The state's budget for community colleges passed Thursday includes $56 million allowing certain students to pursue a four-year nursing degree on a community college campus in partnership with a four-year college.

A scholarship program first proposed in the Senate budget did not make it into the final budget but $250 million was put into a fund for a yet-to-determined postsecondary scholarship.

Education groups, including the Michigan Association of State Universities, signed onto the plan earlier this month. It comes as there has been disagreement over how to expand opportunities for individuals to obtain a four-year nursing degree at community colleges.

The focus of the plan is to allow nurses with associate degrees to complete their bachelor's degrees in nursing on community college campuses through partnerships with four-year colleges and universities.

Each of the state's 28 community colleges would be eligible for $2 million in grant funding to implement the program under the proposal. Local employers and local workforce development agencies would also provide input and collaboration under the plan.

The Michigan Community Colleges Association also supported the proposal.

Article by Gongwer News Service

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), Office of Policy and Planning, is seeking nominations for a statewide Community Information Exchange (CIE) Task Force that will launch in August 2022. CIE is a localized effort to create and sustain the technology and relationships required to support Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) needs of both individuals and communities.

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ANA-MI would like to congratulate MaryLee Pakieser, MSN, RN, FNP-BC, on being re-elected to serve on the ANA Nominations Committee. MaryLee was re-elected over the weekend at the ANA Membership Assembly. Congratulations and thank you for representing our Michigan nurses, MaryLee!

Jonnie Hamilton, DNP, PHP-BC, NE-BC was selected by the American Nurses Association (ANA) as the 2022 recipient of the Mary Mahoney Award. Hamilton received her award last week during the ANA Membership Assembly in Washington, D.C. The award was established to recognize those individuals  “opening and advancing equal opportunities in nursing to members of minority groups.”  This award is named in honor of Mary Mahoney and recognizes significant contributions made by an individual registered nurse or a group of registered nurses, to integration within the nursing profession.

ANA-MI hosted their second, complimentary, Virtual Town Hall-Remembering Our Why: You Share, We Listen on May 24th. We would like to extend a thank you to our moderator, Tim Bulson, Community Relations Coordinator, St. Ann’s in Grand Rapids. We would also like to give a special thank you to our exceptional line-up of panelists: Selina Dallas, Administrative Director, DMC Sinai Grace; Dr. Nancy May, Chief Nurse Executive, University of Michigan Health System; and Linda Schaltz, Chief Nursing Officer, Spectrum Health Zeeland Community Hospital.

The conversation focused on ways to improve recruitment and retention. Each panelist had the opportunity to share solutions for ways to retain nurses, talk about what we can do to encourage nurses to stay in the profession, and offer innovative ways to acknowledge, and reward nurses for the great work they do and the quality care they provide to their patients. Members were able to join the conversation and interact in real-time with the panelists.

Thank you to Linda, Nancy, and Selina for being on the panel and to Timothy for moderating. This has been very insightful, and I have been given some great ideas." - Helena

"Once again, a great conversation!  So appreciate our panelists taking the time to be with us and share their thoughts.  For the next Town Hall, please invite your friends. We would love to see these grow!" - Julie

Mark Your Calendars! Our next Virtual Town Hall will be held on Thursday, August 18, from 4pm to 5pm. Watch for more information and registration in upcoming editions of the newsletters.

“Our hearts ache tremendously for the loved ones and the communities left behind in the wake of these heinous acts of violence,” said American Nurses Association President Ernest J. Grant, PhD, RN, FAAN. “The loss of young lives and the trauma of those who witnessed the carnage and survived will remain with them forever. Their lives will never be the same. There simply are no words. Burying a child is the most unnatural and horrific act that no parent should ever have to experience in their lifetime.”

Nurses witness the immediate carnage and devastation from mass shootings and gun violence.

“It's unimaginable and you never recover from it,” said Grant. “We extend our hearts and full support to all of the first responders, nurses and health care professionals providing care to victims and loved ones at the hospitals and health systems in affected communities across the country.”

Read the full statement here.

ANA-MI is excited to commemorate the annual National Nurses Month. We are all indebted to nurses for their unwavering commitment to patients, their communities, and our health care systems. The Nurses Month theme, “You Make A Difference,” was selected to encourage nurses, individuals, employers, other health care professionals and community leaders to recognize and promote the vast contributions and positive impact of America’s nurses.

Members of the Senate moved a $1. 2 billion supplemental appropriations package targeting the coronavirus pandemic response with federal funding for health care workers and facilities, testing and for school safety.

Passing by a 36-2 vote was HB 5523, containing all federal funds from the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund and the federal American Rescue Plan Act. The bill contains supplemental funding for fiscal year 2021-22.

Contained in the bill is $367.3 million for expansion grants for epidemiology and lab capacity, $300 million targeting health care recruitment, retention and training, $150.8 million for pandemic school safety for schools and $70 million for adult foster care facilities, which would provide for $700 per bed grants to eligible facilities.

Most of the remaining $1.206 billion appropriated to the Department of Health and Human Services would go toward various COVID-19 response, mitigation, treatment and vaccination programs.

Of the remaining funds, $10 million would be for capital outlay planning related to the construction of a new state public health and environmental science laboratory. The remaining $250,000 would be for the Department of Education for grants to school districts and intermediate school districts for work-based learning health services academies.

On February 1st, ANA-Michigan's new Nursing Practice Committee Chair, Erin Sudheimer, MSN, RN, participated in a media roundtable to highlight the need for flu vaccines. The month of February is considered peak flu season, so together with Dr. Tina Tanner, a primary care physician, and Zachary Yaksich, a father who lost his daughter to the flu when she was five years old, Erin helped to bring attention to the need for flu vaccinations by sharing a personal story and by reiterating that vaccines are a great way to prevent hospitalization.

ANA-Michigan is proud to have such a dedicated nurse member who is willing to participate in important discussions in the interest of public health.

To read the full press release, click here.