American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), A “Position Statement” on the “Amanda Trujillo, RN & Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center, Sun City Arizona” situation is respectfully requested.

Nurseup.com, A Nursing Advocacy Organization
38 Tattersall Drive
West Deptford, New Jersey 08051
856-415-9617, Fax: 856-415-9618, info@nursefriendly.com, @nursefriendly
http://www.nurseup.com

April 21, 2012

Jennifer Butlin, Executive Director
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN)
One Dupont Circle, NW, Suite 530 Washington, DC 20036
Phone: (202) 463-6930 - Fax: (202) 785-8320
info@aacn.nche.edu, jbutlin@aacn.nche.edu
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/

To Whom it may concern:

Re: Amanda Trujillo, RN, Masters-Prepared Nurse, Fired For Patient Advocacy.

A "Position Statement" on the "Amanda Trujillo, RN & Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center, Sun City Arizona" situation is respectfully requested. This is a commonly occurring situation in bedside nursing practice. It could happen to any one of your members. They need to know if they would have your support.

In the linked articles below, the case is explained in detail by Patricia Iyer, RN, Past President of the American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants. There are additional documents, resources including the Arizona State Board of Nursing Charges available at htttp://www.nurseup.com

The American Nursing Association & Arizona Nurses Association to date have offered no assistance or support other than that they are "monitoring" her situation.

If you can suggest other organizations that would be willing to advocate for nurses in a situation similar to Amanda's, we would like to list them on our site, Nurseup.com

This request is supported by nursing and medical leaders including:

Annette Tersigni, Carol Gino, Dr. Dean Burke, Donna Wilk Cardillo, Echo Heron, Fern Baudo, Greg Mercer, Jennifer Olin, Keith Carlson, Michael Pergrem, Patrica Iyer, Shahina Lakhani, Terri Polick and many others.

Amanda Trujillo, RN – Nurse fired for being a patient advocate, @PatIyer:"The story of Amanda Trujillo is a horrifying one. Briefly, she is a single mom who fought to get off welfare and fulfilled her dream of becoming a nurse. Not only did she become a nurse, she earned a masters and is pursuing a doctorate degree in nursing. One night while working at Banner Health in Arizona, she took care of a patient who was being asked to undergo a liver transplant."
http://nurseup.com/wordpress/2012/02/amanda-trujillo-rn-fired-for-being-a-patient-advocate-pat-iyer-com-patiyer-nurseup-nursefriendly-amandatrujillo/

We firmly believe that she was fired because Banner Health is putting profits before patients, and this was threatened by Amanda's Patient Advocacy.

Healthcare for People Not for Profit: Transplants and Amanda Trujillo, Center for Health, Media & Policy, April 4, 2012:"Organ transplantation is a complex and challenging undertaking for both the patient and providers. It can offer the appropriate patient opportunities for greatly improved quality and length of life and it can also offer an opportunity for profiteering and conflicted behaviors. As outlined below, transplantation produces significant revenue dollars, even for a "non-profit" hospital. Estimated U.S. Average 2011 Billed Charges Per Transplant: Heart Only - $997,700 Liver – $577,100 Kidney – $262,900 Nurse Amanda Trujillo identified that a patient she cared for at Banner Del E Webb Medical Center of Arizona lacked full information about what a transplant evaluation and post-transplant self-care entailed. She says she referred the patient for a hospice case management consultation. She was then fired for overstepping her scope of practice. Arizona's scope of practice for nurses clearly dictates a nurse's role to promote the client's best interest."
Center for Health, Media & Policy
Hunter College City University of New York
425 East 25th Street New York, N.Y. 10010
email: centerhealthmediapolicy@gmail.com
http://centerforhealthmediapolicy.com/2012/04/04/healthcare-for-people-not-for-profit-transplants-and-amanda-trujillo/

We would appreciate your support with our petitions to help Amanda.

Petition: Amanda Trujillo, RN & Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center, Sun City, Arizona: Position Statements Requested
http://www.change.org/petitions/nurseup-com-issue-position-statements-on-the-amanda-trujillo-rn

Petition: Arizona State Board of Nursing: Remove Amanda Trujillo's nursing license from "under investigation" status | Change.org
http://www.change.org/petitions/arizona-state-board-of-nursing-remove-amanda-trujillo-s-nursing-license-from-under-investigation-status

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Andrew Lopez, RN

This document may be distributed freely.