Hi !

Joy Hellen

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Spring Conference

On-line registration will be opening soon. Check the website at www.mndona.org.

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What Can A Nurse Do In Washington?

Coalition, appropriations, discretionary, allocations, earmarks, mark-up, pass back
and pork barrel legislation became new verbiage added to my repertoire of communication
while I was in Washington, DC last March. Political aspirations were never a major quest or
interest of mine mostly due to a knowledge deficit in this subject. However, when MN-DONA
offered the Nurse In Washington Intern Scholarship (NIWI) I recognized an opportunity to
change a learning deficit into an educational surplus within a matter of a few days. This is exactly
what the NIWI program is designed to do if you are interested in an invigorating political challenge.

Before arriving in Washington, DC for the conference there was homework to be done.
The Nursing Organizations Alliance (The Alliance) sponsored the Nurse in Washington Internship
(NIWI) Program and sent out a number of handouts to be read before the start of the conference.
The second requirement was to correspond with your State and Federal Legislators to inform
them of your arrival on Capitol Hill during the week of March 11-14. The third requirement was
to access health care legislative issues from your local, state and national nursing organizations and
health care facilities regarding concerns you wanted to influence or address while in Washington,
DC. It was good to be somewhat prepared and organized upon arrival.

The first day of the conference addressed the importance of coalition building and media
advocacy for nursing issues as well as how to be a good petitioner. I learned the basics of Congress
and its key committees. I also learned how the annual Federal Budget process works and how the
money is authorized in a bill and appropriated each year to a variety of state programs. In addition
to the above items I also learned how to “ask” for what I wanted in a communication format
known to those working on Capitol Hill.

The Long Term Care concerns or the “asks” addressed financial stability for Long Term
Care Centers and included:

1. § 3 included a cost of living adjustment (COLA) of 7% in 2007 and 6% COLA
   in 2008 for skilled nursing facilities

Nancy Kollmann RN, MSN/MBA/HCM
2007 MN-DONA Nurse In Washington Internship Recipient

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Nurse In Washington Internship

Congratulations to Tracy Zahler, DON at Crystal Care Center, recipient of the MN-DONA
Nurse in Washington Internship. Tracy will be attending the Nurse in Washington Internship
Conference in Washington, D.C. on March 9-11, 2008.
Look forward to Tracy sharing her experience with us in the near future.

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MHHA Preparing the New DON

For a Successful Future – 2008 Series

The Minnesota Health & Housing Alliance (MHHA) new director of nursing educational series
is for the professional nurses who are new and learning the role of being a director of nursing.
The participants are exposed to many external expectations and standards in which the nurse
leader needs to demonstrate competence. The participants of this series leave armed with helpful
tools, skills and excellent resources if the need arises.

This education experience for directors of nursing has been offered in a retreat environment with
a good balance of classroom experience, time for networking and timely assignments to discover
current organizational practices.

The dates for 2008 are as follows:
Session 1 – The Role of the Director of Nursing April 15-17
Session 2 – Financial & Human Resource Management May 20-22
Session 3 – External Requirements and Expectations June 17-19
Session 4 – Management and Leadership Skills July 22-24
Session 5 – Adapting Practices for Tomorrow August 26-28

For further information, contact Heidi Simpson or Liz Sether at (615) 645-4545 or (800) 462-5368.

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Nurse Licensure Compact Has a Change in 2008

Representative Shelly Madore (D) has agreed to author a bill for this year’s legislative session.
But passing won't happen unless nurses throughout Minnesota let their voices be heard at the
Capitol with their legislators supporting this bill.

The Mutual Recognition Model of Nurse Licensure for RNs and LPNs allows a nurse to have one
license (in his or her state of residency) and to practice in other states (both physical and electronic),
subject to each state’s practice law and regulation. Under mutual recognition, a nurse may practice
across state lines unless otherwise restricted. In order for a state to achieve mutual recognition, each
state must enact legislation or regulation authorizing the nurse licensure compact administrator to
facilitate the exchange of information between states relating to compact nurse licensure and regulation.
This mutual recognition model for nurse licensure would replace the “2002 Legislative Border Law”
which did not address issues related to licensure for today’s health care.

Health care today and the future occurs increasingly across state lines both electronically and
physically such as with home health care, telemedicine, call-a-nurse, private duty nursing for
clients who travel with clinically complex needs. It would also address the needs of multi-state
health care systems whose workforce needs to be mobile to better meet the needs of patients
wherever they are located and at the same time eliminate the need for a nurse who is providing
the services across state lines to obtain licenses in multiple jurisdictions which is repetitive, time
consuming and costly for the nurse. The employers of nurses will benefit by having a more mobile
workforce and a convenient, centralized database for verification of licensure credentials.

For Minnesota to become the 24^th state to enact the nurse licensure compact, including all of
Minnesota’s bordering states, nurse leaders and colleagues need to contact their legislators and
ask them to support Representative Madore’s Nurse Licensure Compact Bill. For more information
and to answer questions about the compact go to:
www.ne.gov/nursing/licensure/NurseLicensureCompact.htm or call Liz Sether (651) 645-4545
or (800) 462-5368.

Liz Sether

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MN-DONA District 1

District 1 continues to meet on an every other month basis. Some of us travel 100+ miles to
get to these meetings. But we find the benefits of the meetings and discussions are worth the
travel. At our meetings we discuss each person’s Nursing Home and what the current
happenings of that home are. We discuss any survey issues and/or processes, ownership issues,
staffing, recruiting, retention, bed census, and any current issues for long-term care. We enjoy
the networking with each other and are thankful for the opportunity. Our next meeting is
March 13th at Joe DiMaggio’s in Erskine at Noon.
 
Respectfully Submitted,
Tonya Clem, District 1 Representative

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District 3 Report

District 3 has started meeting the 3^rd Tuesday of every other month this year in 2008.  Our
next meeting is March 18^th at Pioneer Retirement Community in Fergus Falls, with a start time
of 9:30 am.  Everyone in our District is attempting to get ready with the Accidents and
Supervision “Interpretive Guidelines.” 

As a District we continue to brainstorm and use each other’s knowledge to help maintain best
practices.  Some hot topics lately have been side rail usage, and what is appropriate as the FDA
interpretive guideline is 4 ¾ is the biggest opening you could have to prevent entrapment.  Use
of more TMA’s in the facilities, as we are not getting any nurse applicants for open positions in
rural areas.  

Lastly we have been discussing the use of electric recliners and what type of assessment is done to
make sure residents are safe to use them.
 
Happy Spring Soon!!
Amy Olson

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District 7 Report

Well, March is here, and it will be spring soon…..so you know what that means?! It’s time for
MN-DONA’s Annual Spring Conference! It will be held at the Kelly Inn in St. Cloud
April 10th-11th. Please write these dates on your calendar now and plan to attend.

Our {4} area meetings continue to meet every other month, please check the MN-DONA
website for current information on the calendar. The only change in the meetings; Area 1
is now meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Brooklyn Park on the even months of the year!

I really encourage all of you to go to your area meetings to network with fellow MN-DONA
members, to get updates from the MN-DONA board and share best practices.

Best regards,

Libby Lindberg
District 7 Representative

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New Members

Thanks for supporting the efforts of MN-DONA by renewing your membership. The following people renewed during the months of December, January & February.

First Name	Last Name	Job Title	Company	City	District
Nancy	Adams	RN, Nursing Consultant	Pathways Health Services	White Bear Lake	3
Colleen	Anderson	DON	Lakeshore (A Superior Way of Life)	Duluth	2
Marjie	Anderson	RN, DON	Emmanuel Nursing Home	Litchfield	4
Jean Marie	Bean	DCS	Covenant Ret. Comm. of MN	Golden Valley	7
Phyllis	Boxell-Kirk	Reg. Dir. of Clinical Services	Extendicare	St. Paul	7
Nancy	Brainard	ADON, RNC, CDONA	Walker Methodist Health Center	Minneapolis	7
Culleen	Charles	RN, DON	Woodbury Health Care Center	Woodbury	7
Carolyn	Christensen	Nurse Consultant	Good Samaritan Society	Sioux Falls	4
Valorie	Derby	RN, DON	Park River Estates Care Center	Coon Rapids	7
Shawna	Dorr-Jones	RN,C, DON	Valley View Manor	Lamberton	6
Ingrid	Etter	RN, ADON	New Brighton Care Center	New Brighton	7
Karen	Foede	DON	Sunrise Home	Two Harbors	2
Vicki	Gossard	DON	Colonial Acres Health Care	Golden Valley	7
Diane	Grahek	DON	Homestead Rehab & Living Center	Deer River	2
Susan	Grasshoff	RNC, CDONA/LTC	Pathway Health Services	White Bear Lake	3
Amy	Hayden	RN, BSN, DON	Northfield Care Center	Northfield	6
Sue	Heitkamp	DON	St. Francis Healthcare Campus	Breckenridge	3
Joy	Hellen	DON	Golden LivingCenter-Lake Ridge	Roseville	7
Joanne	Hirtz	Staff Development Dir, RN	Lyngblomsten Care Center	St. Paul	7
Lori	Hovland	RN, DON	Fair Meadow Nursing Home	Fertile	1
Lisa	Kalla	DON	Sholom Home West	St. Louis Park	7
Jean	Kittelson	RN, DON	New Brighton Care Center	New Brighton	7
Sandra	Klingenberg	DON	MN Veterans Home - Luverne	Luverne	5
Nancy	Kollmann	RN, DON, MSN, MBA/HCM	Good Shepherd Lutheran Home	Sauk Rapids	4
Holly	Kranz	DON	Oak Terrace HCC - Gaylord	Gaylord	6
Cheryl	Krause	DON	Emmanuel Nursing Home	Detroit Lakes	3
Judy	Larson	DON, RN, C	Bethesda Pleasantview Nursing Home	Willmar	5
Mary	Leber	RNC, Director of Consulting Services	Ecumen	Shoreview	7
Libby	Lindberg	RN, DON	Jones-Harrison Residence	Minneapolis	7
Susan	Lindberg	RN, C, ADON	First Care Med Serv	Fosston	1
Juli	Miller	RNC, CDONA	Lakeside Health Care Center of Dassel	Dassel	4
LuAnn	Moen	RN	Glenwood Retirement Village	Glenwood	3
Marilyn	Oelfke	Senior Director/LTC Services	Perham Memorial Home	Perham	3
Pam	Olson	RN, BSN, DON	Lakewood Health System	Staples	4
Melissa	Pearson	RN, DON	Inter-Faith Care Center	Carlton	2
Lori	Petersen	RN, DON	Littlefork Medical Center	Littlefork	2
Kelly	Purrier	RN,C, DON	Lake Ridge Care Center	Buffalo	4
Audrey	Roche	DON	Augustana Health Care Center	Hastings	7
Lori	Roers	RN, DON	St. Williams Living Center	Parkers Prairie	3
Linda	Rosecke	Adm. DON	Walker Methodist HCC	Minneapolis	7
Marsha	Scott	DON	New Harmony Care Center	St. Paul	7
Sandy	Stang	RN, C-Intake Coordinator	Good Shepherd Lutheran Home	Sauk Rapids	4
Barb	Swanson	RN,C, DON	VOA, Maplewood Campus	Maplewood	7
Mary	Thesing	DON	Monticello Big Lake Nursing Home	Monticello	4
Angela	Urman	DON	Knute Nelson	Alexandria	3
Lenore	Wendorff	DON	Maplelawn Nursing Home	Fulda	5

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MN-DONA Gold Patron Members

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Jun 8	Jun 9	Jun 10	Jun 11 District 7 Area 1 Meeting Crowne Plaza Minneapolis North-Brooklyn Park 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM	Jun 12	Jun 13 District 5 South Meeting Coffey Haus in Luverne 12:30 PM	Jun 14

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Contact Information

MN-DONA/LTC
c/o Best Meetings Inc.
2626 E 82nd Street, Suite 270
Bloomington, MN 55425
Phone: 952-858-8875 or 800-958-8875
Fax: 952-858-8950
Email: barb@bestmeetings.com

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