1. Greetings, FONE members! We are nearing the end of the first quarter of 2010.  If you haven’t already sent in your membership renewal, please take a moment and recommit to your FONE.  Do you have any nurse leaders or emerging nurse leaders in your organization who might be interested in joining FONE?  Now is the time to introduce your colleagues to the only professional organization in the state that is ”The Voice of Nursing Leadership in Florida.”
2. You should have received the announcement that FONE is the recipient of the 2010 American Organization of Nurse Executives Chapter Leadership Award.  This award recognizes an AONE chapter and its members who have demonstrated “best of the best” in leadership practice, and whose work sets an example for every nurse leader. AONE’s press release states, “The Florida Organization of Nurse Executives’ achievement to be recognized lies within the work of its research committee, which originated in 2002. The FONE Research Committee has moved FONE into unprecedented achievements in bringing research and practice advancement to its members, and has led the way in innovation, creativity and responsiveness to the needs of the FONE membership. With the support of FONE members, the research committee completed a major research project on staffing. This study was then shared nationally at the AONE 41st Annual Meeting held in 2008, as well as at the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s National Annual Magnet Conference and the Sigma Theta Tau International Conference.” Please join me in recognizing Dr. Diane Brady Schwartz, Chairperson of the FONE Research Committee, along with the 2009 Research Committee members who included Diane Andrews PhD, RN, Carolyn Brown PhD, RN, Patricia Dittman, PhD, RN, CDE, Lindell Joseph, PhD, RN  Walter Lupke, RN, MBA, Jennifer Nooney PhD, Debra Morgan RN, MS,  Jackie Munro RN, MS, ARNP, Virginia Pesata, MSN, ARNP, DPNAP, Jennifer Nooney PhD, Leslie Rogers, MBA, RN , RN,  Rose Rivers, PhD, RN, Lee Schmidt, PhD, RN and Franklin Shaffer, EdD, RN, FAAN.

1. On the legislative front, this is the first week of the 2010 legislative session.  FONE participated in the FHA days in the legislature on March 8^th and 9^th in Tallahassee.  Although few bills were moving, Jan Mauck, Claudia Distrito, Glenn Fechtenberg, Patricia Dittman, Patricia Hyler, and I met with sponsors of several bills impacting Nursing.  As of this writing, there are 56 more days of session left, and anything can happen.  Here are the bills we are watching:

• Safe Staffing- SB 114/ HB 377 by Senator David Aronberg and Representative Ron Brisé. This bill requires acute care centers to have collaborative councils with participation of direct patient care RNs. The councils will develop a staffing plan for each individual patient care unit based on the ANA principals on staffing. FONE is supports this bill.  It is not yet on the House or Senate committees of reference as of this writing.
• Controlled Substance Prescribing by ARNPs- SB 188/ HB 677 by Senator Mike Bennett and Representative Juan Carlos Zapata. The bill has been filed in both the House and Senate, but is not yet on the agenda of the committees to which it has been referred. Florida and Alabama are the only 2 states that do not allow ARNPs to prescribe controlled substances.  FONE supports this bill.
• Nursing education bill -HB 1337/ SB 2530 by Representative Denise Grimsley, RN and Senator J.D. Alexander. This bill is a "glitch" bill for HB 1209 (the bill that removed the authority of the Board of Nursing to approve new nursing programs) and will clarify some issues that have arisen since last year. A few of the definitions and logistics of the law are clarified. The bill also encourages accreditation by NLN-AC or CCNE. Additionally, once a school attains accreditation, and maintains it, it will be exempt from most of the jurisdiction of the Board of Nursing.  This bill is expected to be heard during the second week of committee.  FONE supports this bill.

• Mandated staffing ratio bill- HB 1283/SB 2316 by Representative Oscar Braynon and Senator Anthony Hill.  This bill requires mandated staffing ratios, reporting, and fines for non-compliance.  FONE is opposed to this bill.

1. FONE has participated in 2 QUIN Council meetings since December.  QUIN-Quality and Unity in Nursing-is a council statewide nursing organizations that are led by nurses, for nurses.  QUIN is committed to influencing policy and legislation through collaboration and speaking with one Nursing voice.  Currently there are 12 participating organizations, including FONE, FNa, FHA, FCN, fl league for nursing, , Fl assoc of public health nurses, fl assoc of dir of nrsg admin/ltc, and the deans and directors group (fl assoc of colleges of nursing, fl council of nursing educ administratior, association of practical nurse educators, and fl council of practical nursing education administrators).  Participation in the QUIN Council has helped us to build relationships and to further our goal of being the voice of nursing leadership in Florida.
2. Closer to home, Pam Carroll has agreed to chair the new Membership/Communication combined committee, including Lisa Quintero and Ellen Romanowski as co-chairs.  They will be addressing several important topics over the next few months.  They will also be asking the membership for some feedback so they can tailor their committee’s work to better meet your needs.  If you have ideas and passion for improving services and value to FONE members, please join this group!
3. The Florida Center for Nursing is again in danger of losing their funding.  The FNA is seeking a sponsor to for a bill that would add $5 to each licensure renewal to support the Center.  This how most other Centers are funded. In Florida, this fee has been viewed like a new tax and has been defeated in the past.  So the FCN needs us, as the voices of nursing leadership, to contact our legislators and tell them why it is important to us to continue funding for the FCN.  We will be sending out a sample letter or two in the upcoming weeks to make it easier for us make these legislative contacts en masse to preserve this critical resource for us as nurse leaders.  We have power when we speak as one Nursing voice.
4. FONE turns FORTY this year, and we are planning a terrific anniversary bash for our spring conference at the Renassaince Orlando at Sea World on June 17 &18.  The theme is “Nursing Leadership: Honoring Our Past, Planning for the Future”.  There is a call out for posters and podium presentations that relate to this theme.  Speaker abstracts are due April 1^st; research poster abstracts will also be solicited.  Our Education and Research Committees collaborate to bring you high quality presentations for both the seasoned and emerging nurse leaders. Our Historian, Barbara Drummond-Huth, is front-and-center for this historic event of the 40th Anniversary Celebration.

Thank you for being an engaged and enlighted membership.  It is our pleasure to serve you.

Innette Sarduy, MPH, RN, NEA-BC

President