Nurses role with meds and doctors debated
There could be some important changes regulating nursing in Illinois.
The Illinois Nursing and Advanced Practice Nursing Act sunsets this year after 10 years.
With constant changes in healthcare and nursing, healthcare professionals feel now is the time to make some important improvements.
There are two important proposed changes to the Nursing and Advanced Practice Nursing Act that could directly affect you.
First, only nurses would be allowed to give out medications to patients.
"Passing medication is much more than just me giving you a pill," Ann O' Sullivan with Blessing -Rieman College of Nursing in Quincy said. "Passing medication requires professional judgement, knowledge and skill that is obtained through a nursing, RN or LPN education program."
But some factions of the healthcare industry think that medication aides or med techs at long-term care facilities should be able to give out meds.
Twenty four states, including Missouri and Iowa, already allow medication aides, or med techs, to pass out medication to patients.
Illinois does not, but Mike Duffy with Good Samaritan Home in Quincy sees the advantages of allowing it.
"We at long-term care have certain requirements that we need to have a certain number of nurses for a certain number of hours per day - that's not gonna change,'' Duffy said. "So if you add a med tech, it's just one more option that we would have. I think we'd probably utilize it here, because it would free up our nurses to care more one-on-one for our residents. We see that as a plus."
The second change would let Advanced Practice Nurses, such as nurse practitioners, work without the direct supervision of a doctor.
They have additional training and certification that Ann O'Sullivan believes should let them work independently of physicians in some situations.
"Nurse practitioners deal with common everyday ailments of patients," O'Sullivan said. "When it's something much more complex or more uncommon, those would be more commonly, or unstable, would be more commonly referred to a physician to take care of. "
Eighty nursing professionals across Illinois have worked for a year-and-a-half to recommend these and other changes. But according to O' Sullivan, their work is not done.
"In this area we have talked to Sen. Sullivan and Rep. Tracy about many of the changes. Some of them they're very much in favor of and some of them they have some concerns about, especially the ones I've shared with you are a little bit controversial," O'Sullivan said
These changes could have a great impact on the quality of healthcare in Illinois for the next decade and beyond.
Another proposal would require nurses to have 20 hours of continuing education every two years.
Ann O'Sullivan would like to see the proposal passed by the end of the legislative session and signed by Gov. Blagojevich as soon as possible.
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