PAST EVENTS: 

Harvest Festival Celebration 

Our Harvest Festival was celebrated at a lovely location during a beautiful evening in late September.  We all settled out on the restaurant patio with the river in view and the sun setting over the trees.  We pushed our tables together and enjoyed sharing special wines brought by our members.  As always, with this wonderful group, there was plenty of warm support and advice from the experienced LNC’s to the new and a sharing of ideas, encouragement and tips of the trade.  But, above all, there was good food, great stories and much laughter during this wonderful celebration.   -TRC

In addition:  

As you recall we planned and had a drawing for 2 people to receive a $ 250.00 prize for the 2009 AALNC Conference in April.

 The WINNERS ARE: 

     Teresa Cox and Kristen Henderson

Sincerely,

Ruth Swiggum, RN 

September 10, 2008:  Board Meeting and mini educational was cancelled due to a lack of a quorum.

UPCOMING GSAC  EVENTS:
“Establishing Expert Witness Credibility”   Speaker:  Tim Balcom, Criminal Defense Attorney and instructor at McGeorge Law School.
Wednesday October 22, 2008 Time:  6:00 pm Location:  Holiday Inn Capital Plaza                    300 J Street                    Sacramento, CA                     916-446-0100 A brief GSAC Board meeting will follow at 8:30pm with all welcome to attend.	Deadline:  Postmarked by 10.15.08 or PayPal by 10.18.08 Book online via Paypal on the website:  http://www.gsac-aalnc.org/  or print and Send payment to:  GSAC-AALNC                           P.O. Box 6600011                           Sacramento, CA  95866
November 12, 2008:  6:30 pm Board Meeting 7:30 -8:30 pm General Meeting:  ONC topic presentation/discussion	Denny’s Banquet Room at 6:30pm    8707 Elk Grove Blvd    Elk Grove, CA         Phone:  (916) 686-2054

Reserve your calendar:

UPDATE FROM NATIONAL:

 By Tracy Albee, AALNC Board of Director

General Updates

·         The AALNC Call for Nominations for the 2008-2009 year is now open.  To be considered as a candidate for the board of directors or for the nominating committee, you must be an active AALNC member in good standing for a minimum of two years who currently practices legal nurse consulting.  The following positions are available:

Nomination applications are due by November 1, 2008.  Email Kathryn.Ryan@aalnc.org to request the application materials.

·         On Thursday, September 25^th through Saturday, September 27^th, AALNC exhibited at the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) Scientific Assembly in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

·         The AALNC Board Meeting took place mid-August in Chicago.  The meeting was very successful and productive and we look forward to sharing our new ideas and initiatives for AALNC and its future.  

·         During the board meeting, one of the 2008 AALNC goals was to document our AALNC Board of Directors culture.  A culture statement articulates the values and beliefs of the organization and identifies the expectations of board members and AALNC volunteers. 

·         LNC programs and their websites:  Realizing that chapter presidents and volunteers often times get inquiries from potential LNC's about what educational programs are available, we wanted to share a resource that was prepared by AALNC Members Beth Zorn and Margie Pugatch.  The chart gives an overview of available LNC programs and their websites and lists information about costs, continuing education, and certificate or certification options. The course chart is located in the files section of LNCExchange at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/LNCExchange/files, in a folder called “LNC Courses” (please note, only members of LNCExchange have access to the files and links section).  We hope that chapter presidents will be able to utilize this summary when talking to potential LNC's.  As this is a work in progress, this chart will be updated and we will make sure to keep the e-Community archive updated as well. 

·         The AALNC Awareness Committee is one of several committees at the national level.  The purpose is to serve as a conduit to the AALNC membership on attorney outreach issues, and to explore ways to educate the end-user community on the value of LNC's.  One of the main initiatives during this past year is:  Resources for Grassroots Efforts.  This initiative is to develop resources to assist chapters with grassroots efforts, including gaining membership status in local or state bar associations.  Attending bar association events or exhibiting at legal conferences has long been considered an important venue for networking with potential attorney clients.  To create additional networking opportunities, some LNC's have joined their bar associations as associate members.  Not all bars allow non-attorney members, but of those that do, many have a membership category for paralegals.  Other organizations have opted to create a separate category for LNC's within the bar, such as the LNC Division of the West Virginia Bar Association.  There are many ways for chapters to become involved with their bar associations.  While LNC membership is an important goal to pursue, it may not be possible in every state, depending on how the bar association is structured.  There are other avenues LNC's can consider to increase their involvement in the bar association.  Such opportunities include forming a speaker’s bureau and presenting at bar meetings, writing articles for the bar newsletter and coordinating the submission of articles through a chapter committee, and assisting with pro bono programs.  For more information and for resources please visit http://www.aalnc.org/members/chapter_advocacy.cfm.  

·         The Attorney Awareness Campaign is increasing attorneys’ use of the LNCLocator, a free service available to the public.  Please maintain your member profile by logging in to www.aalnc.org and looking for the welcome box on the left of the page, with your membership options underneath.  To see your current profile, click the “Update Member Info” link.  To change any member information, click on the “Edit” button at the top of the page, make your edits in the appropriate section, and hit “Submit” at the bottom of the page.  The LNCLocator is connected to our membership database, so your information will automatically be updated at Headquarters and will be reflected immediately in the LNCLocator.  For assistance, email info@aalnc.org or call 877/402-2562.

·         Are you having a hard time finding nurses in your state?  Visit your state Licensing Board today and obtain a list of all nurses in your state for a minimal cost.  This is just one more way to get more involvement and leaders and to help plan future educational programs!

What’s happening today:

Recalls:

August 28, 2008

LifePak CR Plus Automated External Defibrillator Product Number: 3200731-003 and 3200731-027

This device was manufactured from May 20, 2004 through August 11, 2007 and distributed from May 20, 2004 through December 4, 2007.  Two hundred forty-nine (249) devices are affected.

The product was recalled because the AED instructs the responder by voice prompts to press the shock button which is not visible because it is covered, thereby making the responder unable to provide shock therapy. The AED device should be removed from service, or the manufacturer-provided diagram should be consulted to remove and discard the shock button cover.

www.physio-control-notices.com/config for more information

June 6, 2008

Carotid Stent

Boston Scientific NexStent Monorail, NexStent Carotid Stent and Monorail Delivery System. Material Number (UPN) M001553030, Catalog Number 55-303. [OUS Material Number (UPN) M001553000, Catalog Number 55-300]

The product was manufactured from June 12, 2007 through May 2, 2008 and distributed from June 19, 2007 through May 5, 2008.

The tip of the stent delivery system may detach from the delivery system during the procedure. This could lead to increased procedure time, cause vessel wall injury, stroke and/or emergency surgery to remove the detached tip.

February 12, 2008

 All lots and sizes of the following Icy Hot Heat Therapy Products

• Icy Hot Heat Therapy Air Activated Heat-Back
• Icy Hot Heat Therapy Air Activated Heat- Arm, Neck, and Leg
• Icy Hot Heat Therapy Air Activated Heat-Arm, Neck, and Leg single consumer use “samples” included on a limited promotional basis in cartons of 3oz. Aspercreme Pain Relieving Crème

The company, Chattem, Inc., manufactured these products from October 1, 2006 through July 31, 2007 and distributed them from December 4, 2006 through February 4, 2008.

The company recalled these products because of consumer reports of first, second, and third degree burns, skin irritation, and skin removal.

For more information about this recall, please see the company’s press release at: http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/chattem02_08.html

 All recall information gathered from www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm web site.

Informational tid-bits! 

MEDICARE INCREASES NURSING HOME PAYMENT RATES

Medicare payment rates to nursing homes will increase by $780 million next year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced.  The boost in payments is the result of a 3.4 percent increase in the annual market basket calculation of the cost of goods and services included in a skilled nursing facility stay. 

The proposed rule announcing the planned recalibration was published in the Federal Register on May 4, 2008.

A copy of the final rule is available on the CMS website at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/SNFPPS/LSNFF/list.asp#TopOfPage

FDA approved Gardasil vaccine on June 8, 2006 for use in girls and women 9 through 26 years of age. This vaccine prevents infection with the types of HPV that cause most cases of cervical cancer and genital warts.  As of June 30, 2008, there have been 9,749 VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) reports of adverse events following Gardasil vaccination. Of these, 94% were classified as reports of non-serious events, and 6% as serious events.

As of June 30, 2008, 20 deaths had been reported to VAERS. There was not a common pattern to the deaths that would suggest they were caused by the vaccine. In cases where autopsy, death certificate and medical records were available, the cause of death was explained by factors other than the vaccine.

Based on ongoing assessments of vaccine safety information, FDA and CDC continue to find that Gardasil is a safe and effective vaccine. FDA and CDC continue to monitor the safety of this vaccine, with the public's health and safety our top priority.

Updated: July 22, 2008

CDC General HPV Vaccine Information: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/hpv/default.htm

CDC General Vaccine Safety Information: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety

Assembly Bill 3 (Bass) became effective on January 1, 2008:

Here are a two of the significant changes:

à         Ratio of PA’s to supervision physicians: a supervising physician may now supervise no more than four PA’s at any one time rather than the two previously allowed.

à         Chart countersignature:  previously protocols stated the supervising physician was to review and sign a minimum of 10 percent of the patient charts of the PA within 30 days.  The new requirement was decreased to only 5 percent.

The Physician Assistant Committee Web site:  www.pac.ca.gov for further information and updates.

Medicare & Medicaid Services

Effective October 1, 2008

Section 5001(c) of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005 required the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services

• Air embolism
• Blood incompatibility
• Catheter-associated urinary tract infection
• Pressure ulcers: stage III & IV 
• Vascular catheter-associated infection
• Surgical site infection:  Mediastinitis after coronary artery bypass graft surgery
• Hospital acquired injuries including falls and trauma: fractures, dislocations, intracranial; Injuries: crushing injuries, burns and electric shock

• Surgical site infections following certain elective procedures including: total knee, laparoscopic gastric bypass and gastroenterostomy 
• Certain manifestations of poor control of blood sugar levels such as:  diabetic ketoacidosis, nonketotic hyperosmolar
• coma, diabetic coma, hypoglycemic coma
• And deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism following total knee replacement and hip replacement procedures.

MORE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES:

Miscellaneous  

Helpful websites:

An interesting website with case studies, algorithms, cancer screening guidelines and more.

http://www.rmf. harvard.edu/ high-risk- areas/diagnosis/ case-studies/ index.aspx

JCAHO has released the 2009 National Patient Safety Goals. They can be found in their entirety at the following hyperlink:

http://www.jointcom mission.org/ PatientSafety/ NationalPatientS afetyGoals/

GSAC-BRN number

GSAC’s BRN number is available for $25.00 per class session for those who are in need of offering contact hours for their instructional event.  

Please remember our GSAC Members when you are in need for assistance with your cases, as many are just starting out and will appreciate the business.

Educational opportunity for GSAC chapter members:

GSAC has available for continuing education credits a home study course courtesy of Medical Legal Adventures.  This legal case study is for use by GSAC members on an individual basis.  Contact Kim Digardi if interested @ ddigardi@sbcglobal.net

Next newsletter due January 1, 2009.  See you then. Teresa R. Cox, editor.