Rallying behind the theme for this year’s Annual Nurses Day at the Virginia General Assembly, “The Power of a Nurse’s Voice,” approximately 800 nurses gathered in Richmond Feb. 4 to support public smoking bans, raising the cigarette tax and scope of practice issues, and to urge lawmakers not to cut Medicaid funding.

The 24th annual Nurses Day, held at the Marriott Hotel in Richmond, included exhibits, speakers and a march to Capital Square.

“The rally is always inspiring to us and to legislators because at least half of our attendees are students,” said Susan Motley, CEO of the Virginia Nurses Association, a statewide professional organization. “When you see the younger generation is capable of being articulate spokespersons for the profession and interested in doing their part in advocating for the profession, it’s inspiring.”

Motley said that, in keeping with the VNA’s continued support for public health issues and clean air, the nurses’ group did support the most stringent legislation regulating smoking in restaurants and other public places. However, in not letting “the perfect be the enemy of the good,” she added that the VNA would continue to support any type of legislation that prohibits smoking in public.

Another priority for this year’s session was supporting legislation that allows nurse practitioners to practice to their full qualifications and training, Motley said.

“In areas where there is a shortage of all health-care workers, we need to work as a team to find out how to increase access in rural areas,” she said. “The nurse practitioner issue is an access issue since nurses are the gatekeepers to health care.”

Additional pro-nursing bills introduced this year, Motley said, included legislation that would allow retired nurses to re-enter teaching without jeopardizing their retirement benefits. She said the VNA looks for bills like these to support and works to educate members about such legislation.

“We have a grass-roots effort organized in terms of nurses knowing the message and taking that message to their legislators all year long,” Motley said. “If nurses are working in their own communities with their representatives all year long, they can establish a relationship.”

The VNA-affiliated legislative coalition also ensures concerns are brought from a wide range of nursing specialty areas, said Chelsea Savage, chairwoman of the legislative coalition and risk manager for Virginia Commonwealth University Health System’s Department of Risk Management in Richmond.

In this year’s session, Medicaid cuts were a particularly vital issue, Savage said, given that the program has no fat to trim in the first place. “This affects the patients and our jobs as well. We’re looking to hold that off from hemorrhaging.”

Another group affiliated with the VNA, the Virginia Partnership for Nursing, also supported the clean air and Medicaid issues, in addition to keeping a spotlight on the nursing shortage, explained VPN president Loressa Cole. Cole is also Chief Nursing Officer at Montgomery Regional Hospital in Blacksburg.

Cole said she and a group of nurses from Montgomery Regional travel to Richmond each year for the annual Nurses Day.

“As busy as nurses are, we want to take the time to be involved,” Cole said. She urged Montgomery’s staff to join professional organizations like the American Nurses Association and to check the VNA Web site for legislative updates and issues.

“Simply put … If we are not at the table as these decisions are being made, the decisions will be made for us,” Cole said.