Legislature(2001 - 2002)
02/26/2002 03:01 PM House HES
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 276-REGULATION OF NURSING CHAIR DYSON announced that the first order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 276, "An Act relating to nursing, nurses, and nurse aides." [Before the committee was CSHB 276(L&C).] Number 0129 REPRESENTATIVE WILSON testified as the sponsor of HB 276. She paraphrased the following portion of her sponsor statement: House Bill 267 is essentially a clean-up bill which brings nursing statutes up to date with current nursing practice in three areas: (1) gives licensed nurses the authority to delegate nursing duties to other personnel and gives the Board of Nursing authority to promulgate regulations outlining safe delegation practices to ensure safety of the consumer; (2) the bill increases the length of time available for a temporary nursing license from four to six months to allow for the extra time it may take to get back results of criminal justice background checks required in new regulation; (3) changes the working placement regarding licensure by endorsement that brings the wording in the statute into compliance with what is already being done in the division. REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL asked if the new language in Section 1 actually reflects what is already happening. REPRESENTATIVE WILSON replied yes. Number 0337 LYNN HARTZ, Family Nurse Practitioner, Board of Nursing, testified via teleconference in support of HB 276. Ms. Hartz said that [the board] considers the delegation piece the most important provision of the bill. The [need for this statutory authority] came about when the board was drafting regulations in regard to delegation. At that time, the board was told that nurses didn't have the statutory authority to delegate to unlicensed assistive personnel (UAPs). Therefore, the board couldn't promulgate regulations regarding delegation. The board had always assumed that it had this delegation authority and had even published a position statement regarding safe delegation in 1993. MS. HARTZ pointed out that a nurse asking a nurse aide to run a urine test on a patient would be an example of this delegation. Since the nurse aide has no license to practice, the nurse aide has no legal scope of practice. Without HB 276, UAPs would have no legal basis to continue to perform nursing tasks. This legislation would eliminate a gray area of practice for nurses who are already delegating to UAPs on a daily basis. Therefore, she expressed hope that the committee would pass HB 267. Number 0565 MARY WEYMILLER, Licensed Practical Nurse, Board of Nursing, testified via teleconference. Ms. Weymiller thanked Representative Wilson for introducing HB 267 and urged the committee to pass it. Number 0604 DOROTHY FULTON, Executive Administrator, Board of Nursing, testified via teleconference. She thanked Representative Wilson for introducing HB 267. Number 0645 NANCY SANDERS, Registered Nurse, Board of Nursing, testified via teleconference in concurrence with Ms. Hartz's testimony. Number 0683 REPRESENTATIVE KOHRING moved to report CSHB 276(L&C) out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying zero fiscal note. There being no objection, CSHB 276(L&C) moved out of the House Health, Education and Social Services Standing Committee.
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