ASHP Steps In To Resolve Member Concerns About Proposed Standard

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 24 Apr 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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The Joint Commission (TJC) will clarify language in a proposed Nursing Leadership standard, thanks to the efforts of ASHP and others who alerted TJC that the revision raised questions and concerns among health care providers.

The existing standard states that nurse executives must coordinate institution-wide patient care programs, policies, and procedures that describe how patient nursing care needs are met. The proposed revision calls for "[organization]-wide [patient] care programs" and does not explicitly state that the programs, such as addiction and respiratory services, provide nursing services only.

That omission drew confusion as some health professionals questioned whether the proposed standard would require pharmacy departments and other clinical patient care programs to come under the oversight of nurse executives.

ASHP and the American Association for Respiratory Care contacted TJC and received assurance that the language in the standard will be further clarified to indicate that it applies only to the nursing care needs of patients.

American Society of Health-System Pharmacists