I would hope we would all agree that nursing is a profession. However, that is not the point I wish to debate here. You overlooked the consequences for the healthcare system by not addressing the cost of graduate nursing education and the rationale for its requirement. Nursing faculty must be prepared at the graduate level (Master’s or Doctorate) to teach our students.
The cost of reputable programs that prepare faculty, who are significantly underpaid in their roles, can well exceed the levels outlined in the rule. Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ARNPs) are prepared at least the Master’s level and are needed as support in primary care. Certified Nurse Anesthetists are also prepared at the Master’s level and support our ambulatory care centers and acute care hospitals. Nurse leaders are also being recruited, with expectations that they hold graduate degrees to guide their staff in providing the best care for their patients.
Unlike some programs not accredited by the CCNE, the accrediting body of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, quality nursing programs recruit well-prepared faculty, carefully screen student candidates, and ensure qualified preceptors. I know this from my recent role as the Director of excellent Master’s and Doctorate programs in leadership. Our College also ranked highly for the Nurse Anesthesia program and for its Master’s programs.
I worked very hard from my diploma in nursing through my BSN, Master’s, and Doctorate. It was expensive, and I did receive support. I believe I made a difference for my nursing staff, organizations, and, ultimately, the students I sent to care for the people of Ohio.
I call upon the citizens of Miami Valley to support the nurses in Ohio and let their congressional representatives know that nurses require the same level of financial support for graduate education to meet their healthcare needs.
Joan Sevy Majers
Beavercreek
Board not banning a harmless herbal supplement
The recent opinion piece suggesting that banning kratom will worsen Ohio’s drug problem fundamentally mischaracterizes the action taken by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy.
The Board is not banning a harmless herbal supplement. It is removing from commercial sale unapproved, opioid-active drug compounds — specifically mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine — that bind to mu-opioid receptors, produce physical dependence and withdrawal, and have no FDA-approved medical use. That distinction matters.
The argument that restricting kratom will “push people to fentanyl” is speculative and fear-based. Public health policy cannot be driven by hypothetical behavior. What is documented is an unregulated market selling increasingly potent kratom products with no dosing standards, no purity requirements, and no medical oversight — conditions that have resulted in dependence, emergency department visits, and deaths involving mitragynine.
Claims that regulation would solve these problems ignore reality. If regulation worked, Ohio would not be facing gas-station kratom concentrates, misleading labels, and testimony from users openly describing physical dependence. The industry had years to self-regulate and escalated instead.
The Ohio Board of Pharmacy exists to act when substances behave pharmacologically like opioids, lack medical approval, and pose a risk to the public. This action does not criminalize people struggling with substance use; it removes dangerous, unapproved drug compounds from retail shelves.
That is not making Ohio’s drug problem worse. It is addressing it responsibly.
Dan Gibbs
Dayton