The Oklahoma State Medical Association (OSMA) and the Oklahoma Society of Anesthesiologists (OSA) are teaming up on a campaign against Senate Bill 801 which would give Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists the authority under state law to administer anesthesia and other controlled substances. The bill authored by Senator Jason Smalley would remove the supervision of a physician and instead the nurse will only have to collaborate with the physician or other medical doctor.
The “Degrees of Care” campaign wants to keep the doctor’s authority in place.
“Health care is safest and most effective when there’s a team-based approach, with a physician leading the patient-based assessment and treatment. Unfortunately, current legislation would eliminate that medical practice without any input from a physician,” said OSMA President Jean Hausheer, M.D.
“Our goal in this campaign is two-fold: We want the public to understand the dangers of unsupervised care, and to let legislators know that their responsibility is to evaluate the serious effect such dangerous legislation has on the safety and health of Oklahoma patients, not just nurses and doctors,” Hausheer added.
Senate Bill 801 has been sent to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and could be heard Monday afternoon.
You can watch the “Degrees of Care” campaign ad below.
SB 801 is a common sense measure that is long past due. It will bring better health care to rural Oklahoma. The Senate, House and Governor should all support this measure.