Publish Date: February 10, 2021
On Wednesday, February 3, Kentucky SB 38 passed the Kentucky Senate unanimously! The bill would require licensed health care facilities in Kentucky to use smoke evacuation equipment during procedures likely to generate surgical smoke. It moves now to the Kentucky House where it will be heard in the Health and Family Services Committee.
Kentucky State Council of Perioperative Nurses Chair, Darlin Hruska, RN, BSN, CNOR approached her Senator, Julie Raque Adams, about this issue in 2019, and the Senator agreed to sponsor legislation. The bill advanced in the 2020 session before the session was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sen. Raque Adams reintroduced the legislation in January this year, and support for the bill in the Kentucky Senate has been overwhelming.
“Senator Raque Adams is a strong advocate for nursing, and we are grateful she has taken up this cause again in 2021,” said Hruska. “I encourage all of my fellow AORN members in Kentucky to get involved in our grassroots efforts. Let’s make Kentucky the next state to go surgical smoke-free!”
AORN is working the Kentucky Nurses Association (KNA) to advocate for SB 38. If you are not already a member of KNA, you can learn more about membership in your state nurses’ association here.