Mary Lopez, RN, President of ACNL

By Bree LeMaire, MS, RN
March 14, 2005

Q: Why did you decide to become a nurse? Nurse manager?

It seems as if I always wanted to be a nurse.

Nursing impacted me more as a receiver than a provider. At the time when my needs were greatest, nurses were there to give the care I needed. When I was in eighth grade, I was standing in front of a fireplace in my flannel nightgown, and it caught on fire. I was badly burned on my legs and hand. They thought I’d lose my left hand. My mother and older sister did the dressing changes and treatments when I came home. I remember how my sister would leave to vomit because my wounds smelled and looked so bad, and then return to doing my dressings. While in college, I went for a five-week Bible college in Mexico and contracted five different strains of typhus, losing 23 pounds in 14 days. I was hospitalized and again received the necessary nursing care.

Nursing Management. The short answer is that I got into it by accident.

The interest rate was 18% in 1981. We wanted to raise a family in a home with a fenced yard so we moved to Fresno. I became a cardiovascular clinical nurse specialist and went into a masters program to keep that job, which I loved. However, with three small children I had to leave it to finish school. My employer asked me upon graduation to establish a cardiac care continuum. It was during the time of managed care infiltration and the main focus was to cut costs, decrease length of stay and find ways to fast track open-heart surgery. Downsizing also brought about a job transition. Many of my administrative skills were transferable, and I was recruited to many different venues. However, prayer led me back to this hospital, and I accepted my current position.

Q: What is the predominant health care issue for California nurses?

The No.1 issue is the workforce shortage. In 2010, we’ll be short 109,600 nurses, meeting only 76% of the state’s demand for RNs. That shortage will increase to 116,600 by 2020. Nurse leaders find that with the shortage, 90% of the hospitals will not be in compliance with the new nurse staff ratios “at all times.” The projected population growth in this state of 11.3 million by 2020 underscores much of the problem.

It costs so much more to educate a nurse than, for example, a chemistry major. When you provide a clinical experience to support the didactic portion of nursing education, you’re doing it with one faculty member for every ten students. 70% of all RN programs are at the community college level. We must find ways to automatically articulate students to ensure completion of the bachelor’s degree. Many hospitals are now funding education program expansion as a beginning remedy. However, we need a master plan that will reflect the diverse fabric of our population and provide a redesign to ensure an adequate supply of educated nurse professionals.

Q: What is the ACNL?

The Association of California Nurse Leaders is a specialty organization for nurses in leadership positions or those who aspire to be leaders. ACNL is associated with the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE), which is affiliated with the American Hospital Association.

In the mid ’90s, with the advent of managed care, hospitals reorganized and eliminated their nurses in top-level, decision-making positions. Nurse executives began to lose their positions, continual transition became the norm for these nurse leaders and ACNL changed direction. This new direction allowed us to focus on nurse leaders and not just nurse executives.

ACNL now has 950 active members and most of our work is done through committees and regional taskforces.

Q: What is your vision for ACNL?

Our current vision is to lead nursing to influence and improve health care in California. Our mission is to be a nursing leadership organization that advances professional nursing practice, influences health policy and improves the health of our communities. We are now bringing stakeholders together to review our focus and further refine our direction. The next two to three years will be pivotal for nursing in California and my goal is to provide leadership as we navigate change and establish our future.