Expert Policy Analysis

Issue Brief Index

• Ignorance is not a defense: Implications of heightened scrutiny of fraud and abuse

  
  The Obama Administration has stepped up efforts to discover and penalize fraud and abuse in health care services. Nurses, especially APRNs, need to take steps to identify and avoid fraud and abuse. Even honest mistakes could result in charges.

• The Imperative of Breastfeeding: Policy Changes to Promote the Health and Economic Benefits of Infant Feeding [PDF]

  
  Breastfeeding has tremendous economic and health benefits. Education, encouragement, and policy support of breastfeeding are key to promoting this public health strategy. Nurses should enhance national efforts to support breastfeeding, and advocate for nursing-friendly hospitals - both for the patients and the staff.

• Nursing Beyond Borders: Access to Care for Documented and Undocumented Immigrants [pdf]

  
  Immigration continues to be a politically divisive issue. However, ANA firmly believes immigrants, whether documented or not, should have access to quality health care, including the opportunity to purchase insurance. Contrary to common belief or political rhetoric, giving this population access to insurance is an evidence-based way to actually reduce health care costs.

• Health System Reform: Nursing's Goal of Quality, Affordable Care for All [PDF]

  
  The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — or PPACA — roughly follows the key areas that ANA has set forth as necessary for effective health reform; the latest iteration of this policy was ANA’s Health System Reform Agenda (2008).

• Care Delivery Models in Health Care Reform: Opportunities for Nurses [PDF]

  
  PPACA directs renewed attention and substantially more resources and incentives to promote those elements of care which are also the backbone of nursing practice. These essentials include patient-centered care; care continuity; coordination and integration across settings and providers; chronic disease management; patient education; prevention and wellness care; and information management.

• Solving the Crisis in Primary Care [PDF]

  
  NPs and CNMs are qualified to lead medical homes for all types of populations and health conditions, and will be invaluable in the looming gap in primary care services.

• A Nurse's Duty to Respond in a Disaster [PDF]

  
  Unresolved issues of legal, ethical, and professional considerations of disaster medical response remain a challenge, and could hamper the ability of nurses to respond. A concerted effort to solving these problems is needed, with nurses and stakeholders at the national, state, and local levels.

• APRNs with a National Provider Identifier [PDF]

  
  APRNs across the U.S. have obtained a National Provider Identifier that facilitates their electronic direct billing to Medicare, Medicaid, and private health plans. By obtaining NPIs, APRNs can help give a good picture of billing and reimbursement.

• Fighting Childhood Obesity [PDF]

  
  Professional nurses are instrumental in working collaboratively with families, communities, and other professionals to eliminate the health hazard of childhood obesity.

• 2009 Registered Nurse Employment and Earnings

  
  The US government estimates that RNs are the occupation that would experience the greatest absolute increase in the number of jobs over the 2008-2018 timeframe. They project an increase of 582,000 jobs for registered nurses, a 22 percent in-crease over the 2008 levels.