attendees were able to share important issues affecting their profession and emergency departments during the interactive ‘‘What’s Happening in Your State?’’ session. The event ended with informative sessions led by guest speakers Hershaw Davis, Jr., MSN, RN, the ENA Government Affairs Committee chairperson; Rita Anderson, RN, CEN, FAEN, ENA Government Affairs Committee; Lisa Wolf, PhD, RN, CEN, FAEN, ENA Institute for Emergency Nursing Research director; Elisabeth Weber, MA, RN, CEN, ENA Government Affairs Committee; Kathleen Conboy, BS, RN, CEN, ENA Government Affairs Committee; and Deena Brecher, MSN, RN, APRN, ACNS-BC, CEN, CPEN, 2013 ENA president-elect. Attendees left the intensive empowered with knowledge and strategies to advocate for their patients and themselves. ‘‘We have to help the patient’s voice be heard,’’ Lazarus said. ‘‘We need to be the voice of nursing and inform legislatures. I look to all of us to be able to change the world.’’
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We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby … Or Have We? By Mary Menafra, MSN, RN, CEN I was fresh off the plane from Chicago, where I spent a spirit-lifting weekend with my ENA peers at the Advocacy Intensive. Energized and ready to get to work with my Virginia colleagues to enable us all to have safe practice and provide safe care, I was handed a copy of a 1961 newspaper article titled ‘‘Night in Emergency Rooms: Hospital Nerve Centers Stay Alert.”1 The article included photographs of patients lining the hallway head to feet while they waited for an intern to evaluate them further; police, nurses and doctors huddled around a receiving desk, sifting through patient information following an accident. Details of the latest and greatest technology, the electrocardiogram, which ‘‘produces a photographic record of the heart’s actions,’’ was highlighted for readers. My attention was drawn to a section that outlined the violence that provides the emergency room with much of our business and another section that read, ‘‘These are the emergency rooms. These are the places where lives are saved, people helped, doctors and staff abused.’’ That sentence really hit home. As a member of the Virginia ENA State Council and the Virginia Nurses Association, I testified before five committees during the 2011 Virginia General Assembly, where HB 1690, a bill that provides some guaranteed ramification to abusing or hitting any emergency department worker, was eventually passed into law. While preparing to testify on one of the later hearings, I asked Virginia emergency nurses to share their stories as to why they did not press
charges after being assaulted in the ED. One answer especially disturbed me. This particular nurse was punched in the face by a patient. She subsequently went to the magistrate to press charges and was denied her request because, she was told, ‘‘this was part of her job.’’ Reading this article and reflecting back on my own experiences and testimony, I now see why this abuse is often seen as just part of the job. Well, it’s not. Reading this piece led me to ask, ‘‘What has changed?’’ The answer is not much. In 1961, patients lay on gurneys in hallways waiting for treatment; violence was a big part of the reason for visits; and abuse of staff was a regular occurrence. The real changes are that patient volume has more than tripled, technology allows staff to treat more complex diseases and emergency nurses and physicians stand united in their pursuit of safe work environments while they lobby together, all with the thought of being able to better serve those in need. During her opening lecture at the Advocacy Intensive, 2013 ENA President JoAnn Lazarus explained advocatism as the actions around advocating for others. I submit to you that we all need to take this to heart and practice advocatism for each other every day. Don’t let another nurse in 40-plus years read an article that highlights the waiting and the violence toward ED staff. We need to change what future emergency nurses read. Let them see what you and I did to foster a safe environment for them and the patients who need our services each and every day. Reference Lindsay, G. (1961, July 23). Night in emergency rooms: Hospital nerve centers stay alert. Richmond Times Dispatch.
March 2013