STN Legislative and Public Affairs Interest Group is active in providing information to members on issues that impact trauma systems on the national and regional level. If you are interested in becoming involved with the group or have suggestions for programs for STN to consider, please contact the committee chair at LegislativeIG@traumanurses.org

Contents include:

STN Position Papers

1. Position Paper on Screening for Alochol Use in Adult Primary care Settings, 2005 (PDF)

2. Position Paper on the Role of the Nurse Practitioners in Trauma, 2005 (PDF)

3. Position Paper on Importance of Trauma Systems-Vital Role of Nursing (PDF)

4. Position Paper on Trauma Center Role in Disaster Planning (PDF)

Trauma System Agenda for The Future Document finalized 10/02

What is it?
The Trauma System Agenda for Change is a vision document for Trauma Systems that was written by representatives from multiple organizations including the Society of Trauma Nurses. The goal was to outline the challenges facing trauma systems, define the fundamental components and express the vision for all of these components as well as trauma systems as a whole.

Who was involved in writing the document
All trauma disciplines have been involved in writing this document. The meetings, which were facilitated by the American Trauma Society and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, included representatives from the American College of Surgeons, American College of Emergency Physicians, National Association of EMS Directors and the Society of Trauma Nurses, to name just a few.

To read the document, go to www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/ems/TRAUMA_SYSTEM/index.htm

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Public Policy Initiatives

The National Leadership Forum on Disaster Volunteerism

This group was brought together in response to the September 11th terrorist attacks which increased awareness to a serious and ongoing challenge - how to engage and manage volunteers in disasters, especially those of significant magnitude.

The National Leadership Forum on Disaster Volunteerism convened senior leadership and operations experts from the volunteer, emergency management and trauma communities to further efforts to improve our nation's ability to engage volunteers appropriately and effectively in all phases of disaster. The Society of Trauma Nurses is a part of this discussion group.

FORUM GOALS

• Identify challenges and opportunities associated with disaster volunteerism.
• Develop draft recommendations and action steps for addressing the challenges and leveraging the opportunities.
• Secure commitment from participating organizations to work toward the recommendations proposed.

After the initial meeting it was agreed that all three objectives were met, while recognizing that the Forum was a first step in the process of improving disaster volunteerism. Additional discussion and input encompassing all three objectives will occur before finalizing plans or strategies for implementation.

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Health Resources and Services Administration Trauma-EMS Systems Program
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) convened a group titled The Health Resources and Services Administration Trauma-EMS Systems Program Stakeholders Group with the intent of providing a national voice concerning Trauma Systems issues. It was formed in response to an interest by legislative leaders to better understand Trauma systems and an interest in understanding how they interface with bioterrorism efforts. The Society of Trauma Nurses was invited to participate in this group.

The mission statement adopted by the group is: "The National Trauma Stakeholders Group (NTSG) is a collaborative and consensus based forum for formally and informally providing vision, guidance and technical assistance to the Federal Trauma -EMS Program. The NTSG will make recommendations concerning the most effective ways of improving the entire continuum of the Trauma System within the framework of the public health model and consistent with the Trauma Systems Agenda for the Future".

For more information on HRSA go to http://www.hrsa.gov/

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State Trauma Legislation

To research your state legislators and to check for current state trauma alerts go to: www.facs.org/ss/ac/index.html or to write your own legislator regarding trauma go to http://capwiz.com/facs/home/

National Trauma Legislation

Trauma Care Systems Planning and Development Act (Title XII of the Public Health Service Act)

What is it?
Title XII was established by the Trauma Care Systems Planning and Development Act in 1990 and provides federal seed money to assist states in planning and developing statewide trauma care systems.

What is the current issue?
This program has been funded at $3 million and $3.5 million for fiscal years 2001 and 2002 respectively. Despite this investment one-half of the states in the United States are still without a statewide trauma care system. Currently, support is being generated to increase the federal funding of this Act specifically the Trauma Systems provisions and to reduce the state matching requirements.

What can I do?
Watch for Action Alerts under Legislative News.

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Legislative Assistance Center

Using the Center

The Legislative Assistance Center is designed to assist you in writing or speaking to your legislators about Trauma Center and / or Trauma System support/funding issues. It includes the following sections:

Template letter: This letter is designed to be edited to suit your specific needs. It should be read carefully to assure that it is appropriate to your situation. Special care should be taken to ensure that the names of the legislators and the name and number of the bill you are supporting are current and correct. In addition, the ideal letter is short and succinct. Therefore the template letter should be edited to include only the sections that are most important for your cause.

Talking points: These are a list of facts that can be used when you speak to your legislators. They include facts about trauma as a disease as well as why Trauma Centers are so important.

There are additional web sites that can assist you in finding the names of your federal and state legislators and information on some current legislation.

Go to the American College of Surgeons Legislative Action Center at http://capwiz.com/facs/home/ to find information on current federal and state trauma legislation. You can find your federal and state legislators on this site.

Go to the American Hospital Association State, Regional and Metropolitan Site at http://www.hospitalconnect.com/aha/resource_center/links.jsp#2 and click on State Links to find your state organization. Most of the state sites give information on legislation pertinent to hospitals and allow you to find your state representatives for your region.

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The Society of Trauma Nurses supports the following programs and projects:

Americans for Nursing Shortage Relief
The ANSR Alliance requests at least $205 Million in FY 2005 to fund the Nursing Workforce Development Programs — Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act — under the Health Resources and Services Administration. Americans for Nursing Shortage Relief (ANSR) represents a diverse cross section of healthcare and professional organizations, healthcare providers, and friends of nursing that have united to address the ever-growing nursing shortage. The Alliance and the nation's 2.7 million registered and advanced practice registered nurses (RNs and APRNs) believe Congress must implement a comprehensive set of initiatives to increase the nursing workforce and enhance the status of the profession. The Consensus Document outlines the Alliance's plan to effectively deal with the complex factors contributing to today's nurse and nursing faculty shortages. STN has joined the list of organizations who have approved the Consensus Document.

Nurses for a Healthier Tomorrow
This is a coalition of 37 nursing and health care organizations, including the Society of Trauma Nurses, working together to wage a communication campaign to attract people to the nursing profession. Go to http://www.nursesource.org for more information on this important endeavor.

I Promise
The I Promise Program is a safe driving initiative developed for families with new young drivers. It consists of a parent-youth mutual safe-driving contract, a rear-window decal, and a 1-year community monitoring service. Go to http://www.ipromiseprogram.com for more information.

Coalition Against Big Trucks
This coalition of public citizen organizations, state and local law enforcement agencies, highway safety, environmental and business groups has embarked on a grass roots campaign to fight the efforts of bigger truck proponents to increase truck lengths and weights. Go to http://www.cabt.org for more information.

Contact information
For comments and questions contact the Legislative Committee Chair, Diane Wheaton at dwheaton@wfubmc.edu

Legislative IG Recommended Links