Senator George D. Maziarz is pleased to announce that legislation he sponsored (S.1608) requiring a qualified nurse be present in an operating room for the duration of an operative procedure has been signed into law by Governor David Paterson.“In the operating room, patient care is the number one priority,” Senator Maziarz said. “This new law will help make sure that caregivers are right there in the same room to assist in any way they can.” Specifically, the new law requires that a registered nurse, qualified by training and experience in operating room nursing, shall be present as a circulating nurse in any and each separate operating room where surgery is being performed for the duration of the operative procedure. “During an operation, surgeons and nurses all play critical roles,” Senator Maziarz added. “But it is the RN who is solely focused on monitoring how the patient is doing and keeping everyone else informed. Patients deserve the safest possible treatment, and that happens best when an RN is in the room.”The measure was strongly supported by the New York State Nurses Association, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, and the New York Organization of Nurse Executives.
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