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LEGISLATIVE ALERT Registered Surgical Assistant and Registered Surgical Technologist Title Protection Act Passes Legislature in Illinois Great news! Illinois Senate Bill 354, which passed the Senate in April, passed the House this afternoon with 57 yeas and only 1 nay vote registered. The bill will now go back to the Senate for amendments to be signed off on, and will be sent to the Governor this week to be signed into law! This bill was perhaps our most important piece of legislation this legislative session, and is the culmination of at least four years of work in the Illinois Legislature. The bill creates a new law called the Registered Surgical Assistant and Registered Surgical Technologist Title Protection Act, and regulates surgical assistants and surgical technologists through registration requirements at the state level. It is the first legislation of its kind passed in the United States, and we hope Illinois is the first state of many to enact similar legislation. The legislation was sponsored by Sen. William E. Peterson and Sen. John J. Cullerton in the Senate, and Representatives Daniel J. Burke, Robert Rita, Bob Biggins, Richard T. Bradley, and Patricia R. Bellock in the House. Representative Burke has championed our bill in various forms over the last three years, and has stood in support through seemingly endless debates and committee processes, and has even allowed AST staff and members traveling to Springfield to use his office as a "crash pad" for meetings and even for luggage storage! It was only fitting that he was the one to introduce the bill for the final vote on the floor of the House of Representatives this afternoon. Briefly, here's what the new law requires and provides: · Sets standards of qualifications, education, training and experience for those who seek to hold the title of Registered Surgical Assistant and Registered Surgical Technologist. · Defines both the surgical technologist and surgical assistant as being under the direct supervision of the operative physician. · Regulates Registered Surgical Technologists and Registered Surgical Assistants under the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation (NOT the Board of Nursing). · Requires that an individual hold the CST or CST/CFA credential in order to be registered as a surgical technologist (RST) or surgical assistant (RSA) in Illinois. · Allows the Director of the Department of Professional Regulation to promulgate rules for the profession in Illinois. Most importantly, this new law recognizes surgical technology and surgical assisting as a profession in the state of Illinois, and requires that surgical technologists and surgical assistants hold the CST or CST/CFA credential in order to use the title "Registered Surgical Technologist" (RST) or "Registered Surgical Assistant" (RSA), and it places both groups squarely under physician delegation, and not nursing delegation. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Illinois State Assembly, many members of which were instrumental in a very strong grass-roots effort, taking vacation days to make phone calls and lobby in Springfield. Margaret Vaughn, our lobbyist in Illinois for the last several years, has done a remarkable job, and has worked on both the surgical assistant and surgical technologist issues, coordinating between the Illinois State Assembly of AST and the Illinois Surgical Assistants Association. We'll keep you posted as the bill goes to the Governor's office and is signed into law, and as we enter into the rules making process later this year. Ben Price, CST Government and Public Affairs Director Association of Surgical Technologists
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