Journal of Pediatric Health Care NAPNAP Update 213

Sunday’s orientation was followed by a reception during which participants began networking. Mon- day we examined how health policy is made; Tues- day, we looked at federal agencies as they related to nursing. Wednesday was spent on Capitol Hill, lob- bying senators and representatives and observing congressional hearings. Thursday was focused on co- alition building; on Friday we reviewed some grass- root successes and summed up the total experience. Throughout the week we remained focused on our main objectives and structured our observations and learning around the general question: What can nurses do to influence health policy making?

More than 30 speakers provided a wealth of in- formation and examples from their own experience to help us answer that question. There are five ways

in which we as nurses can shape health policy, which include the following:

. Being knowledgeable about political issues

. Being knowledgeable about the political process

. Providing information to policy makers

. Being an advocate for health policy

. Becoming policy makers ourselves The agenda of the nursing profession includes the

improvement of health care delivery for everyone. We work toward that goal in our daily practice, but the decisions of health policy makers often frustrate us. One lesson we learned as nurse in Washington interns is that nurses can be effective health care ad- vocates. Small, individual efforts can make a differ- ence in what a legislator knows and decides, but when we organize, our influence can be amazing!

PEOPLE, PLACES, AND EVENTS (Send items of interest to Assistant Editor, Ruth G. Mullins; allow &month lead time for meeting announcement.)

8 EVENTS*

Sept. 6, 1989, “Certification Review Course for Pediatric Nurses,” Washington, D.C.

Sept. 6-7, 1989, “Certification Review Course for Adult Nurse Practitioners,” Washington, D.C.

Sept. 8-9,1989, “Certification Review Course for Pediatric Nurse Practitioners,” Washington, D.C., review course for certification examination by the National Board of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners/Associates and the Amer- ican Nurses’ Association

Contact: Virginia Millonig, l?hD, CPNP, Health Lead- ership Associates, P.O. Box 1682, W. Bethesda, Mary- land 20817; (301) 299-2341

Sept. 14-17, 1989, Oregon Nurses Association Nurse Practitioner Special Interest Annual Educational Con- ference, Portland-Lloyd Center Red Lion Inn, Port- land, Oregon

Contact: Oregon Nurses Association, c/o Roz Rey- nolds, 1666 N.W. Eastbrook Court, Beaverton, OR 97005

Sept. 20-21, 1989, Forty-sixth Annual Brennemann Me- morial Lectures, Los Angeles Pediatric Society, varied speakers, Los Angeles Hilton Hotel, Los Angeles, Cal- ifornia

Contact: Eve Black, Los Angeles Pediatric Society, P. 0. Box 2023, Inglewood, CA 90305

*All Chapter programs have been approved for NAPNAP contact hours, which are also given for all PREP-approved AAP and NAACOG programs. Unless otherwise indicated, the reader should write to the contact person or the national office of NAPNAP to verify whether NAPNAP contact hours will be granted in the program.

Oct. 6-8,1989, ‘Trends in Pediatrics,” American Academy of Pediatrics, varied speakers, Marriott’s Mountain Shadows, Scottsdale, Arizona

Contact: American Academy of Pediatrics, Division of Continuing Education, P. 0. Box 927, Elk Grove Vil- lage, IL 60009-0927

Oct. 9-13, 1989, ‘Nursing Systems Toward Effec- tive Parenting-Preterm-(NSTEP-P) Conference,” Seattle, Washington

Oct. 21-26, 1989, Annual Meeting, American Academy of Pediatrics, varied speakers, Chicago, Illinois

Contact: American Academy of Pediatrics, Division of Continuing Education, P. 0. Box 927, Elk Grove Vil- lage, IL 60009-0927

Oct. 21-27, 1989, “NCAST Local Instructor Training Conference,” Seattle, Washington

Contact: Nia Johnson-Crowley or Georgina Sumner, NCAST, WJ-10, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195

8 PLACES

Call for abstracts for poster sessions on research and clinical topics for the Fourth National MCN Con- vention to be held March 18-21, 1990, in Orlando, Florida. The convention is sponsored by AKN, The Arnwican Jownal of Matema& Child Nut&g. Dead- line for submission is July 30, 1989.

Contact: Deborah Brown, The MCN Conven- tion, George Little Management, Inc., 2 Park Ave., Suite 1100, New York, NY 10016.