Candidates responses to questionnaire from NNA.(NNA State Activities)(Nevada Nurses Association)

For ease of reference the responses are in alphabetical order.

Bernard "Bernie" Anderson--Assembly District 31

#1 Yes, Voluntary is OK. It is not OK for employers to expect or appeal to "professionals" as a means of getting it

#2 Yes, If we can build the new facility they should have the safest equipment both for patients and staff

#3 Yes, I would like to speak with the chair of health committee to see why this is in place

#4 Yes, Proper funding for all of education is being stretched. I would place this at the head of the line; however, there is not enough money to do it all

#5 no response

Bob Beers--Assembly District 21

#1 Yes Just like all other professions--OT should be PRN and voluntary

#2 Yes

#3 Yes

#4 Yes If we simply allow a state lottery & add $2 to the existing room tax & privatize the convention authority, we would be able to raise all educator salaried

#5 no response

Joetta Brown--Assembly District 39

#1 Yes Over time should be voluntary. I've managed staff in government and always checked with my staff first to determine if they could work the overtime

#2 Yes The technology is available and should be used

#3 Yes APNs should be able to fully perform the duties for which they have obtained proper education, knowledge & skill levels

#4 Yes If the funding is available I would support this. Nevada needs to remain competitive in attracting qualified educators if the current nursing shortages are to be properly addressed

#5 Yes Absolutely! How else can our professional nurses truly advocate for patient safety! I believe in truly open government--any information dealing with public welfare & safety needs to be open.

P.S. I am married to a retired Registered nurse & my son is a physical & respiratory therapist

Thank you for the opportunity to participate; in addition I would like to share with you our experiences when my husband had hip replacement surgery. We received attentive care, the nursing staff was overloaded and at night there were very few nurses on the floor. My concern is the quality of care patients will receive because of the budget cuts to Health and Human services. The Budget crisis is predicted to continue well into 2009. Nevada cannot continue to operate with a slash and burn budget policy. When elected I will work diligently to make certain the budget policy is reversed.

I would also like to see Nevada's major hospitals extend the opportunity to High School and College students to work in an apprenticeship program. Nevada's hospital's must become centers for advanced research in the field of medicine.

Barbara Buckley--Assembly District 8

# 1 I am very concerned about the issue--I am not sure how mandatory overtime law would work in all cases. What if a nurses was stuck and there was no one to watch her patients? I DO support finding a solution

#2 Yes

#3 Yes

#4 Yes As soon as funds are available

Steven J, Dalton--Assembly District 38

#1 Yes Exhaustion causes errors, error increase the cost of the overall system and by demanding nurses work extra shifts, it allows hospital to skate around the true issue at hand: nursing education programs and their lackadaisical support for them.

#2 Don't know that a law is the solution here in that for every law, there is a way to get around it; but I fully support the goal of that potential legislation. To the extent that preventing potential career ending injuries to nurses and horrible outcomes for patients is the focus, we must explore every option to prevent these kind of injuries, and I would be more than willing to participate in that discussion and advocate for solutions to this issue.

#3 Honestly, I don't know where I stand on this issue yet. I fully understand the need for healthcare in rural areas and I see many of the issues facing healthcare. What worries me is that this could end up being another way to use lesser and lesser trained individuals to provide more and more care at lower cost, but higher profits to entities that don't see patient care and outcomes as their guiding principle. I am open to discussion about this issue and welcome in put from parties directly involved in this discussion

#4 Yes Couldn't the hospitals that require those nurses provide some guest lecturers type staff to those colleges and programs. Honestly, I'd like to see open acceptance of all medical applicants into all programs and let them fail if they can't cut it. Lecturing to 30 people is no different then lecturing to 150 people. If they can't pass the tests, then send them packing, but forcing potential students to jump through hoop after hoop only to be turned down because there are only 30 slots is a laughable system and we should be gravely concerned as to how it will impact care in the coming decades. Clinical experiences should be mandated that hospital open their doors to student rotations and they must provide preceptors.

#5 Yes What concerns me though is that there isn't a legitimate entity to actually report it to that will do something more then file a report

Background:

I currently work at Renown RMC as a ward clerk in ER. Before that I spend two years teaching in Washoe Country School District as a special education teacher. I spent 3 years in the Army and 6 years in the Nevada National Guard. I am an NREMT-B and may find myself seeking more training. I've enrolled in the Red Cross's disaster training classes as I see the importance of volunteering in a community in times of need. I am studying for a Masters in Public Health and preparing to reapply to medical school. Healthcare and the looming monster that is the baby boom generation are focuses of my campaign platform. I would appreciate your support and ask each of your members in my district for their vote. I am sure I am a more suitable candidate to address these issues than the incumbent

Pete Goicoechea--Assembly District 35

#1 No Min Staffing has to be maintained

#2 Yes

#3 Yes

#4 No The budget is tight and every program is suffering

Ellen Koivisto--Assembly District 14

#1 Yes I have supported such legislation every time it has been presented to the leg.

#2 Yes I have supported this and will continue to support if it is again presented

#3 Yes Such a change would increase calls to health care in NV

#4 Yes

#5

John J Lee--Senate 1

#1 Yes

#2 Yes

#3 Yes

#4 Yes As funding is available, there are many completing needs

#5

All my answers are, of course, contingent upon the actual language of the proposed legislation

Ron Lontin--Assembly District 31

#1 Yes There is a danger in nursing when there is overload-patients could be subject to a wide variety of mistakes from MO requirements.

#2 Yes It is not help the state of Nevada to have nurses injured by lifting patients. although Nevada has severe budget concerns there is a way to provide the much needed equipment through public/private partnerships

#3 Yes This is an excellent opportunity to provide upward mobility in on the job to become an RN. My concern would be accountability for services rendered, tracking the new participations of APNs having oversight established

#4 Yes The current and projected Nevada budget is dismal, but there are ways to find new funds again I believe in public/ private partnerships.

#5 Yes There is a great deal of concern about elder abuse in nursing homes & hospital. It is important that a comprehensive review of any nursing abuses be review. There should be no threat to the professional who would make a report of any abuse in a hospital or nursing home.

Mark Manendo--Assembly District 18

#1 Yes

#2 Yes

#3 Need more information

#4 Yes Where are students being turned away--what schools?

#5

Harvey J Manford Assembly District 6

#1 Yes

#2 Yes

#3

#4

#5

John Marvel Assembly District 32

#1 Yes

#2 Yes

#3 Yes

#4 Yes If money available

Harry Mortenson Assembly District 40

#1 Yes Fatigue is bad for nurses, patients & Hospitals

#2 Yes Benefit is Obvious

#3 Yes In Many Situation nurses are more capable then doctors!

#4 Yes

#5

Bonnie Parnell Assembly District 40

#1 Yes As long as it allowed for exception that were agreed upon

#2 Yes

#3 Yes May depend on how broad the language

#4 Yes Absolutely

Debbie Smith--Assembly District 30

#1 Yes Philosophically, yes, however I always stipulate that it is necessary to see the specific legislation. This would surely be better solved at the local level, but I can support legislations if necessary

#2 Yes

#3 ? Unsure would need more information, definition of "full participation" needed

#4 Yes

#5

Lynn Stewart--Assembly District 22

#1 Undecided I would have to see the final Bill

#2 Undecided, Would this include the rural hospitals?

#3 Yes, I Think that I can support this although I'd have to see the final bill

#4 Yes As the funds are available. I sponsored a bill that would have allocated $30 million for a nursing building at NV State College. We did get $3 for the design and plans

Valerie Wiener--Senate District Clark 3

#1 Depending on how the legislation is drafted. I could support a prohibition on mandatory overtime, provided that exigent circumstances that affect public safety would be addressed.

#2 Yes I would support a requirement that hospitals & nursing homes & other care facilities adapt safe patient handling

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