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2Calendar of Events3In Focus4You Were Represented5Legislative & HealthPolicy Council Update8LeadershipConference13Providing for the Washington Centerfor Nursing13Nursing Practice Q & A 14Healthcare WorkersUrged to GetImmunized15 Warning: PandemicFlu16 WSNF News17Hurricane ReliefEfforts22Nursing News Briefs24In Memoriam25District News25 ANA News27 At the Polls: I-330and I-33628 WSNA HoldsEnvironmentalHealth Training Workshop30Environment HealthLecture Series31Reducing Hazards inHealth Care32Ending Workplace Violence33Continuing EducationCalendar35New Members
Inside...
Environmental Health • Workplace Violence • Legislative Day Registration Form
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
 WSNA and ANA Nurses Help With Relie Eorts
Page 17
E&GW Awards What is Leadership? Photos & More
Page 8
 
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE
2005
 NURSE
THE WASHINGTON
   V  o   l  u  m  e   3   5 ,   N  o .   3
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The Washington Nurse 
Issue 35, No. 3
 NURSE
 Vm 35, N. 2
Summer 2005
 WashiNgtoN state Nurses associatioN
575 Andover Park West, Suite 101Seattle, WA 98188, Tel: 206/575-7979Fax: 206/575-1908, wsna@wsna.org
the WashiNgtoN Nurse
 —(ISSN# 0734-5666)newsmagazine is published quarterly by theWashington State Nurses Association, 575 Andover Park West, Suite 101, Seattle, WA 98188, 206/575-
7979. It is distributed as a benet of membershipto all WSNA members. A member rate of $10
 per year is included in WSNA membership dues.
Institutional subscription rate is $20 per year (Canada/Mexico: US $26 per year; Foreign: US$39 per year) or $37.50 for two years. Single copy price is $5.00 each prepaid.The information in this newsmagazine is for the benefit of WSNA members. WSNA is amulti-purpose, multi-faceted organization.
The Washington Nurse
provides a forum for members of all specialties and interests to
express their opinions. Opinions expressed are
the responsibilities of the authors and do notnecessarily reect the opinions of the ofcers or membership of WSNA, unless so stated. Copyright2004, WSNA. No part of this publication may be
reproduced without permission.
 adVertisiNg
 —Information on advertising rates
may be obtained on the WSNA website
..g
, under PR and
The Washington Nurse
, or bycontacting the WSNA Business Agent at 206/575-7979. Advertising deadlines are: March 1, June 1,September 1, and December 1. Advertising will
 be accepted on a rst come, rst served basis for  preferred positions, pending space availability.
WSNA reserves the right to reject advertising. Paidadvertisements in
The Washington Nurse
do not
necessarily reect the endorsement of the WSNAMembers, Staff or Organization.
coNtributor guideliNes
 —Article ideas and
unsolicited manuscripts are welcome from
WSNA members (300 word maximum). Please
submit a typed copy and diskette (Word Perfect6.0/Windows 98), and include identied relevant
 photos, a biographical statement, your name,
address and credentials. It is not the policy of WSNA to pay for articles or artwork.
 article subMissioN deadliNes
Winter ...............................................November 15Spring..................................................February 15Summer .......................................................May 15Fall .......................................................August 15
THE WASHINGTON
October 
13-14 CNEWS Meeting, Seattle15 WSNA Professional Nursing andHealth Care Council Meeting21 WSNF Board of Trustees Meeting
November 
8 Election Day 16 ARNP Coalition Meeting17 Washington Center for NursingBoard Meeting18-19 WSNA Board of Directors Meeting
24-25 Office Closed for Holidays
December 
5 “Code Blue” Access to HealthcareTown Hall Meeting6 20th Annual Washington HealthLegislative Conference8 WSNA Occupational andEnvironmental Health and Safety Committee16 Washington Nursing LeadershipCouncil Meeting
26-30 Office Closed for Holidays
January 2006
2 Office Closed for New YearsDay Holiday 
17 Cabinet on Economic and General Welfare Meeting30 2006 Nurse Legislative Day,Olympia, WA 
Save the Date
March 6th, 2006
 WSNA Nursing Hall of Fame
Calendar of Events
 WsNa board of directors& headquarters staff
presideNt
Kim Armstrong, BSN, RN,
Olalla
 Vice presideNt
Mary Walker, PhD, RN, FAAN,
 Bellevue
secretary/treasurer
Jean Pfeifer, BSN,
 Kirkland 
directors-at-large
Harriet Colwell, RN,
 Pasco
Sally Herman, RN,
Mount Vernon
Pamela Rimel, RN,
Yakima
Judith Turner, RN,
 Fox Island 
Stasia Warren, MSN, RN,
Spokane
chair, professioNal NursiNg& health care couNcil
Joan Caley, RN, MS, CNS, CNAA-BC,
Vancouver 
chair, legislatiVe &health policy couNcil
Susan E Jacobson, RN,
Yakima
chair, cabiNet oN ecoNoMic& geNeral Welfare
Tim Davis, RN,
Mt. Vernon
executiVe director
Judith A. Huntington, MN, RN
director, labor relatioNs &MeMbership serVices
Barbara E. Frye, BSN, RN
director, practice & educatioN
Joan Garner, MN, RN
educatioN specialist
Hilke Faber MN, RN, FAAN
director, goVerNMeNtal affairs & coMMuNicatioNs
Anne Tan Piazza
coNtract lobbyist
Tamara Warnke
 Web & coMMuNicatioNs specialist
Ben Tilden
chief couNsel
Elizabeth Ford, JD
geNeral couNsel
Linda Machia, JDMichael Sanderson, JD
ecoNoMic aNd geNeral Welfare staff
Debbie Bessmer, BSN, RNDarlene Delgado, RNBecky Dawson, BSN, RNJunaita Heaton, BSN, RNKathi Landon, RNPat McClure, RNDeborah Neiman, RNJanet Parks, BSN, RNHanna Welander, BSN, RN
busiNess ageNt &systeMs adMiNistrator
Deb Weston
iNforMatioN & resources aVailable oNliNe at
  WWW.WsNa.org
 
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Issue 35, No. 3
 The Washington Nurse
In Focus
by Kim Armstrong, WSNA President
 We are hearing a lot of confusingstatements regarding initiatives
I-330 and I-336.
Initiatives seem to play on voter emotions and notnecessarily on what is best or thePeople o Washington. Rememberhow most o Washington voters were pleased when Car Tabsdecreased in cost through theinitiative process and the cries o outrage rom the same public when essential public saety services such as police,re and ambulance services were immediately decreased? What is being presented on these initiatives in shortadvertisements and sound bites are surace inormation at best. For example we hear:1. Physicians are leaving our state in mass numbers.2. Without limits on jury awards, consumers will nothave access to health care.3. Health care costs so much because o liability insurance premiums. What is the truth? “Tort Reorm” is certainly one o themost complicated issues o our times. But I am askingmysel many questions and I am looking or the answersand I encourage each o you to research the issues prior tomaking an inormed decision.The initiative process oten brings a small group’s needsand desires into the public light. Such is true in the case o I-330, which is backed by the Washington State Medical Association (WSMA). I-330 proposes a polarized position as to what is needed by physicians in order toremain as practitioners in our state. What they say theyneed:
Lower Liability Insurance Rates
. They wouldaccomplish this by restricting an individual’s
Right toSue
when malpractice occurs and place a very low
Cap
o $350,000 on non-economic damages or most malpracticecases, without any adjustment or uture infation. What is not stated is how the initiative would allow physiciansand hospitals to require patients to agree to binding arbitrationin malpractice cases—in other words, waiving their right to take their case to court. Just imagine the possibilities. A person with chest pain is admitted to the hospital EmergencyDepartment. Beore diagnosis and treatment is begun, the patient or next o kin is required to sign a statement agreeingnot to go take the physician or hospital to court i their lovedone is injured by a mistake. I-330 would also change thecurrent system o liability to make it harder or an injured patient to collect the ull amount a court awards them i oneor more o the liable parties (such as a negligent physician ora hospital) doesn’t pay.In addition, I-330 doesn’t address insurance reorm at all.The insurance industry is not held accountable to explainand provide evidence to justiy rate increases. There needs to be more transparency with regard to insurance industry practices. But I-330 is silent on these issues. Notably, mosto the physicians in this state are insured by a
Physician’sOwned
insurance company which last year provideddividends to its shareholders.Then there is I-336, which is supported by the WashingtonState Trial Lawyers Association (WSTLA). According to this initiative,
No Caps
are necessary on non-economicdamages. This is not an answer either. What is needed is areasonable
Cap
on non-economic injuries, with allowanceor adjustments or the rate o infation. I the trial lawyerscan’t acknowledge that there are some excessive non-economic awards, and that some reasonable limits areneeded, they lend credence to the advertisements or I-330 showing lawyers “stung their pockets” with their percentage o the award. I-336 ails to provide any system- based approaches - which are absolutely essential in thereduction o medical errors - to enhance patient saety. I  we enhance patient saety, it stands to reason there will be less liability simply because less mistakes will be made.I-336 does require public hearings prior to increases ininsurance premiums and requires insurers to discloseinormation regarding their nancial status, so there is asmall attempt to look into insurance reorm.There is no doubt malpractice reorm must occur. Howeverit is clear that neither o these initiatives serves the consumerso health care in Washington State. In 2004, WSNA along with ARNPs United o Washington State, Washington Association o Nurse Anesthetists, Washington Chaptero American College o Nurse-Midwives, and Associationo Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses outlined a seto basic principles, which are central to a balanced and workable approach to malpractice reorm.
These principles include:1. Consumer access to affordable health care services
 Washington’s nurses support universal access to healthcare services. Far too many Washingtonians do nothave access to aordable health care services due togeographic isolation, maldistribution o providers, or lacko insurance. Drastic increases in liability insurance drive providers rom certain specialties or certain geographicareas, urther eroding consumer access to care.
 Assuring consumer access to health care services must guide eorts to addressthe liability insurance crisis.
2. Provider access to affordable liability insurance
The availability o adequate and reasonably priced
of 00

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