In Massachusetts, legislators are making it a crime to assault nurses:

The Joint Committee on Judiciary has scheduled a hearing on Tuesday, July 14, 2009, beginning at 12 noon for testimony on a bill sponsored by State Rep. Michael J. Rodrigues (D-Westport) and Sen. Michael Moore (D-Worcester) that will make it a crime, punishable by up to two years in prison, to assault a registered nurse while s/he is providing health care.

On the other side of the coin, Diana Mason wrote here yesterday about continuing delays in holding criminal nurses accountable in the state of California. Yesterday evening, Governor Schwarzenegger finally took action to remedy the problem:

Late Monday, Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger replaced nearly everyone on the state’s Board of Registered Nursing, “citing the unacceptable length of time it takes to discipline nurses accused of egregious misconduct.” The move came a day after a ProPublica and Los Angeles Times investigation into the board’s activity was published.

July 16. This update just in: “The longtime executive officer of the embattled California Board of Registered Nursing resigned Tuesday, ensuring almost entirely new leadership for the agency as it strives to revamp its oversight of hundreds of thousands of caregivers.”

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