| Advisory opinion request by Sharon Guardina, formerly employed as a Medical Certification Specialist II in the Health Standards Section (HSS) of the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), regarding her post employment restrictions as a consultant. |
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Sharon Guardina retired on April 10, 2018 as a Medical Certification Specialist II in the Health Standards Section (HSS) of the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH). Her position since 2011 was in the Non-Long Term Care division as a healthcare Surveyor in order to determine compliance with federal regulations and state licensing standards. Ms. Guardina's duties included surveying hospitals and other non-long term care facilities for compliance with required licensing and certification regulations, citing and writing deficiencies in such facilities and testifying in administrative hearings. Her findings were subject to review by HSS State Office Program Managers and CMS Regional Office. She was not involved in the review process and/or the determination of resultant actions. Ms. Guardina did not supervise anyone in her position.
Ms. Guardina is a Certified Registered Nurse in the Operating Room (CNOR) by the Association of PeriOperative Registered Nurses (AORN). Prior to working for HSS, Ms. Guardina was employed at hospitals in New Orleans where she worked in the perioperative surgical services departments, where she performed both circulating and scrub duties and was involved in precepting and educating perioperative nurses.
Ms. Guardina would like to work as a consultant to hospital surgical departments and ambulatory surgery centers to assist in the training and education in the AORN guidelines for the perioperative nurse to insure safe patient care of the surgical patient. Additionally, she would be prepared to provide guidance in areas such as nursing documentation, quality assurance procedures, infection control, and other issues that potentially impact the ability to provide and ensure safe, high quality patient care. She views her role in healthcare as being educational and consultative and does not envision acting as a representative of any organization. Further, she would not have any contact with LDH-HSS relative to findings of non-compliance or other regulatory concerns.
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La. R.S. 42:1121B(1) provides that "no former employee shall, for two years following the termination of his public employment, assist another person for compensation, in a transaction, or in an appearance in connection with a transaction in which such former public employee participated at any time during his public employment and involving the governmental entity by which he was formerly employed, or for a period of two years following the termination of his public employment, render, any service which such former public employee had rendered to the agency during the term of his public employment on a contractual basis, regardless of the parties to the contract, to, for, or on behalf of the agency with which he was formerly employed."
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Adopt the proposed advisory opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Greg Thibodeaux |
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