TNA has two legislative initiatives this session to improve the work environment for nurses in Texas. TNA refers to the initiatives as the Cultures of Safety bill and the Patient Advocacy bill. To improve the speed with which these bills move through the legislature, companion bills have been filed for each. This means that the same bill language has been filed in both the Texas House of Representatives (HB) and the Texas Senate (SB), each having a different number. The final result will be that only one bill for Cultures of Safety and one bill for Patient Advocacy will go completely through the process. If one version moves faster than the other, the faster one will be substituted for the other. Although confusing this common practice increases the likelihood of passing legislation. Between legislative updates you can keep up with the bills as they progress by visiting the TNA website and clicking into the governmental affairs section. There Priority Bills are updated nightly. You will find the bills listed below and some of the other bills TNA is tracking.

In the near future you will probably receive an alert asking you to contact your Senator or Representative to request them to support these two legislative initiatives. The alert will go out through TNA's grassroots system and will automatically identify your legislator and provide his or her contact information. It will also include a sample message. When you receive the alert, we encourage you to contact your legislator. It is important that legislators hear from nurses, particularly on legislation directly affecting nurses and particularly from nurses who are their constituents.

Please follow the links below to learn more about these 2 bills:

• Patient Advocacy Bill
• Cultures of Safety Bill