49
QUALITY
&
ACCREDITATION
This Proposal is Causing Outcry Among
Massachusetts Nurses — 5 Things to Know
By Megan Wood
O
n Oct. 4, Massachusetts nurses
testified during a public hearing,
regarding Republican Gov. Charlie
Baker's proposal to allow unlicensed people
to administer medication in all healthcare
settings.
Here are five things to know:
1. e proposal would allow unlicensed peo-
ple to administer medication in all healthcare
settings, including intensive care units, acute-
care hospitals and long-term care facilities.
2. Gov. Charlie Barker's Board of Registration
in Nursing hosted the public hearing.
3. Nurses shared their concerns about the pa-
tient safety issues posed by the proposal.
4. Currently, Massachusetts allows only li-
censed nurses to administer medications to
patients in all settings. In two special circum-
stances, others can administer medications in
Massachusetts.
5. e Massachusetts Nurses Association and
e Massachusetts School Nurse Organiza-
tion have raised serious concerns about the
proposal.
"As frontline nurses, we have witnessed the
impact of healthcare deregulation over the
last several years and how the healthcare in-
dustry has used deregulation to degrade the
quality and safety of patient care," said Don-
na Kelly-Williams, an obstetrical and neo-
natal registered nurse at Cambridge (Mass.)
Hospital and president of the Massachusetts
Nurses Association. "Experienced skepti-
cism shows us that even small amounts of
ambiguity in state regulations can open the
door to industry misbehavior. In healthcare,
that can be the difference between safe treat-
ment and harm, between life and death."
n
Sepsis Infects 1M People
Annually & 4 Other Key Facts
By Mary Rechtoris
S
epsis is a very serious and often fatal infection that in-
fects a great number of people around the globe each
year, according to Life Gazette.
Here are five key facts on sepsis:
1. Each year, sepsis kills between 146,000 and 159,000
Americans.
2. In July, the CDC stated sepsis death rates may be nearly
140 percent greater than the numbers reported on death cer-
tificates.
3. A different CDC survey found 49 percent of medical resi-
dents said they deliberately omitted or inaccurately reported
an infection that lead to a death.
4. Sepsis infects nearly 1 million people each year.
5. Of that figure, nearly 40 percent die from the infection.
n
1st ASC Earns The Joint
Commission's Advanced
Certification
By Jessica Kim Cohen
T
he North Canton-based Ohio Specialty Surgical
Suites was recently awarded The Joint Commis-
sion's Advanced Certification for Total Hip and
Total Knee Replacement.
The Advanced Certification for Total Hip and Total Knee
Replacement recognizes healthcare organizations that
provide high-quality safety and care and that comply
with The Joint Commission's national standards.
Ohio Specialty Surgical Suites is a physician-owned,
multispecialty ambulatory surgery center. The center,
which was founded in 2014, is partnered with SurgCen-
ter Development.
Ohio Specialty Surgical Suites is the first ASC in the Unit-
ed States to be awarded this accreditation, according to
Michelle Oakley, executive coordinator at SurgCenter
Development.
n
