“Were there none who were discontented with what they have, the world would never reach anything better.”

-Florence Nightingale

Isn’t this the real reason you decided to advance your education? You saw things that were broken in the health care system or things that were not patient friendly and you wanted to help fix these things. Hopefully this is also the reason you joined a professional organization. Your membership in MICNP is an investment in yourself, your career,

and your profession. Professional organizations are formed to keep likeminded professionals connected and up-to-date on industry stand-ards and to advocate for changes that are necessary to maintain profes-

sional standards. Professional organizations are made up of learned professionals who strive to safeguard the profession through education and advocacy.

Professional organizations are a place to network and connect with people who

are similarly focused. Whether you are a new graduate or experienced NP, this network can help you find a new position, negotiate a new employment contract, and gain insight into han-dling difficult situations. When you list your membership and involvement in MICNP on your resume, employers know that you desire to continue to learn, are dedicated to your profes-sion, and have professional goals. To this end, MICNP offers opportunities for members to network regionally, as well as across the state. This is done through chapter-based meetings and the annual state conference. MICNP’s e-newsletter is a great way for members to stay connected with what is going on across the state.

MICNP offers many professional development opportunities. These include: legisla-tive updates, chapter educational meetings, an annual advocacy day and annual educational conference (MICNP members receive a discount). Additionally, weekly emails are sent out with updates from around the state and nationally, and bi-monthly job postings provide you

with access to information about current employment opportunities in Michigan. Professional organizations provide leadership opportunities for members who volun-

teer to chair committees, oversee projects, or serve on the executive board. These leader-ship opportunities can take the form of mentoring students, new graduates, or seasoned NPs who are trying to decide on a job change. These leadership opportunities allow you to take part in shaping the future initiatives of the organization and moving your profession forward. MICNP’s student affiliate chapters also have officer and committee positions that lead the group’s activities, and these have provided a great springboard for these volunteers to stay engaged in the organization past graduation.

Professional organization membership also affords you a voice through voting privileg-es. As a voting member of MICNP you are able to impact the next group of NP leaders and help shape the direction of the organization that represents your profession. In addition, elec-tions are held annually for various volunteer roles. There are also board positions that are appointed, so an individual does not have to go through the election process. Volunteer lead-

ership changes help to foster innovation and creativity within the organization. There is al-ways more than one way to get a job done!

(continued on page 2)

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT, Ann Sheehan, DNP, CPNP

MICNP News Summer Newsletter

July 2015

Inside this issue:

Letter from the

President

1

Legislative Update 2

MICNP Members

In The News

3

MICNP Partners

featured

4

MICNP PAC 5

MICNP Chapter

Corner

6

Upcoming Events 7

Becoming in-

volved as an active partic-ipant by serving your profession as a volunteer leader is a great way to learn from other NP leaders and augment your professional develop-ment. Not to mention, we have lots of fun, once we get our work done!!

I want to say

‘Thank You’ for choosing to be a member of MICNP. Membership in MICNP has never been more important. As a member you are sup-porting our mission and

advocacy work to pro-mote full practice author-

ity for APRNs and in-crease the supply of pro-viders, improve patient’s

access to care, and de-crease health care costs.

The time is now to move full practice au-thority legislation forward (click HERE to read a column I wrote for the Grand Rapids Press). In order to do this, all APRNs in Michigan must speak with a strong, clear, unified voice. This can only be accomplished through an organized, strategic effort – this is where a professional or-ganization can take the

lead. MICNP’s mission includes building a posi-tive image of the NP as a leader in health care.

This can only be accom-plished through full prac-tice authority for NPs

working in Michigan. Please consider of-

fering your time and talents by volunteering for one of the open positions. The MICNP Board is an excellent place to hone your leader-ship skills in a safe, nurturing environment. By being a MICNP leader you will be on the front lines of creating change and improving the professional image of APRNs in Michigan. MICNP is only as strong as its membership engagement. If you won’t volunteer to help lead and

move your profession for-ward, who will?

If you would like more information about the

open positions or want to volunteer, please contact the MICNP Business Office.

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT (continued from page 1)

MICNP member Joanne Pohl co-authored "Primary Care Workforce: The Need

to Lower Barriers for Nurse Practitioners and Physicians" for the HealthAffairs

Blog, which takes a look at primary care workforce numbers by comparing the

annual primary care residency match data with the primary care nurse

practitioner (NP) graduation rates. The article suggests that because costly

and unnecessary barriers to NP practice continue to exist, impeding both

NPs and physicians from working to their fullest capacity, it is time to remove

barriers and support a collaborative dialogue about the needed changes in the

U.S. primary care health system. Click HERE to read in its entirety.

MICNP LEGISLATIVE UPDATE After the last substitute bill of SB 68 (HB 4207 was the House companion bill) was taken off the Senate voting agenda in late May, we have not heard of any further action scheduled for that legislative chamber. However, the House Health Policy Committee has asked for input on language to possibly draft their own bill, so we are asking all MICNP members to con-nect with their respective State Representatives throughout the summer to help lay a positive foundation for advancing legislation through that

chamber in the near future.

We encourage you and your colleagues to schedule a meeting in Lansing, your local district, or invite them to your workplace to see APRNs in action! (click HERE to find your House legislator) Please email MICNP Executive Director Olivia McLaughlin

at olivia@micnp.org with any feedback you get from legislators or their staff.

Page 2 MICNP News Summer Newsletter

Nurse practitioners

“are far less costly to

employ and train than

doctors and can help

provide primary care for

the millions of Ameri-

cans who have become

newly insured under the

Affordable Care Act in

an era of shrinking

budgets and shortages

of primary care doctors.

Three to fourteen nurse

practitioners can be

educated for the same

cost as one physician...”

Click HERE to read the

May 25, 2015 NY Times

article “Doctoring, Without

the Doctor” quoting the

2011 Institute of Medicine

report that calls for bet-

ter utilization of advanced

practice registered nurs-

es.

This fall the MICNP membership will be electing a Treasurer and a Secretary, and we also have a few open appointed chair positions that need your leader-ship.

These positions include an Organizational Management Chair, and a Public Relations & Mar-keting Chair, and each of the five regions across the state will be electing a Regional Representa-tive, as well. I encourage

you to look at these po-sitions and consider which one would be the right fit for you (see page

7 of this newsletter for more information).

Congratulations to the following 2014-2015 MICNP Student

Scholarship recipients who were recognized at the annual spring conference during the MICNP business meeting: Amanda Atchoo (Ann Arbor Chap-ter), Sara Baker (Flint Chapter), Brian Kaminski Jr. (Ann Arbor Chapter), Jennifer Kirk (Capital Area Chapter), Tracey Laporte (Metro Chapter),

Kristen Light (Metro Chapter), Jessica Martin (Capital Area Chap-

ter), Michelle Munch (Ann Arbor Chapter), Jenna Rennells (Capital Area Chapter), Kara Schrader (Capital Area Chapter) and Gloria Smith (Ann Arbor Chapter).

[Front row pictured l to r: Kara Schrader,

Kristen Light, Amanda Atchoo, Brian

Kaminski Jr, Gloria Smith, Sara Baker,

Jenna Rennells, Michelle Munch]

dangerous condition. She also volunteers and provides medical care to homeless

persons through her work at Hope Warming Center in Pontiac, MI.

MICNP

member

Susan Sirianni,

DNP, ANP

-BC,

CCRN ac-

cepted the

Oakland

University

School of

Nursing Advanced Practice Nursing award

at OU’s 2015 Nightingale Awards for

Nursing Excellence. As the lead NP in

the surgical intensive care unit at Sinai

Grace Hospital in Detroit, MI, Dr. Siri-

anni implemented the Sepsis Identifica-

tion & Early Intervention Program and

has made many changes in how sepsis

patients are cared for (click HERE to

read more from DMC newsletter).

She also incorporated research initia-

tives and developed an interprofessional

early mobility protocol in their ICU and

assisted with guidelines to help eliminate

unnecessary phlebotomy and diagnostic

imaging with ICU patients.

MICNP member Mary Smania DNP, FNP-BC, AGN-BC received

the 2015 NP of the Year award at MIC-

NP’s annual conference. She currently

serves as the Champion of Clinical Prac-

MICNP MEMBERS – IN THE NEWS

MICNP member Jessica Diver,

MSN, CPNP received the 2014

NAPNAP Foundation Richardson DNP

Student Scholarship at this year’s na-

tional NAPNAP conference in Las Vegas, NV.

MICNP member Michelle Pard-

ee, DNP, FNP-BC was elected to

the 2015-17 Board of Directors of

the Michigan Primary Care Consorti-

um.

MICNP member Kim Fenbert,

DNP, CPNP received the Associa-

tion of Faculties of Pediatric Nurse Prac-

titioners 2014 Educator of the Year

award.

MICNP

member

Marlene

Mullin,

DNP,

APRN-BC

accepted the

Oakland

University

School of

Nursing Dis-

tinguished

Alumni award at OU’s 2015 Nightin-

gale Awards for Nursing Excellence.

Dr. Mullin found her passion after

her father was diagnosed with a deep

vein thrombosis and she has devoted

herself to bringing awareness to this

tice Development & Assistant Profes-

sor, Health Programs at Michigan

State University’s College of Nursing,

where she also precepts students and

has been integral in the development

of a student chapter there for

MICNP.

Dr. Smania

has been a

strong ad-

vocate for

improving

breast

health in

the mid-

Michigan

area for

several

years, and

has

organized free breast screening

clinics for women which have oc-

curred during October as national

Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

She has also been the recipient of a

Susan G. Komen for the Cure award

for several years that has been utilized

to improve breast health screening

and diagnostic services to under-

served women in the mid-Michigan

area, as well as a Susan G. Komen

award that supported the develop-

ment of a mobile health technology

application to increase provider

BRCA knowledge titled “BRCA Risk

Tool”, which is available for most elec-

tronic devices. Click HERE to see

her YouTube interview about this

exciting app.

MICNP 2014-2015 STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS

MICNP NEWS

The Nurses Service Organization

(NSO) is the preferred provider

of professional liability insurance

for MICNP and many other profes-

sional nursing associations professional

nursing associations, providing their

members with access to quality, af-

fordable professional liability insur-

ance. Together with their affiliate,

Healthcare Providers Service Organi-

zation (HPSO), they insure nearly 1

million individual healthcare profes-

sionals nationwide.

Click HERE for information on obtain-

ing a premium rate quote from NSO.

Once you have your quote, the appli-

cation process is simple – you may

either submit the application through

their secure online connection, or

print an application and mail or fax it

to their office for processing.

New NSO Legal Case Study

(below): Failure to properly evalu-

ate and document, failure to per-

form adequate and appropriate fol-

low-up, failure to order appropriate

treatment and failure to refer a pa-

tient to a specialist.

The patient was a 49 year-old male

who was experiencing bleeding during

bowel movements. His wife made an

appointment for the patient due to his

rectal pain and bleeding. During the

first appointment with the defendant

nurse practitioner, the patient relayed

he had a past medical history of de-

pression, anxiety, heavy user of alcohol

and hypertension and a family medical

history positive for colon cancer and

cardiac disease. The patient was diag-

nosed with bleeding due to internal

Page 4

Will You Be Ready for the ICD-10 Transition? From MICNP attorney -

Donna Craig, RN, JD of The Health Law

Center, PLC: On October 1, 2015 phy-

sicians and other health care providers

will need to use the new ICD-10

Codes when billing for services ren-

dered to their patients. In order to be

ready, health care providers and IT

vendors need to work together to

ensure software systems are capable of

making the transition to the new ICD-

10. Health care providers and vendors

should jointly review all software sys-

tems in the office that use codes, this is

not limited to the practice management

software system. Since electronic

health records (EHR) systems use

codes, those also need to be evaluated.

Click HERE to contact The Health

Law Center to walk through a compli-

ance checklist for your practice.

MICNP apparel is now available on Land’s End

website!

It’s simple: 1) Click HERE to visit the

MICNP store link

http://business.landsend.com/store/micnp/ and choose from men’s, women’s or promotional products, then click on ‘Apply Logo’ , then follow the steps to place the MICNP logo on your merchandise before purchase.

2) Wear with pride!

MPRO is a Michigan non-

profit organization and national

leader in health care quality im-

provement with the goal of

helping health care get better. A

CMS-funded quality improve-

ment organization, they provide

medical consulting and review,

as well as data analysis to federal

agencies, state Medicaid and

public health organizations,

health care facilities, private

health plans and other third par-

ty payers.

Click HERE to read about their

current initiatives

(immunizations, diabetes, cardi-

ac, health IT meaningful use etc)

or to sign up for one of their

upcoming webinars.

www.mpro.org

hemorrhoids and advised to have a

colonoscopy to rule out other disease

processes, but the patient adamantly

refused any referral.

In this case, the patient continued to

see the nurse practitioner eleven

times over the next eighteen

months for various other com-

plaints, but never relayed any con-

cerns about continued rectal pain or

bleeding and the nurse practitioner

never had any further follow-up

discussions about a colonoscopy.

Approximately twenty months after

the patient’s initial office visit, a gas-

troenterologist found a four centi-

meter tumor in his rectum and the

patient was later diagnosis with dif-

ferentiated metastatic colon adeno-

carcinoma. The patient died one

year after his cancer diagnosis.

What would you do? Click

HERE to read the full case

study and outcome.

MICNP Advocacy Day October 7, 2015

8:00 am - 4:30 pm

$75 for APRNs $35 for Students

The day’s events will include:

Confirmed speak-

er: Barbara Safriet, J.D., attor-

ney, visiting professor of health

law at Lewis & Clark Law School, renown consultant who

has written legal opinions on

removing regulatory barriers to

NP practice and reimburse-

ment

Advocacy and Lobbying

101: Nancy George, MICNP PAC Chair and Heather

Nicholoff, MICNP Lobbyist

Legislative appoint-

ments: appointments made

on the attendees behalf with

their respective State Senator

and Representative

Capitol visit: Group will

walk over together for (1) possi-ble floor recognition if House is

still in session and then (2) pho-

tos on front East lawn steps

-Continental breakfast and lunch provided

-CEUs provided

MICNP Legislative

Reception Radisson Hotel

4:30-6:00 pm Tickets $25 per person

-Network with invited legislators

over cocktails and hors d'oeu-

vres

Click HERE to register for the

event(s), or call us at the MICNP

Business Office 734.432.9881.

We need YOU to donate to MICNP PAC!

Over the last year, we have received donations to MICNP PAC from just over 10% of MICNP members.

These donations allow MICNP PAC to support the fundraising events of targeted state legislators. Soon the

Michigan legislature will be returning from summer break to finish up the 2015 session, and we need funds to

continue supporting legislators who are important to our advocacy efforts.

The MICNP PAC committee make donations to the State Senators and Representatives that support issues

important to nurse practitioners so they recognize NPs not just as their constituents but as donors.

To help these efforts, we need everyone to make a donation to MICNP PAC. The money you donate provides

another opportunity for our voices to be heard. A donation in any amount helps MICNP to continue our ef-

forts, and it is now easier than ever to give on the MICNP website.

Click HERE for a link to the MICNP PAC page on www.micnp.org, where you can see a list of past donors,

and make a donation. Thank you for making a donation today!

2015 MICNP ADVOCACY DAY - REGISTER NOW!

MICNP POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (PAC)

MICNP News Summer Newsletter

PAGE 5

Check out how some of our

MICNP chapters have found

ways to give back to their

local communities:

Ann Arbor Chapter will be

participating in the Stay in the

Shade run which fundraises for

research and supports melano-

ma survivors on November

8th in Highland, MI.

Metro Chapter donated a

heart defibrillator to the Hope

Warming Center in Pontiac, MI

this February after hearing that

the staff there had to perform

CPR on homeless guests on

several recent occasions. An

article and photo appeared in

the Oakland Press (click HERE

to read the full version).

Northeast Chapter served

as a sponsor of a Safe Sitter

class through Alpena Regional

Medical Center in April. They

also donated a boys & girls

bike with helmets for a raffle at

the popular community con-

cert event Summertime.

MICNP CHAPTER CORNER

MICNP BOARD REPRESENTED AT NATIONAL AANP 2015 CONFERENCES

[Below left: MICNP PAC Chair Nancy George and MICNP member/AANP State Rep Beth Kuzma at AANP’s March

2015 Health Policy Conference in Washington, DC. Below right: MICNP President Ann Sheehan, MICNP Treasurer

MaryAnne McCoy and MICNP Secretary Mary Serowoky at AANP’s June 2015 National Conference in New Orleans]

MICNP SPOTLIGHT MICNP member Michelle Witkop helps run the local bleeding disorder center at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, MI, where she and another nurse practitioner coordinate care for more than 200 patients from a 27-county region - all without an in-house blood disorder specialist. The Northern Regional Bleeding Disorder Center is the lone nurse practitioner-led bleeding disorder clinic in the country, and they collaborate with distant physicians to provide care locally on time-sensitive medical cases. The center secured a USDA grant to help them upgrade their telemedicine system to improve com-munication between specialists, nurses and patients. Click HERE to see an article printed in the Traverse City Record-Eagle. Kudos to Michelle for your innovation and dedication

to quality care for MI patients!

Page 6

MICNP News Summer Newsletter

New MICNP student affiliate chapters

UM Flint, Madonna & UM Ann Arbor NP students along with their faculty advisors at

the University of Michigan-Flint, Madonna Uni-

versity and the University of Michigan-Ann Ar-

bor have launched MICNP student affiliate

chapters this past year. We are very excited to

see this membership segment grow so that we

can increase participation from NP student

members at MICNP and better serve them now

and in the future!

September 19, 2015 MICNP State Board

meeting in Lansing, MI.

October 7, 2015

MICNP Advocacy Day & evening legislative

reception at the Radis-son Hotel in Lansing,

MI.

November 7, 2015

The MICNP Capital

Area Chapter Pharma-cology Conference will

be held on Saturday,

November 7th at MSU’s Bott Building in

East Lansing, MI.

December 7, 2015 The MICNP Ann Ar-

bor & Metro Chapter

CEU Saturday will be held at Joy Manor in

Westland, MI.

SAVE THE DATE! MICNP 15th Annual Advanced Practice Nursing Conference: March 11-13, 2016 Lansing Center in Lansing, MI

Follow MICNP on

Twitter

@MichiganNPs

Connect with other

MICNP fans on

Facebook to discuss

NP issues, news and

events.

Have you logged in lately? Please

visit www.micnp.org to check out

legislative talking points, articles of

interest to NPs and much more!

We are always looking for ways to

improve our website and overall

communication to our members, so

please email us with comments.

On LinkedIn? Create an account

or log-in and search Michigan

Council of Nurse Practitioners in

Groups and click to join the net-

work!

UPCOMING EVENTS

WWW.MICNP.ORG

MICNP BUSINESS Votes will be tabulated and re-

sults announced on October

16th. Eligible candidates are cur-rent, regular members of MICNP

in good standing.

If you are interested in running

for MICNP Secretary or Treas-

urer, submit your CV and a com-pleted ‘Nomination’ form

(click HERE) to MICNP Execu-

tive Director Olivia McLaughlin

via email to olivia@micnp.org.

Please note that information tak-

en directly from the nominations

form is used as part of the bal-

lot.

To learn more about the new Re-

gional Representative positions,

click HERE for the job description and nomination forms.

_____________

MICNP nomination period for Secretary, Treasurer &

Regional Representative

positions now open!

The nomination period for the

positions of MICNP Secretary,

Treasurer and five Regional

Representatives is now open through September 16th at

5:00pm. After the nominations

committee reviews the submis-

sions, they will organize the

slate and voting will take place from September 22-October

13, 2015.

MICNP NEWS

Did you know? MICNP and MICNP leadership

have been quoted in several news articles this year related to

increased advocacy efforts

around APRN scope of practice

legislation. Keep updated on the latest news on MICNP’s homep-

age News link (click HERE).