First Amendment violation by misuse and abuse of licensing power. Always was a bad idea to give the state a monopoly on who can practice an occupation. https://t.co/vRsxMgXk2B
— Robert Barnes (@barnes_law) December 6, 2021
The Nursing Care Quality
Assurance Commission supports the Federation of State Medical Boards’ statement
released on July 29, 2021, regarding COVID-19 vaccine misinformation.
“Physicians who generate and
spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation are risking
disciplinary action by state medical boards, including the suspension or
revolution of their medical license. Due
to their specialized knowledge and training, licensed physicians possess a high
degree of public trust and therefore have a powerful platform in society,
whether they recognize it or not. They also
have an ethical and professional responsibility to practice medicine in the
best interests of their patients and must share information that is factual,
scientifically grounded, and consensus-driven for the betterment of public
health. Spreading inaccurate COVID-19 vaccine information contradicts that
responsibility threatens to further erode public trust in the medical
profession and puts all patients at risk.”
The NCQAC expands this
statement to include nurses in Washington State and does not limit this
perspective to vaccines but broadly applies this standard to all misinformation
regarding COVID-19 treatments and preventive measures such as masking. Nurses who generate and spread COVID-19
misinformation, or disinformation, erode the public trust in the nursing
profession and endangers patients.
With vaccination mandates by the
Governor and others in Washington, the NCQAC will review any complaints received
regarding nurses (LPNs, RNs, or ARNPs) granting exemptions to vaccination or
masks that are not based in established science or verifiable fact. A practitioner who grants mask or other exemption without conducting an
appropriate prior exam and without a finding of legitimate medical reason supporting
such an exemption within the standard of care, maybe subjecting their license
to disciplinary action.
The NCQAC bases masking vaccination safety on expert recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Washington State Department of Health (DOH).
