From the Desk of the President
Mattie Marshall, LPN

There is plenty of negative information about LP/VNs in the nursing literature. I have just finished reading a statement from a nurse that parrots the political research urging the use of more registered nurses because the mortality rate is higher when LP/VNs are working. This nurse actually believes what she is saying because someone with a PhD wrote it down and managed to get it published. There are so many variables that influence quality of health care provided in facilities. We have discussed this many times; LP/VNs are not independent practitioners. If LP/VNs are killing patients, then where in the world are the RN supervisors? Where are the physicians that set the protocols and issue the orders? Why do LP/VNs have fewer complaints filed against them? Why doesn't someone stop the killing machine?? For those of us that have spent our lives at the bedside, providing the professional service of nursing, this constant sing song of desperation is tiresome. It has been the mantra since 1965 – those that control education, control practice, and therefore, control the money spent in the profession. In all the meetings I have sat through, in all the speeches I have listened to, it always comes down to the same sorry picture – there will always be those that concentrate on minimizing others in order to maximize themselves. But there is hope! NAPNES meets such negative information with an even stronger determination to promote and protect the practice of nearly one million nurses that provide a tremendous amount of high quality care to thousands of people every day.

It is my pleasure to announce that NAPNES, like it has for the past 65 years, is yet again reviewing and renewing the Standards of Practice for LP/VNs. An outstanding team of nurse educators and practicing nurses are developing and expanding the new Standards. Once through our process, the Standards will be published here in JPN.

If you haven't been on our website (www napnes.org) recently, you need to check it out. Among the new and exciting information available, the NAPNES anatomy CD set is available at a very affordable price. The material is outstanding and the price just could not be better. Students and practicing nurses alike will be amazed at how much this information will help them acquire new skills and hone existing ones. P/VN Educators should work to get them on each student's computer and use the CDs as a teaching tool
NAPNES is exploring new certification courses and exams to offer on line. Our certification in pharmacology and long-term care are ever popular and to answer the demand of our members, we constantly examine new avenues to enhance the practice and employability of LP/VNs.

At NAPNES, we meet negative with higher standards and in the end; patients will judge us by our competence. NAPNES must keep the LP/VN level of education and practice in existence, and you must support NAPNES with your membership and your competence in the field. It just works!

I hope you all have a wonderful Spring and please start planning now for Convention 2007 in St. Louis. Together, we will meet negative, and conquer it!