Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1529631
35 CMO / CARE DELIVERY New Jersey weighs penalties for healthcare workers who spread 'misinformation' By Kelly Gooch N ew Jersey lawmakers are considering a bill that would designate the spread of "misinformation" or "disinformation" to patients by healthcare workers as professional misconduct subject to disciplinary action. Assembly Bill No. 1884, would allow professional and occupational licensing boards to impose professional misconduct charges against healthcare professionals based on the extent of the dissemination of misinformation or disinformation. The bill currently defines misinformation as "any health- related claim of fact that is false" and disinformation as "misinformation that is deliberately disseminated with malicious intent or an intent to mislead." It does not specify penalties for misconduct, and each board would establish their own regulations, according to the New Jersey Monitor. The bill passed the Assembly Health Committee on Sept. 23 with amendments and has been referred to the Assembly Regulated Professions Committee. n It took 25 years for health systems to get to where they are now in terms of commitment to patient safety through budgets, committees and leadership. Healthcare organizations are going through some of the same phases now with well-being, he said. "We're moving much more quickly than 25 years. We're probably going to do it in about five to seven years," Dr. Sexton said in reference to where systems are now with regard to patient safety commitment. "e urgent need is so profound." e pandemic accelerated this evolution, Dr. Sexton said. Healthcare leaders are quickly recognizing that there is a need to address well- being, to deploying an arsenal of means to address it, he said. A local approach "ere is no one thing you can do for well-being that helps everyone," Dr. Sexton said. "ere is no secret sauce. What we found is that every work setting needs to tailor well-being strategies to their local needs." In order to meet that requirement, Duke trains ambassadors so that each department or team can have local champions of well-being efforts. ey are not always the leaders of their units, but they help to ensure well-being is prioritized in discussions about new interventions or procedures, for example. "We have to make these changes for our patients, but how quickly can we do this and still not overwhelm our staff?" is one way it could be brought up in conversations, Dr. Sexton said. Healthcare is full of people who chose to put themselves in harm's way and be vulnerable, and those professionals deserve a well-being champion who is looking out for their team members, he added. "e world needs well-being ambassadors now more than ever," Dr. Sexton said. n Scripps Health nurse practitioner: 'Stop calling me doctor' By Paige Twenter J oseph Lanctot, a Scripps Health nurse practitioner, said in an Oct. 15 opinion article in Medpage Today that he wants patients and his colleagues to "stop calling me 'doctor.'" Aer introducing himself as a nurse practitioner, some patients and coworkers persist in calling Mr. Lanctot a "doctor." He said, "I imagine they do so out of respect, but no matter how many times I correct them, the erroneous title lives on." To patients, the actions of an advanced practice registered nurse and a physician might look the same, and both professions work with the same language of medicine. But nurses and physicians are not interchangeable terms, he said. Also, "doctor" has become synonymous with "physician." "e reason I ask not to be called doctor is not because I have not earned my doctorate nor because I did not go to medical school; rather, it is because I want to be called a nurse," Mr. Lanctot wrote. Several healthcare professionals have weighed in on this debate, with some saying the title "doctor" shouldn't be owned by only one profession. Moreover, some state lawmakers are considering bills to prevent some healthcare workers from calling themselves "doctor," even if they have a doctorate degree. Mr. Lanctot offers another argument on the spectrum of this discussion: "I would want to be called a nurse even if I had my doctorate in nursing or my doctorate in medicine. I want everyone to know that I am of the breed of Florence Nightingale, Lillian Wald and Walt Whitman — not of Lister, Fleming and Hippocrates." n