Advocate Good Samaritan nurses visit Springfield lawmakers

Downers Grove, Ill. – Nurses from Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital descended on the State Capitol in Springfield today to engage legislators on issues affecting health care and the nursing profession.

More than 80 direct care nurses from across the Advocate system – including six from Good Samaritan – met with dozens of state legislators, including Senate President John Cullerton, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin and other local legislators as part of Advocate’s annual Nurse Advocacy Day April 24.

Participating nurses rallied support to maintain Medicaid funding levels, raise the legal age of purchasing tobacco products from 18 to 21, and pass the Nurse Licensure Compact—legislation that would allow nurses licensed in Illinois to practice in other compact states, including Wisconsin.

“Nurses Advocacy Day is a great opportunity for us to meet with our representatives in Springfield to share our thoughts and help educate them on how pending legislation may affect patient care,” said Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital Chief Nurse Executive Susan Okuno-Jones. “By working together we can advocate for changes that will truly improve health care in Illinois.”

Nurse Advocacy Day is hosted by Advocate’s Nurse Advocacy Council (NAC), a self-governed council composed of frontline nurses that works to educate and empower the largest nursing audience in Illinois: Advocate's more than 11,000 professional nurses. Advocate is the only known health care provider in the state to provide frontline nurses with this opportunity, thus giving them a stronger voice on legislative issues in Springfield and Washington D.C.

This is the group’s 13th year going to Springfield.