JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY NURSING

e s ) . - - T a f f y Davis, RN, BSN, CEN, Franklin Memorial Hospital, Emergency Department, 1 Hospital Drive, Farmington, ME 04938

First ENA Nurse Practice Networking Session

Dear Editor; T h e first E N A Nurse Prac t ice N e t w o r k i n g Ses-

s ion w a s h e l d in San A n t o n i o on Oc tobe r 1, 1994. T w e n t y - t w o m e m b e r s r e p r e s e n t i n g 10 s t a t e s par - t i c i p a t e d in t he sess ion .

T h e r e w a s l ive ly d i s c u s s i o n a b o u t t he u se of u n l i c e n s e d a s s i s t i v e pe r sonne l . C o m m e n t s r a n g e d from c o n c e r n s a b o u t t he p o s s i b l e i n c r e a s e in t he p a r a m e d i c s c o p e of p r a c t i c e in F lo r i da to u n e a s i n e s s a n d a n g e r a b o u t t he l ack of r e g i s t e r e d n u r s e s on t r a u m a r e s u s c i t a t i o n t e a m s in ce r t a in h o s p i t a l s in Ohio a n d Georg ia .

We a lso t a l k e d a b o u t E N A ' s Scope of P rac t i ce p o s i t i o n s t a t e m e n t a n d packe t . The g roup d i s c u s s e d w a y s for t h i s i n fo rma t ion to r e a c h a l a rge r po r t ion of t he g e n e r a l m e m b e r s h i p .

F ina l ly , t h e n e e d for an a v e n u e of c o m m u n i c a - t ion b e t w e e n s t a t e a n d n a t i o n a l P rac t i ce C o m m i t - t ee s w a s iden t i f i ed . One m e t h o d of c o m m u n i c a t i o n is an a n n u a l n e t w o r k i n g sess ion . A n o t h e r is t he de - v e l o p m e n t of a ros te r of t h o s e p r e s e n t a t th is f irst n e t w o r k i n g sess ion . T h e ros te r wiI1 s e r v e as a r e s o u r c e for c o m m u n i c a t i o n b e t w e e n s e s s i o n m e m - bers . T h e l is t i n c l u d e s N a t i o n a l N u r s e P rac t i ce

C o m m i t t e e m e m b e r s a n d seve ra l s t a t e P rac t i ce C o m m i t t e e cha i rpe r sons . T h e s e t a l e n t e d a n d e x p e - r i e n c e d n u r s e s can h e l p to a n s w e r ques t ions , a n d w e can k e e p e a c h o the r i n f o r m e d a b o u t cu r r en t p r ac t i ce i s sues .

If you w o u l d b e i n t e r e s t e d in r e c e i v i n g a copy of t he l i s t or w o u l d l ike us to a d d your n a m e to t he list, p l e a s e s e n d m e your request.--Susan Kaplan, RN, CEN, Chair, Massachusetts Nursing Practice Committee; member, ENA National Nursing Prac- tice Committee, 9 Carlson Circle, Natick, MA 01760

Scope of practice and protocols sought for ED nurse practitioners

Dear Editor: I a m a f ami ly n u r s e p r a c t i t i o n e r s t u d e n t work-

i n g on m y pro jec t to c o m p l e t e m y m a s t e r ' s deg ree . M y pro jec t i nvo lves w r i t i n g p ro toco l s for t h e n u r s e p r a c t i t i o n e r in t h e e m e r g e n c y d e p a r t m e n t . Our cur- r en t ED c e n s u s is m o r e t h a n 65,000 v is i t s pe r year . Six m o n t h s ago w e d e v e l o p e d a m i n o r ca re t r ack to

r e l i eve t h e u r g e n t t r a c k in t he d e p a r t m e n t . Our goa l is to s e e 50% of t h e ED p a t i e n t s in t h e minor ca re t rack.

I w o u l d a p p r e c i a t e c o r r e s p o n d e n c e a n d a d v i c e on d e f i n i n g the n u r s e p r a c t i t i o n e r ' s s cope of p rac - t ice, d e v e l o p i n g pro tocols , a n d sou rc e s of in forma- t ion u s e d as a bas i s . I h a v e w o r k e d a s a n e m e r g e n c y nu r se for 23 y e a r s a n d b e l i e v e t h e r e is a n e e d a n d a p l a c e for p r a c t i t i o n e r s in t h e e m e r g e n c y s e t t i n g . - Alice McCann, RN, BSN, CEN, 113 Brycewood Cir- cle, Hattiesburg, MS 39402

More on reentering

Dear Editor: The JOURNAL OF EMERGENCY NURSING r e c e n t l y

p u b l i s h e d two a r t i c l e s t h a t focused on mento r s . Th i s occu r red jus t a s I w a s g o i n g to s u b m i t m y own ar-

ticle! M y m e n t o r p r o v i d e d o r i e n t a t i o n for m e in t he

e m e r g e n c y d e p a r t m e n t 15 y e a r s ago. I st i l l l ive b y the p e a r l s of w i s d o m s h e g a v e to m e . . . c a n n u l a t e w h a t you can; neve r le t t h e m hu r t you; a sk if you do not know; a n d a l w a y s t ry to k e e p your s e n s e of hu-

mor! As a co l l eague , m y m e n t o r w o u l d m a k e sure I

w a s c o m f o r t a b l e in cr is is , m a y b e poke her h e a d in to a t r e a t m e n t room to s ee if I n e e d e d help , a n d some- t i m e s she w o u l d check jus t to b e su re I w a s smi l ing . And, if I w a s not, she w o u l d o c c a s i o n a l l y ac t out s o m e t h i n g h y s t e r i c a l l y i n s a n e (in a p ro fe s s iona l ma nne r , of course)!

I h a v e of ten s een h e r s h a r e he r k n o w l e d g e no t only w i t h me, b u t w i th our en t i r e staff. She is a so l id pee r p ro fess iona l , a n d h a s b e c o m e an even b e t t e r p e r s o n a l f r iend. Mos t r ecen t ly , th i s n u r s e h a s f ina l ly b e c o m e an a c k n o w l e d g e d n u r s i n g leader : she s e rves on the ENA Board of Directors. Through all t he se ac- compl i shmen t s , the re is a l w a y s a n unde r ly ing t h e m e of ene rgy a n d ef fec t iveness tha t is contagious.

I come from the school of " e m u l a t e w h a t you a d m i r e , " so, i t c o m e s as no su rp r i s e t h a t I r e c e n t l y h a v e b e e n a b l e to rea l ize s o m e i m p o r t a n t goals: a more ac t i ve p a r t i c i p a t i o n in m y p ro fes s iona l assoc i - a t ion, f u r t h e r i n g of m y e d u c a t i o n , w r i t i n g for pub l i - cat ion, a n d t e a c h i n g . I a m su re I w o u l d no t b e as in- t e r e s t e d in t h e s e a s p i r a t i o n s if i t we re not for m y p e r s o n a l m e n t o r a n d fr iend, k n o w n to m e as " D uba . "

This l e t t e r is w r i t t e n not on ly to e n c o u r a g e o the r ED n u r s e s to r e c o g n i z e a n d honor the i r m e n - tors, b u t a l so to e n c o u r a g e e a c h one of u s to s t r ive to b e a mentor!--Mik Staeck, RN, BSN CEN, North- ern Nevada Medical Center, Sparks, Nevada

June 1995 197