While attending the National Conference of State Legislators in July, I met someone with whom we can all connect: a legislator who extolled the virtues of NPs. Mary Lou Marzian, RN, BSN, a Kentucky state representative and transplant nurse, is a powerhouse of political information and advice. Here, she shares one of her legislative success stories and offers advice on how we can work closely with our own state legislatures.
Marzian has secured victories for NPs in Kentucky, but not without the usual struggles. In 2001, the situation looked grim for Kentucky NPs when the Kentucky Medical Association (KMA) cozied up to the Kentucky Athletic Association to bar NPs from signing physical exam forms for sports participation. Marzian sponsored a bill to break the legislative impasse. The Senate, however, killed the bill.
Undeterred, Marzian introduced similar legislation in 2002. The bill passed the House, partly because the House added an amendment that also permitted chiropractors to sign sport physical exam forms. The Senate, influenced by the KMA, stopped the bill. A friend of NPs in the Senate Health Education and Welfare committee then added the NP bill to a popular adult day care bill, allowing it to leave committee. The bill passed the Senate and House and the governor signed it at the end of the 2002 session.
Marzian believes that three key elements help create legislative success stories: Demystifying your state legislature, getting to know your state representative, and never giving up on your cause.
Demystify Your State Legislature
Sure, your state's capitol building may seem intimidating with all that fancy marble, but the legislators who work within it are just your neighbors who happened to get elected. They have limited knowledge about some topics, and they have extensive knowledge on their favorite issues, says Marzian. "To many people, policymaking seems confusing and foreign, but it's not. Anyone with the brains to be an NP can do it with one hand tied behind their back," she said.
Jump on in and then Persist
Take the initiative and get to know your state legislator. "Just call and meet them for coffee," suggests Marzian. With more than 150,000 advanced practice nurses (95,000 NPs) in this country, several likely live in each state legislator's district. "Individually," Marzian says, "physicians aren't politically active, so NPs can beat physicians' financial power with their time and effort." Although two or three legislators in each state may be "in the pockets" of organized medicine, most welcome your help and information. For example, most legislators have no idea how much education NPs have. "When you share this information along with what you do, many legislators are amazed and influenced," she said.
Volunteer to help your legislator-one day each year-hand out literature, put up signs, or telephone constituents. "You think they won't listen to you if you do that for them? Believe me, they'll remember," insists Marzian.
Her final words of advice: Never give up. "The day you give up might really be the day you were to find your true ally." Kentucky NPs are fortunate to have such a dynamo in their legislature. Let's take her advice to heart and begin pounding the pavement in our own states.
FIGURE