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Coastal Nurses Association presses legislative agenda Sixteen candidates for public office learned about issues important to nurses at the Coastal Nurses Association 2nd Legislative Breakfast held Saturday at the Sheraton Hotel in Charleston. Hailing from counties in the Coastal Nurses Association district of the S.C. Nurses Association, the candidates listened as SCNA executive director Judith Curfman Thompson urged support for the Needle Stick Prevention Act, H.R. 5178 and the Patient Protection Act. A show of hands indicated about 95 percent of the nurses attending had experienced at least one needle stick during their career. The bill would require OSHA regulations include safety needles and safety equipment to prevent needle sticks.  She urged opposition to the Pain Relief Promotion Act, HR2260. SCNA Legislative Committee chair Lisa Murphy said that the bill, which is intended to prevent and monitor patient assisted suicide, increases barriers health care professionals now face to provide pain relief to the terminally ill. Thompson also told about N-STAT (Nurses Strategic Action Team), a grassroots Rapid Response Team to strengthen American Nurses Association mobilization efforts and influence public policy by making nursing’s legislative and political agenda known to Congressmen.  South Carolina nurses are fortunate, she said, to have a new statewide Recovering Professional Program where nurses, physicians, pharmacists and dentists who have chemical dependency issues can receive assistance. Nurse practitioner and associate professor at the USC College of Nursing Stephanie Burgess, R.N., spoke about proposed changes to the S.C. Nurse Practice Act and the need to remove barriers to advanced practice. Legislative candidates were given a list of registered nurses from the Coastal Nurses Association to contact in their areas of expertise. Many of the attendees were graduate students from MUSC’s College of Nursing who reported learning the importance of supporting the nursing profession through political involvement. The Coastal Nurses Association has five MUSC employees on their board:  Carol Dobos, Ph.D., R.N., director of children’s services, is the president; Cameron Evers, R.N., continuum of care manager, is the secretary, Brenda Egan, R.N., Ambulatory Surgery, is the president elect; Jean Leuner, Ph.D., R.N., associate dean for academics and evaluation, College of Nursing, is the director for scholarship; and Lisa Murphy R.N., clinical coordinator, Cardiology, is the chair of the SCNA Legislative Committee.