Maine Nurse Practitioner Association
Presents
2017 NP Fall Conference

Hilton Garden Inn - Freeport, Maine
Saturday, Nov. 11 and Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017
To register, click here.

Saturday Evening

 CE Lecture - 4:30 to 6:00 PM (limited to 90 participants)
“Combating The Crisis: Maine’s Opioid Policy and Program Reforms”
Presented by:
Tyler Storm Lamensky, Project Manager for Strategic Initiatives, Maine DHHS
Reception Following Lecture
Appetizers, Beverages, Conversation

Sunday
Brunch and CE Lectures (no participant limit)
Brunch 8:30 AM

CE Lecture 9:00 to 10:30 AM
"Expanding Suboxone / Understanding Medication Assisted Therapy (MAT)"
Dr. Vijay Amarendran, Medical Director, Outpatient Services, Acadia Hospital.

CE Lecture 10:45 AM to 12:15 PM
“They Want Me To Do What?!? - An Update on Changes in
Opioid Prescribing, Managing Chronic Pain and Addressing Addiction”
Dr. Noah Nesin, Chief Medical Officer, PCHC

 To register, click here.

Nurse Licensure Compact Enacted in Maine

Thanks to Big Push by MNPA

     On June 25, 2017, Maine became the 24^th state to enact the Enhanced Nurse Compact law with the passage of L.D. 1410, An Act to Adopt A Nurse Licensure Compact.   MNPA's President, State Representative Anne Perry, was a co-sponsor of the bill.  MNPA Executive Director Pam Cahill made passage of L.D. 1410 her top priority for the legislative session.

     On July 20^th North Carolina became the 26^th state to enact the law, thus enabling all party states to establish a joint public entity known as the Interstate Commission of Nurse Licensure Compact Administrators that will be empowered to promulgate rules and pass bylaws to regulate and implement the enhanced compact.  Implementation date is expected around January 1, 2018.

     Maine nurses will now be able to work using one multi-state license in other states who have adopted the new compact, including five states not previously in the old compact: Florida, Georgia, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Wyoming.  Nurses from other compact states can work in Maine using their multi-state license.

      All safeguards that are built into the current state licensing process are required before a nurse is issued a multi-state license and all states must conduct federal criminal background checks to determine a nurse’s eligibility for a multi-state license.

      The enhanced compact is good for Maine by increasing access to health care, protecting patient safety, allowing nurses to quickly cross state borders to provide services in the event of a disaster and reducing costs by producing a more mobile nurse workforce.  It will help bring nurses to Maine, but will also be of help to Maine nurses seeking employment in other compact states.
     To read the full text of the law, click here.

HIV Outbreak in Indiana Could Happen in Maine

    The federal Center for Disease Control has identified the Maine counties of Washington, Waldo, Somerset and Kennebec at being at risk of an HIV outbreak due to IV drug use, similar to one that occurred in 2015 in the state of Indiana.  The chairs of the Maine legislature's Committee on Health & Human Services recently wrote to MNPA's Pam Cahill expressing their concern so that nurcse practitioners would be aware of this possibility.  Here is their letter:

     Link to 2015 CD bulletin on Indiana outbreak           
     Link to NEJM article on the difficulties of coping with such an outbreak