Please attend CAPRN meeting this Saturday and meet our new lobbyist!

Hello everyone!  Let me tell you why you want to attend (either in person or by phone) the next meeting of the Coalition of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (CAPRN), on Saturday, October 17th, from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm at Emory College of Nursing.  There are now 10,400 licensed APRNs in Georgia.  To put that in perspective, there are only 4,332 active physician assistant licenses.  If APRNs come together in an organized fashion, we can be a force to be reckoned with!  That is why the "umbrella organization" of CAPRN was created in 2010.  These are the groups that make up CAPRN's membership:

• American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, Georgia Chapter
• American College of Nurse-Midwives, Georgia Affiliate
• Georgia Clinical Nurse Specialists
• Georgia Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association
• Georgia Nurses Association (GNA)
• National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, Georgia Chapter
• Nurse Practitioner Council of Coastal Georgia
• Central Georgia Advanced Practice Registered Nurses
• United Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (State and Local Chapters)

The Georgia State Legislative session starts again in January.  You may not be unaware of this, but every year physician groups quietly introduce bills which can limit APRN practice in Georgia, and frequently oppose bills that support our role.  Laura Searcy, Georgia's only APRN lobbyist, has helped deflect these attempts for several years (see attached), but she has stepped down from that role to serve as National President of NAPNAP.  CAPRN has found a Registered Lobbyist with five years of experience in the Georgia legislature who is willing to represent us at a low cost.  This lobbyist, Julianna McConnell, will be at the meeting from 11am-12pm to meet with CAPRN members and answer their questions.  

So far, representatives from every professional group of APRNs in the State, except the nurse anesthetists, have agreed to come to this meeting.  This will be a wonderful opportunity to come to a consensus about our mutual goals for the next few years, and how we can achieve them.  All APRNs are welcome.  If you can not make it in person, you may call in at the following number to participate: (712) 432-1500.  When prompted, enter 138198# to join.  Some participants have expressed concern over paying long-distance charges, so CAPRN is investigating utilizing a 1-800 number.  However, this would have to come out of CAPRN's budget, and they are already running at a deficit, so it might not be possible.  CAPRN has now made it possible to make individual donations via their website.  If every APRN in Georgia gave only $10-$25 a year, that would be enough to pay for our lobbyist full-time, keep CAPRN's website active and secure from cyberattacks, and fund our efforts to improve communication amongst all the APRN groups in Georgia so everyone is represented and informed.  Here is the website link for donations:

http://caprn.org/support/

The address for the meeting is 1520 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30322.  Park in the garage accross from the Nell Hodgson Woodruff College of Nursing building, then come to the second floor, room 201.  Please consider donating, and I hope you can join us!

Julie Hannah, FNP-C

Secretary, CAPRN

President-elect, Gwinnett/Forsyth Chapter of UAPRN