657: Nurses Will Discuss Burnout, Proposed Rules on Menthol and Labs

ROBERT JOHNSON: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Friday, May 3, 2024. I'm Robert Johnson. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

NYUMA HARRISON: 

Sounds very different from what you may have heard or seen or what people traditionally do when they're celebrating a profession on their big professional day, right?

JOHNSON: 

Nyuma Harrison with the American Nurses Foundation explains a webinar about burnout planned as part of National Nurses Week activities starting Monday. She says the event on Thursday, May 9, is a unique approach to the idea of recognizing nurses and their commitment to patients.

HARRISON

But it's really about honoring nurses, and celebrating nurses, by giving them a space and having conversations that we know really matter to them. Right, meeting nurses exactly where they are saying we hear you we're meeting exactly where you are. And what can we talk about and how can we talk about this?

JOHNSON:

Harrison says the webinar will introduce a stress and burnout prevention curriculum and reserve a lot of time for conversation.

HARRISON: 

We want to talk about problems but we really want to talk about solutions. But in a way that is engaging that is a direct that feels refreshing and honest in many ways.

JOHNSON: 

ASTHO will partner with the American Nurses Foundation to host the online event. Again, it's on May 9 at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Sign up using the link in the show notes.

ASTHO's government affairs team is tracking developments on two federal rulemakings important to ASTHO members, Jeffrey Ekoma joins us with an update in today's View from Washington D.C. report.

Jeffrey Ekoma always good to have you here on a Friday. How have you been? Haven't seen you in a while.

JEFFREY EKOMA: 

I've been doing well, it's pleasure to see you again.

JOHNSON: 

I can tell that you're relaxed and ready to work with Congress again, they're back in session. But what we're talking about today really has more to do with the administration and a couple of rulemakings that many ASTHO members are definitely familiar with. Can you tell us the latest with the menthol and cigar rule?

EKOMA: 

Yeah, this is something that we've been tracking for the last couple of months, there's been a lot of emphasis on the importance of the menthol and cigar rule and its ability to save hundreds of 1000s of lives. You know, back in January of this year, we sent a letter to President Biden asking that the administration implement a federal rule to prohibit the sale of menthol flavored combustible cigarettes, which we were glad gained some media coverage. You know, previously, the FDA had shared that they hoped to have a final rule by the end of 2023. And there was some optimism that the rule could be finalized in March of this year. However, last week, HHS Secretary Becerra announced that the administration would be delaying the rule stating that there are, quote, more conversations to have, and that will take significantly more time. Now, while there's optimism that the rule is still in play, in terms of potentially being finalized, a timeline of potential finalization is really unclear at this moment. But you know, it's something that we'll just continue to try.

JOHNSON: 

Another rulemaking that you're following has to do with lab testing, what's happening there?

EKOMA: 

Yeah that's right. There was big news that happened earlier this week, you know, the FDA announced a final rule, updating his regulations to classify laboratory developed tests, or LDTs, as medical devices under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act. Now as sort of a quick overview LDTs are in vitro diagnostic products intended for clinical use, and are designed, manufactured and used within a single Clinical Laboratory, which meets the regulatory requirements. Now, prior to the final rule, FDA established an enforcement discretion policy on LDTs, which really just means that they did not enforce applicable requirements to most LDTs, because they were mostly seen as low complex assays, however, and currently, they are no longer consider lower risk. And they are used way more widely, and also on more diverse populations. You know, over time, there have been a lot of concerns that some of the LDTs do not provide accurate test results, and may not even perform better than other FDA authorized tests, which is sort of why the FDA sought to finalize this rule. You know, we've been really pleased to continue to support the efforts of our partners at the Association of Public Health Laboratories on this issue, and it's something that we'll continue to track. It's also really important to note that the finalization of the rule will take some time to actually be implemented. So, there's definitely more to come here.

JOHNSON: 

We truly appreciate you tracking those rules at ASTHO. They have a lot of effect on states and territories and what they do each day. It's really important work.

EKOMA: 

Yeah, it's critically important work. And there are many, many things that are happening right now. In the administration. We're also hearing how additional rules that may be popping up from the EPA, so we definitely have more to share next week.

JOHNSON: 

We're excited to have that conversation as well. Jeffrey Ekoma. Have a great weekend.

EKOMA: 

You to talk soon.

JOHNSON: 

Stay on top of news like this with ASTHO's Legislative Alert emails. You can join the list by clicking the link in the show notes.

Also, today is Dr. Anne Zinks. Last day as chief medical officer in Alaska, you can hear what she has to say about that and other topics on a podcast about whole person health. O'Keyla Cooper has more.

O'KEYLA COOPER: 

Listen to Think like Zink with an Zink a podcast by the other ad featuring Dr. Anne Zink former chief medical officer of Alaska and former ASTHO president, as she discusses vital skills like communication and collaboration for public health leaders. Click the link in the show notes to listen now.

JOHNSON: 

Finally this morning, ASTHO Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Marcus Plescia, gives his take on last week's avian flu symposium in a new ASTHO blog article. He and key ASTHO staffers provide a summary of points covered during the nationwide online event. You can read the blog using the link in the show notes.

Before we go a reminder also to follow this newscast on your podcast player and connect with ASTHO on social media. We're on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

That'll do it for today. We're back Monday morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Robert Johnson. You're listening to the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great weekend.