On Oct. 4, Massachusetts nurses will testify 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. The proposal would allow unlicensed people 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 will host the public hearing.
3. Nurses will share their concerns about the patient safety issues posed by the proposal.
4. Currently, Massachusetts allows only licensed nurses to administer medications to patients in all settings. In two special circumstances, others can administer medications in Massachusetts.
5. The Massachusetts Nurses Association and The Massachusetts School Nurse Organization 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 industry has used deregulation to degrade the quality and safety of patient care," said Donna Kelly-Williams, an obstetrical and neonatal registered nurse at Cambridge (Mass.) Hospital and president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association. "Experienced skepticism 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 treatment and harm, between life and death."
