Senator Scott Taylor

Virginia-2nd, Republican
412 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515-4602

Dear Scott Taylor:

My name is Yasmin. I am a Register Nurse (RN) in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I am

writing to request your support for bill HB 1033 Testing of bodily fluids; deemed consent. This
legislation will assist our jurisdiction in meeting the national standards for RNs outlined in the
American Nurses Association (ANA) Standards of Excellence. The Standards for Excellence
Institute is a national initiative established to promote the highest standards of ethics,
effectiveness, and accountability in nonprofit governance, management, and operations, and to
help all nonprofit organizations meet these set benchmarks. These standards have set the
foundation for the Standards for Excellence program by publishing Standards for Excellence: An
Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector. The six major areas of nonprofit
governance and management are identified, which contain 27 different topic areas. ANA is
dedicated to standards, guidelines, and principles. Elevating the nursing profession by defining
values and priorities for RNs across the nation. Across the United States ANA provides direction
to nurses, influence legislation, and implement a framework to objectively evaluate nursing
excellence. The purpose of these standards is to ensure that RNs in every U.S. jurisdiction meet
the same qualifications and are able to perform the same functions. This will ensure that the
citizens of Virginia receive the safe competent care that RNs can provide.

Passage of HB 1033 Testing of bodily fluids; deemed consent provides for the adoption
of language which will: Deemed consent to testing and release of test results related to infection
with human immunodeficiency virus or the hepatitis B or C virus. This protects all that is
involved in the care for the patient, including the health care team if exposure occurs. The risk of
transmission of these diseases following exposure among healthcare worker is high, with HBV at
37%, HCV at 39% and HIV at 4.4%. The number of reported incidences related to sharp object
injuries vary among healthcare workers because it is believed to be underreported. In recent
studies between 19% and 38% health care workers reported injuries. The participants answered
the question of “Why did you not report the incident?” with being too busy at work at the time of
injury. However, incidences occurred with medical and nursing students because of the
inexperience of safe practice related to needles and sharp objects. This bill helps support the
safety of all involved in the care for the patient, including deemed consent to test bodily fluids
that an individual has been exposed to during the phase of care.

I ask you to support to improve the provision of health care to the citizens of Virginia.
Please contact me with any additional questions you may have.

Respectfully Yours,

Yasmin Gonzalez
Register Nurse
Ygonzalez1720@yahoo.com
References:

Joukar, F., Mansour-Ghanaei, F., Naghipour, M., & Asgharnezhad, M. (2018).

Needlestick

Injuries among Healthcare Workers: Why They Do Not Report their Incidence? Retrieved from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6111658/

Adefolalu, A. (2014). Needle Stick Injuries and Health Workers: A Preventable Menace.

Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4145516/

ANA Standards for Excellence. (2018). Retrieved from

https://www.nursingworld.org/ana/about-ana/standards/