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Outpatient Surgery E-Weekly

OR Excellence Pre-Registration Deadline Extended

There's still time to obtain discounted pricing for Outpatient Surgery Magazine's 2010 OR Excellence conference and participate in our pre-registrat...

Can Robots Place Regional Blocks?

In addition to its laparoscopic applications, the da Vinci surgical robot might be able to perform complex regional anesthesia from remote locations...

After Surgery, Pain Remains For Some

While most surgical patients report marked improvements following surgery, a significant number complain of less vitality and more pain in the year ...

Archive > October, 2005 Vol. VI, No. 10

Legal Update

Can You Make Blood Tests Mandatory?

C. Todd Drake, Esq.

C. Todd Drake, Esq. If you suspect a tech is using cocaine, can you force her to undergo a blood test? What about a nurse who's the partner of a patient infected with AIDS? Can you force her to be tested? The not-so-simple answer: It depends. The courts have ruled that blanket mandatory testing is unacceptable, but testing is compelled when you have a reasonable suspicion that an employee may be putting herself, other employees or patients at risk. Here I'll examine some of the many legal responses to these questions, as well as the employee-testing dilemmas you face, in order to give you a better idea of what you can do if you're ever presented with such a tough call.

Categories: Legal/Regulatory
Keywords:
Do's and don'ts of employee blood tests; Potential harm plus potential risk; A reasonable suspicion; Voluntary, not mandatory; AIDS. LPN; American Medical Association; American Nurses Association; Association; Carolina; Center; Data; Document; HIV; HIV-infected; Hospital; IVs; Jersey; LPN; Medical Association; Medical Center; Missouri; North Carolina; Nurses Association; Princeton; acted; actions; address; administered; adopted; affirmative; alleged; anonymous; asked; association; at-risk; attempt; authority; average; back; basing; blanket; blood; bloodborne; caller; calls; case; catheterizati... show all keywords
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