AWARD OF EXCELLENCE FOR PUBLIC POLICY & ADVOCACY: CMSNE/NEW ENGLAND

This award pays tribute to the CMSA Chapter offering the most outstanding public policy and advocacy program.

The primary focus of the CMSNE Public Policy Committee has been working to get the Nurse Licensure Compact passed in MA, RI and VT. To that end, the CMSNE Public Policy Committee has initiated letter-writing campaigns and encouraged phone calls and e-mails to legislators as well as collaborated with lobbyists, the ANA, the MA Hospital Association, AARP and Fresenius.

Other initiatives the CMSNE PPC has been tracking in each of the New England states include Telehealth and the Caregiver Act. Part of the mentoring and education that they practice includes helping individuals become more comfortable with the legislative process by tracking bills as they move to various committees.

For the 2020 CMSA Annual Conference, the CMSNE Public Policy Committee developed and presented a poster entitled "Opioid Legislation in Action for the Professional Case Manager." This poster served as a follow-up to their previous poster, "Legislation in Action: Dealing with the Opioid Crisis," which was presented at the CMSA Annual Conference in 2019. While the 2019 poster outlined legislation pertaining to the opioid crisis, the 2020 poster described the programs and actions that resulted from that legislation in each of the New England States. They were asked to submit an article about these posters that was then published in the January 2021 issue of CMSA Today.