HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5106        FILED ON: 5/17/2022

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Kathleen R. LaNatra

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to relieve the strain on the limited licensed medical personnel in correctional facilities.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5106        FILED ON: 5/17/2022

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

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An Act to relieve the strain on the limited licensed medical personnel in correctional facilities.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Chapter 94C of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 9 the following section:-

Section 9A. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:

“Facility”, a house of correction established pursuant to section 8 of chapter 126 or a facility operated by the department of correction.

“Nurse”, a nurse registered or licensed pursuant to section 74 or 74A of chapter 112.

(b) Notwithstanding any other section of this chapter or any other general or special law to the contrary, and consistent with the provisions of this section, a nurse may delegate to unlicensed personnel the duty of administering medication to individuals housed at a facility.

(c) A nurse may only delegate the duty of administering medication pursuant to subsection (b), under the following conditions:

(i) the nurse and the unlicensed personnel shall be employed at the facility where the medication is to be administered;

(ii) medications shall be administered pursuant to an existent patient prescription or order by a duly authorized prescriber for routine and immediate administration;

(iii) medications shall not be administered as part of an opioid treatment program, including medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder pursuant to section 17B of chapter 127; and

(iv) controlled substances shall not be administered.

(d) Prior to administering medications to an individual housed at a facility pursuant to this section, unlicensed personnel shall receive competency-based training from a nurse. The training shall include, but shall not be limited to: (i) best practices regarding storage, handling, administration, wasting, disposal and documentation of medication; (ii) the 5 rights of safe medication administration; (iii) the specific needs of individuals to whom they are administering medications; (iv) support available and how to access such support from the delegating nurse or other health care professionals; and (v) emergency procedures. A record of the unlicensed personnel’s training and competency shall be properly documented and a current list of unlicensed personnel deemed competent to administer medication shall be provided to the delegating nurse.

(e) Prior to delegating medication administration pursuant to this section, the delegating nurse shall verify that the unlicensed personnel administering medications has documented training and competency on file pursuant to subsection (d).

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2023.