House File 493 - Introduced



                                       HOUSE FILE       
                                       BY  FREVERT, REICHERT, and
                                           MERTZ


    Passed House,  Date               Passed Senate, Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act requiring a registered nurse to be present in operating
  2    rooms during certain surgical procedures.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  4 TLSB 2556HH 83
  5 jr/nh/5

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  135B.18B  NURSE REQUIRED IN
  1  2 OPERATING ROOM.
  1  3    1.  The department, in accordance with chapter 17A and with
  1  4 the approval of the state board of health, shall adopt and
  1  5 enforce rules that require hospitals and ambulatory surgical
  1  6 centers to require that a registered nurse, qualified by
  1  7 training and experience in operating room nursing, shall be
  1  8 present as a circulating nurse in each separate operating room
  1  9 where invasive surgery is being performed for the duration of
  1 10 the operative procedure.  The rules shall be formulated in
  1 11 consultation with the director or director's designee and with
  1 12 affected professional industry and consumer groups.
  1 13    2.  Nothing in this section precludes a circulating nurse
  1 14 from leaving the operating room as part of the operative
  1 15 procedure, leaving the operating room for short periods, or,
  1 16 in accordance with employee rules or regulations, being
  1 17 relieved during an operative procedure by another circulating
  1 18 nurse assigned to continue the operative procedure.
  1 19    3.  For the purposes of this section, "invasive procedure"
  1 20 means the surgical entry into tissues, cavities, or organs of
  1 21 the human body, or the repair of major traumatic injuries.  An
  1 22 "invasive procedure" may be performed for a diagnostic or
  1 23 treatment=related purpose.
  1 24    Sec. 2.  IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT.  Section 25B.2, subsection
  1 25 3, shall not apply to this Act.
  1 26                           EXPLANATION
  1 27    This bill requires the presence of a registered nurse
  1 28 during all invasive procedures in hospital operating rooms and
  1 29 ambulatory surgical centers.
  1 30    The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code
  1 31 section 25B.3.  The bill makes inapplicable Code section
  1 32 25B.2, subsection 3, which would relieve a political
  1 33 subdivision from complying with a state mandate if funding for
  1 34 the cost of the state mandate is not provided or specified.
  1 35 Therefore, political subdivisions are required to comply with
  2  1 any state mandate included in the bill.
  2  2 LSB 2556HH 83
  2  3 jr/nh/5