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THE MINNESOTA APRN COALITION

NEWSLETTER

 March 2024

In this issue:

President’s Message
Legislative Committee Update
MN Pregnancy and Sud Task Force Update
Listening Session March 21
2024 Annual Pharmacology Review
APRN Day on the Hill – March 7
MATE and SUD CE resources

President’s Message

Spring is coming early! Along with spring comes a very busy legislative session. The APRN Coalition is deeply involved in our legislative agenda and activity monitoring other bills that impact APRN practice- whether in a positive or negative way. Our lobbyists do a great job of keeping us informed of other potentially impactful bills and we will either write letters of support or letters urging authors of bills to include APRNs when appropriate. 

One such bill is HF 1930/SF1813 HF 1930 Status in the House for the 93rd Legislature (2023 - 2024) This bill has included APRNs in the definition of a provider although does not include all appropriate APRNs in the definition of a licensed mental health consultant. At the first hearing of the bill, there were legislators who advocated for removing APRNs totally from the bill. While the Coalition does not take a stand on the issue of end-of-life options for patients, the Coalition does advocate for allowing patient access and choice in safe, cost-effective healthcare in the type of provider. 

In order to successfully remove barriers to APRN practice the Minnesota APRN Coalition needs YOU to become a member! Please join us in improving the access to quality health care for all Minnesotans. Please become a member of the MN APRN Coalition TODAY! If you already are a member, please renew your membership each year. MN APRN Coalition is a 501c(6) organization.

Thank you all who remain members which allows the Coalition to work for YOU!.

Join the MN APRN Coalition to support MN APRN Practice

2024 Legislative Update

Transition to Practice (TTP)

The Legislative Committee has been meeting with every Representative on the House Health and Finance Committee to advocate for the Transition to Practice bill (HF 3440). This bill proposes that the post graduate practice requirement of practicing in a setting where APRNs and physicians practice be retired. We have had preliminary meetings with the Minnesota Medical Association and Minnesota Academy of Family Practice Physicians and are actively working to find common ground between them and the Coalition. There are high hopes for a hearing to move this bill forward.

Please contact your legislator to support this bill and attend the MN APRN Coalition Day on the Hill, March 7, 10-12:30.

Do you have an APRN owned practice? When the Coalition Legislative Committee meets with legislators about the TTP bill, the legislator frequently asks if they have any APRN owned practices in their district. The Legislative Committee is compiling a list of APRN owned practices. Please email your name, the clinic name, and location to sabo.julie@yahoo.com.

Certified Midwife  (CM)

The MN APRN Coalition continues to support the MN ACNM (American College of Nurse Midwives) on Bill HF 1324 (Agbaje) /SF 1743 (Bolden), a bill which would create licensure in MN for the Certified Midwife (CM). Certified Midwives are part of the American College of Nurse Midwives (since 1994) and have the same midwifery scope of practice and midwifery education as Certified Nurse Midwives. Licensure of Certified Midwives will expand women's health and maternity providers in MN along with providing the same excellent outcomes as Nurse Midwives. The APRN Coalition & ACNM legislative teams have had further meetings with licensure boards, professional organizations, and legislators.

ACNM is partnering with ACOG to host a Lobby Day to promote the Certified Midwife Bill on March 12. Registration for the MN ACOG / ACNM Lobby Day 2024 is now open. Please click on this link to register before March 6th to get a chance to meet with your legislator.

 

Update from the MN Pregnancy and SUD Task Force

 

The Task Force on Pregnancy Health and Substance Use Disorder has met three times since its inception. In previous meetings the committee has reviewed by-laws and discussed group norms. Two co-chairs have been elected and the two committees were formed at the last meeting. The purpose of the committees are to explore recommendations for drug tests (maternal and neonatal) and reporting. Meagan has requested to be on both committees. 

 

Meagan is the only RN and APRN on the committee. The committee is made up of physicians with a broad range of backgrounds, social workers in various organizations, psychologists, government workers, and people with lived experience. 

-Meagan Thompson DNP, APRN, CNM, PMHNP

Listening Session March 21st

The Coalition is hosting another Open Forum listening session on March 21st. This topic will be related to owning and operating a telehealth practice.  

These sessions are designed for sharing challenges, learnings, and success between members. There is no cost, and they are held via Zoom.   

Please join us and share your successes and challenges with telehealth!

MN APRN Coalition Annual Spring Pharmacology Conference
Annual Pharmacology Review will be Friday, April 19, 2024

Do you need pharmacology CE?  Don't want to drive to a conference? The all- day 2024 Spring Pharmacology Webinar will feature 6 sessions for a total of 7 Pharm CEs.  This is a LIVE broadcast event. This program will NOT be available for on-demand viewing after the event is over. Attendees MUST ATTEND on conference day. Please join us for a fabulous educational event.

MN APRN Coalition Day on the Hill – March 7th

 

Join us for 2024 APRN Day on the Hill! We will kick off the day with a meeting in the Cass Gilbert Library Room 317A.  (located on the 3rd floor of the Capitol Building). At 10am MN APRN Coalition leaders will welcome attendees and then

• provide you an overview of our 2024 legislative agenda,
• provide information to prepare you for your individual meetings with your legislators in the afternoon.
• outline talking points for our bills.

Lunch is on your own.  In the afternoon plan to meet with your representative and senator from your district.  If you need assistance in arranging an appointment with your legislators, the MN Coalition can help facilitate making your appointments. There is no cost to attend but space is limited and we do ask you to register. 

This is a wonderful opportunity to have your voice as a Minnesota APRN heard!  

 

FREE MATE and SUD CE

The Medication Access and Training Expansion (MATE) Act, requires new or renewing Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) registrants, as of June 27, 2023, to attest that they have completed a total of at least 8 hours of training on opioid or other substance use disorders (SUD).  Practitioners who graduated from a U.S. APRN Program within the past 5 years (after June, 2018) are exempt from the 8 hours of training if they successfully completed at least 8 hours of opioid or other SUD curriculum that included:

Treating and managing patients with opioid or other SUDs, including the appropriate clinical use of all drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of a substance use disorder (U.S. Department of Justice, https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubs/docs/MATE_Training_Letter_Final.pdf)

Below is a list of some of the many options available for CEs that will satisfy the MATE Act requirement. The list is not exhaustive. The APRN Coalition does not support any particular program or organization, but we are providing our members with some of the free or low-cost online options for CE on SUD.

• SAMSHA has an entire FREE curriculum through Providers Clinical Support System (PCSS) with 23 modules on SUD training geared to meet MATE Act requirement and include some modules on perinatal SUD. https://pcssnow.org/courses/#results
• PRI-MED is a private organization providing continuing education focused on primary care. They have several FREE opioid and substance use disorder CME/CE courses that can be taken in any combination to fulfill the eight-hour MATE Act requirement. Their CE is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), and therefore approved to provide training that meets this requirement. https://www.pri-med.com/state/dea-cme-requirements?refurl=www.google.com
• NEJM Knowledge at https://knowledgeplus.nejm.org/cme-moc/pain-management-and-opioids-cme/ offers FREE online 10- hour CME/CE training to non-members, on the treatment and management of patients with opioid or other SUD.  This satisfies the 8-hour training requirements for DEA
• The American Medical Association AMA Ed HUB at https://edhub.ama-assn.org/course/302

has several FREE CE offerings that are geared to meet the MATE requirement and are available to non-members.

• The American Psychiatric Nurses Association offers 8 hours of FREE CE that will satisfy MATE training requirements. You can register for free as a non-member.  https://edhub.ama-assn.org/course/302
• If you are an AANP member there are 3 FREE CME hours on SUD https://aanp.inreachce.com/SearchResults?q=SUbstance%20use%20disorder&searchType=1

“Pain Management and Opioids: Balancing Risks and Benefits”

• AANA has a MATE CE “bundle” that satisfies the 8 hours of SUD training geared toward CRNA practice.  It costs $99.00 (member price) and $199.00 (non-member).  It is on the CRNA Knowledge Network https://knowledgenetwork.aana.com/product/dea-requirement-bundle?_ga=2.251876928.895550601.1684158447-1831167642.1610051329

Join the MN APRN Coalition to support MN APRN Practice