Respiratory Therapy 101: Just Keep Breathing

We all know that I think the Joint Commission is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine. I’ve found that most people who work in actual clinical jobs share my contempt for the Joint Commission because we can see it for what it is; namely, a useless organization devoted to improving patient safety by making it impossible for any clinical person to actually do anything. After all, if we can’t do anything, we can’t possibly harm the patient!

Nurse K over at Crass Pollination shares my contempt. JCAHO has mandated that her code meds must be locked in individual drawers in a med machine down the hall secured by an eight-digit PIN and fingerprint access. That is like making a police officer keep his mace, club, gun, and ammo locked in a safe in the trunk of his car. In a word, it is bullshit.

Go on over and sympathize with Nurse K. The joint commission has struck again. Will they never stop?