Newspaper Page Text
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
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(From left) Jeff West, Robbie Dunbar, Tommy Stalnaker, Jim Worrall and Lee Gilmour,
look at and discuss changes that will be made to the intersection of Perimeter and
Macon roads. A traffic light and turning lanes could be added to relieve traffic conges
tion soon.
ROADS
From page 1A
fund to pay for the project.
City Manager Lee
Gilmour said an estimate on
the project total cost could
not be given, because the
department of transporta
tion hasn’t given final
approval.
The project should be
completed in about six
Officer completes drug recognition instructor course
From staff reports
FORSYTH - Officer Randy Evans, with
the Warner Robins Police Department,
completed a weeklong training program
at the Georgia Public Safety Training
Center in Forsyth.
This training enables Evans to instruct
other officers in drug recognition tech
niques.
To qualify for this course, Evans previ
ously completed an intensive two-week
course in drug recognition certification.
Drug recognition training qualifies local
officers to provide expert courtroom testi
mony, obviating the need to rely on more
expensive state laboratory resources.
Funding for this program has been pro
vided by the State of Georgia Governor’s
Office of Highway Safety. The Georgia
Public Safety Training Center provides
training programs for local and state cer
tified public safety officers at no cost to
the local community for tuition, meals, or
lodging.
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months once the plan is
approved. County Engineer
Robbie Dunbar said this
time period is flexible and it
could be longer or shorter.
Drivers can then expect
delays during the resurfac
ing of the road.
“Roads have no political
boundaries, and the entire
county would benefit,” said
IMi . .
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OFFICER RANDY EVANS
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Tpmmy Stalnaker, county
director of operations.
Worrall said this project
would be a cooperative
effort with the city, county
and state governments.
Gilmour said the
improved intersection may
attract businesses to the
empty Perry Village shop
ping center.
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WOOD • CERAMIC • LAMINATE • VINYL • AREA RUGS • CARPET • PAINT • WINDOW TREATMENTS
LOCAL
APRNS
From page 1A
insurance. They have to be
recertified every for years
and during that time must
take 60 hours of continuing
education.
The ranks of APRNs
include certified nurse mid
wifes, nurse practitioners,
clinical nurse specialists,
psychology/mental health
practitioners, and nurse
anesthetists. APRNs per
form comprehensive physi
cal examinations, order and
interpret diagnostics and
prescribe medications.
“We are not asking to be
allowed to go off and set up
shop by ourselves,” said
Linda Easterly, a local
APRN and president of the
Georgia Nurses Association.
“All we are asking is to be
able to provide the level of
care we are trained to pro
vide. APRNs in the other 49
states can write prescrip
tions. Why can’t we do it in
Georgia?
“We would be working
with an authorized physi
cian, (and) we would just not
need to have them sign
every prescription,” said
Easterly. “This would save
the patient time and money,
and save the doctor time as
well.”
Under Georgia law
APRNs cannot write a pre
scription under their own
name - a physician must
sign it. They do have the
ability to phone in or fax a
prescription, but they can
not write one and give it
directly to a patient.
“When we see a patient
and want to give them a pre
scription we have to hunt
down a doctor and have
them sign it,” said Debra
Fingles, another local
APRN. “That means we
have to keep our patient
waiting as well as the one
the doctor might be seeing.
MAPS
From page 1A
They also argued that it
was foolish to spend the
money needed to redo lines.
It would cost more than a
million dollars, both sides
agreed, because voters
would have to be informed
of their new districts and
because Georgia must apply
for federal approval of any
redistricting effort.
“There is no reason other
than just the arrogance of
politics to do this,” said
House Democratic Leader
Dußose Porter of Dublin.
“Republicans already have
the majority of the districts,
and they just can’t stand not
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If the doctor is not there we
have to wait for them to
show up and sign the pre
scription. It is just a waste of
everyone’s valuable time.
“Although we can phone
in prescriptions, that only
brings up the problem of
overworked pharmacy staffs
making a mistake that could
harm a patient,” said
Fingles.
“It also harms the trust
between a patient and their
caregiver,” said Easterly.
“When we see a patient and
prescribe medication for
them what do they thin
when they get home and
find the name of a doctor
they did not se on the bot
tle? And what if they have a
question? They will proba
bly call the person whose
name is on the bottle and
that person is not the one
who saw them.”
Fingles and Easterly, who
are both members of
CGUAPRN, or Central
Georgia United Advanced
Practice Registered Nurse,
attended a rally in Atlanta
last week in support of a law
that would allow APRNs to
write prescriptions pur
suant to a collaborative
practice agreement with an
authorized physician. They
are not seeking the authori
ty to write prescriptions
independently.
A similar law has been
offered for the past 13 years
but has not been allowed out
of committee although it has
wide support in the legisla
ture. Local lawmakers Sen.
Ross Tolleson and Rep.
Larry O’Neal as well as Gov.
Larry Perdue have stated
their support for the meas
ure.
Perdue signed a proclama
tion naming Feb. 28 as
Advanced Practice
Registered Nurse
Appreciation Day.
to have the rest.”
Black Democrats said
minority voting power
would be diluted. “It is a bla
tant violation of the Voting
Rights Act,” said Rep.
Winfred Dukes, D-Albany.
Republicans insisted their
plan did not water down the
black vote. House
Republican Leader Jerry
Keen said there was no rea
son that minorities would be
hurt by more-compact dis
tricts. “This is a huge and
dramatic improvement,” he
said.
A Republican congress
man who pushed hardest for
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Easterly said it is impor
tant that people understand
the distinction between an
APRN and a physician’s
assistant.
“PAs have only two years
of advanced education,
while we have more than
six,” said Easterly. “But
they are allowed to write
prescriptions and we can’t.
A PA works under one doc
tor and is covered by their
malpractice insurance. We
have our own certification
and are liable for our own
mistakes.”
“Numerous studies have
shown that patients are
more satisfied with the care
given by an APRN than they
are with a regular doctor’s
care,” said Fingles. “APRNs
have more time to meet with
patients and learn their
needs.
“Another problems we are
seeing is that people are
earning APRN degrees from
Georgia colleges but are
being forced to leave the
state because they are not
allowed to exercise their
training here,” said Fingles.
A position statement
issued by the American
Academy of Nurse
Practitioners says: “Four
decades of research conclude
that nurse practitioners,
practicing within their scope
of practice, provide safe,
cost-effective, quality health
care. Prescribing medica
tions and devices is essential
to the nurse practitioner’s
practice. Restrictions on
prescriptive authority limit
the ability of nurse practi
tioners to provide compre
hensive health care service.”
Both Easterly and Fingles
said that they'hope the bill
giving them prescriptive
authority will come to a vote
during either this session of
the legislature or the next.
a new map, Rep. Lynn
Westmoreland of Newnan,
applauded the vote.
Westmoreland was the top
ranking Republican in the
state House when the 2001
map was adopted and has
long derided that plan.
“This a giant step,” he
said in a statement
Thursday.
The map now heads to the
Senate, which is also in
Republican hands. If the
Senate also votes for it and
Republican Gov. Sonny
Perdue signs the bill, as
expected, the new districts
could be in use by the 2006
election.
3A
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