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Minutes for HB2496 - Committee on Public Health and Welfare
Short Title
Enacting the nurse licensure compact.
Minutes Content for Wed, Mar 21, 2018
Chairperson Schmidt directed committee member's attention to a CDC Pamphlet about Lyme Disease that arrived after the Informational Hearing on Lyme Disease on March 20, 2018. (Attachment 1)
Chairperson Schmidt opened the hearing on HB2496. Staff Revisor, Norm Furse, gave an overview of the bill and then took questions from committee members.
Senator Petty introduced three pages - Izrael Thompson and Leonardo Tavares-Mercada, both 6th graders at Turner 6th Grade Academy and Clayton Tilley an 8th grader at Mill Creek Middle School.
Representative Stan Frownfelter testified as a proponent of HB2496. The passage of HB2496 would allow nurses to provide care to patients in other Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact (eNLC) states without having to obtain additional licenses. Nurses with an original Nurse Licensure Compact multi-state license will be grandfathered into the new eNLC. If passed, HB2496 will help out border counties who need nurses to have better access to recruitment. Extended online training is free to those who belong to the compact and creates more opportunities and versatility for Kansas nurses through international communications for nursing education patient care. (Attachment 2)
Carol Moreland presented testimony in support of HB2496 stating the nurse licensure compact (NLC) is the licensure model that allows registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) to have a multi-state license, with the privilege to practice in the home state and in other NLC states physically, electronically, and/or telephonically. There are presently 29 states that are part of the NLC. Kansas is not currently in the NLC. HB2496 would allow Kansas to join the NLC and issue multi-state licenses for RNS and LPNs. There are some changes that need to be made to statutes for the compact to work in Kansas, such as clean-up language and the definition of continuing nursing education; increase to licensure cap fee; number of hours of continuing education; implementation date, and implementation costs. (Attachment 3)
Questions were taken from committee members.
Due to time constraints, Chairperson Schmidt will continue the hearing on HB2496 on March 22, 2018 at 9:30 a.m.
