Latest news with #LegislativeHealthandHumanServicesCommittee
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Potential Medicaid cuts drive NM health legislation plans
Rep. Larry Scott (R-Hobbs) speaks during a committee hearing during the 2025 legislative session. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM) As a panel of state lawmakers on Tuesday planned out their work for the rest of the year, their hopes to improve health outcomes for New Mexicans were overshadowed by the looming threat of federal cuts to health insurance coverage. At the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee's first meeting since the most recent legislative session, Rep. Larry Scott (R-Hobbs) told the committee lawmakers need to be ready if the U.S. government turns administration of Medicaid over to the states. 'I don't think any of those changes should try to take us by surprise,' Scott said. State and federal officials say the GOP budget bill making its way through the U.S. Congress could not only reduce federal spending on Medicaid but also the oil and gas revenue that the state government could use to cover the costs. In the worst-case scenario, the proposal would translate to cuts of more than $1.1 billion for New Mexico's Medicaid program, according to one of the Legislature's top budget advisers. The worries over Medicaid cuts come as New Mexico is in the middle of restructuring its entire behavioral health care treatment system, with the state's Medicaid program expected to create a group of licensing boards to help streamline mental health providers' credentialing. During public comment at Tuesday's meeting, Rick Madden, chair of government affairs at the New Mexico Medical Society, told the committee that his organization strongly supports the committee's focus on the potentially extreme effects of funding cuts and work requirements on local patients and communities. Sen. Liz Stefanics (D-Cerrillos) said she wants the health panel to receive updates from the Federal Funding Stabilization Subcommittee, which legislative leaders created late last month in order to track all federal money coming into New Mexico. 'Many of us, of course, are very concerned about it, and it's not just Medicaid that we need to be concerned about,' Stefanics said. Rep. Marianna Anaya (D-Albuquerque) suggested the panel have a joint meeting with the Legislative Finance Committee for any health care-related cuts coming from the federal government, not limited to Medicaid. 'When we're talking about funding and affordability, knowing that we're going to have to plug holes, what realistically does the picture look like for us?' Anaya asked. During the legislative session, New Mexico created a new Medicaid Trust Fund that aims to generate enough in interest to pay for at least some of what the federal government could cut in Medicaid spending. Rep. Eleanor Chavez (D-Albuquerque) wants the committee to review what's happening with that money. The committee's next meeting is scheduled for June 25 through June 27. Lawmakers also suggested where they will hold their meetings, however, a complete schedule was not available as of Tuesday. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Northern New Mexico College's newest nurses celebrate 100% pass rate on licensure exam
ESPAÑOLA — Samantha Miller's path to nursing started at the kitchen table. After her father got stitches for a finger injury — and refused to go back to the doctor to have the stitches removed — Miller, then a high school student, stepped up to do the job. She loved it. "I just cut them and pulled them," Miller said of the stitches. "But to me in high school, that was like the coolest thing I'd ever done." Miller is one of about two dozen students set to graduate from Northern New Mexico College's nursing program with an associate degree. After graduating from the Española school, she'll have to pass the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses — or NCLEX-RN exam — before becoming a nurse. Northern's nursing program has a particularly good track record on the test: For the past two years, 100% of its graduates have passed the licensure exam on the first try. The program is small; it generated just 10 new nurses in the Class of 2024, many of whom now have jobs in Northern New Mexico health care facilities. Still, these new nurses are helping to chip away at a shortfall of providers in their communities. Nurses, like most health care professionals, are in short supply across New Mexico. In a July 2023 report to the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee, lobbyists for the New Mexico Nurses Association estimated the profession lacked nearly 7,000 registered nurses. 040825_GC_Nurses03rgb.jpg Carra Webster works from her NCLEX-RN review book alongside other nursing students at Northern New Mexico College in Española on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Webster is beginning a new career after a dozen years as a paralegal. Melanie Colgan, director of Northern's nursing program, attributed the school's recent success to hardworking students and newly implemented support initiatives — which, in typical nurse fashion, involves consistently checking in on students' progress. "We keep an eye on our students just like we do our patients," Colgan said. The NCLEX-RN isn't an easy test. While leading an NCLEX-RN review session Tuesday at Northern, Karen Odell, an educator with nursing school curriculum and exam preparation company ATI, asked students a sample test question: "A fire is forcing evacuation of clients from a nursing unit. Which of the following clients should be evacuated first?" The answer: A client receiving intravenous antibiotics every six hours — because they can walk on their own. Ambulatory patients first, Odell said, then those requiring assistance to evacuate. Colgan said the NCLEX-RN tests students' ability to select the best course of action at a particular moment in a patient's illness or injury. "All of the questions are very application-based, and they are based off of clinical judgment," she said. "You have to decide: What would you do first for this patient? What would your priority be?" After students receive their associate degrees and pass the licensure exam, Colgan said they can work as nurses "anywhere that hires nurses." "Our health care facilities are in desperate need of nurses, and it's even more so in rural areas like Northern New Mexico," she said. 040825_GC_Nurses02rgb.jpg Nursing students April Martinez and Carra Webster attend a NCLEX-RN review session at Northern New Mexico College in Española on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Webster said she was inspired to make a career switch due to the persistent nursing shortage in New Mexico. So, she added, "Our overall goal is to supply as many nurses as we can." Colgan said Northern's nursing program has implemented a series of new initiatives to ensure all of its students graduate and pass the NCLEX-RN. Two years ago, the nursing program implemented peer mentorship, assigning first-year students who wanted some extra guidance with second-years. The program expanded from four mentors to 12 in its second year. The program's faculty offer tutoring and study sessions, too, and a "success coach" swoops in when students' averages dip below 80% to provide tips on time management, best practices for studying and note-taking skills. "We do that before they have that failing grade, so we can catch them before it's too late," Colgan said. For the program's 2025 graduates, that track record of success brings nerves — and excitement. "That's a lot of pressure, I can't lie," joked second-year nursing student Ariana Estrada during Tuesday's NCLEX-RN study session. A few of this year's nursing graduates were inspired to join the profession by the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the toll it took on nurses. After a 12-year career as a paralegal, Carra Webster said she decided to retrain as a nurse. "You just heard about the staffing shortages everywhere, and I'm like, 'Oh, I always wanted to be a nurse. Now's the time to go to school,' " she said. Once she passes the NCLEX-RN, Webster has a job lined up in the progressive care unit at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical School, helping patients recover after leaving intensive care. Monique Salazar said she never planned to go into the health care field; she thought law enforcement would be her thing. But then the COVID-19 pandemic happened and she heard of people who died from COVID-19 without family members at their bedsides. "The nurses were the ones who would support them and be there for them through those times," Salazar said. She added, "I knew I wanted to help people, I just didn't know how — so this is how I'm going to do it."
