The April 20, 2006 NETNPA meeting was held at Piccasso’s in Johnson City, TN. Our speaker was Dr. Jeff Farrow from Pulmonary Associates of East Tennessee. Dr. Farrow spoke on COPD and Spiriva. Chad Hall of Boerhinger Pharmaceuticals sponsored the meeting.

Presentation Highlights

COPD by definition is an obstructive lung disease that is not fully reversible. This by definition removes asthma from the umbrella of COPD.

Smoking is the primary cause of COPD. Alpha 1 antitrypsin can be a genetic cause of COPD.

COPD is the fourth leading cause of death and the most common cause of lung disease.

Mortality rates of COPD continue to rise, not for lack of care and treatment but most likely due to several decades of unrestricted smoking behaviors.

Smoking prevalence among women has doubled that of men in recent years.

Pathophysiology of COPD

Inflammatory cells invade the airways in COPD causing narrowing, goblet cells increase mucus production, and this leads to decreased ability of the aveoli to transport oxygen.

Spiriva

Hyperinflation occurring as a result of COPD can be significantly reduced by the use of once daily Spiriva. The residual volume of the lungs is lessened allowing the diaphragm to regain some strength. In time this can increase exercise tolerance and improve quality of life for COPD patients.

One of the most noted complaints from COPD patients is inability to sustain activity involving the arms. This occurs because loss of diaphragm breathing secondary to increased residual volume decreases function of the muscles of respiration in a COPD patient. They begin using the upper arm and upper body muscles for respiration.

Business Meeting

Kathy Sharp announced thanks to Dr. Farrow, Chad Hall and Boerhinger for sponsoring our meeting and presentation. Thanks also to Chef Rick for a great dinner.

Secretary’s minutes approved from March 2006.

Treasurer’s report:  16,315.76 account balance

OLD BUSINESS

	Food/Cigarette tax swap: Please contact Reps Vaughn and Ramsey by writing letters and supporting this bill.
	Practice Doctorate:  Wendy Vogel, ONS NP SIG Coordinator working hard to get the ONS to publish a white paper or take a clear stand on the issue of the DNP.
	Position statements need to be pushed for from professional groups in nursing.

 NEW BUSINESS

	Nurses Day is May 9th. Nurses Day dinner at the Holiday Inn. This is a social and dinner with awards to area RN’s. NETNPA usually sponsors a table, which is $125.00. Registration is at 5:30, dinner at 6:30.
	Nominees for NP of the Year:  email to be sent out to membership with nominees. Votes need to by in by May 1, 2006.
	Proposed bylaw changes:  we accepted revisions at the March meeting. Another proposal by Kathy Sharp is to allow PA’s and other mid-level providers to become members of NETNPA. It is proposed that an affiliate membership be considered for PA’s, CNSs and Nurse Midwives. The cost of an affiliate membership voted to be $25.00. Voting is limited to NPs only. It was also proposed for future consideration for a possible name change to our organization to reflect the interest of other mid-level providers.
	Fall Conference: members voted to hold the conference on Friday. This will be free to paid members. Several people volunteered to help with the planning. More info to come.
	National Nurse Movement: This is a proposal made by Terry Neals and is offered as a solution for health care. More info can be found at www.nationalnurse.info

Other points of interest:

	TNA alert on House Bill 4906
	House Bill 3366
	Senate Bill 3585
	Concerning online nursing programs
	DNP: AANP discussion paper
	District 5 meeting will be held June 27th
	Sanofi-Aventis recently sent a letter to request an nurse practitioner to get the supervising physician to sign for medication samples. A motion was made to send a letter on behalf of the NETNPA to inform S-A of the rights and privileges of a certified nurse practitioner.

Next NETNPA MEETING:  Our next meeting will be held Thursday, May 18, at the Peerless in Johnson City.  Our speaker will be Dr. Mitri, rheumatologist, who will present about osteoporosis.  Please RSVP as soon as possible to kayandpatbone@aol.com.

Comments/Corrections/Suggestions to Baby2spoil@yahoo.com