By Mike Shields
KHI News Service
TOPEKA, Jan. 31 Bills that would change the make-up of the Board of Nursing and alter nurse licensing procedures were heard Wednesday by the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee.
Senators are expected to vote Thursday on Senate bills 104 and 105, which received qualified support from nursing organizations.
Senate Bill 104 would remove the requirement that there be a licensed mental health technician on the 11-member Nursing Board. Proponents of the measure said there are too few mental health technicians practicing in the state and that recruiting one for the board has been too difficult. Instead, a member of the public not working in health care should fill that spot.
Nursing Board President Jane Ann Conroy, an Emporia nurse practitioner, said that change would bring a valuable
“consumer” perspective to the board, which currently is made up of six registered nurses, two licensed practical nurses, a mental health technician and two members of the public, usually drawn from the health care profession.
Carolyn Middendorf, speaking for the Kansas State Nurses Association, testified in support of the bill but asked senators to add another nurse to the board instead of another member of the public.
Nursing groups also offered qualified support for Senate Bill 105, which would make changes in nurse licensing and reporting procedures. Key among them is eliminating the requirement that new nursing graduates from out of state complete 30 hours of continuing education in order to be licensed here. The bill also would allow nursing license applications to be handled online, eliminating the current requirement that the application paperwork be mailed to licensees.
Conroy said online renewal was more popular with licensees, 67 percent of whom chose that route in 2006.
The bill also includes a requirement that any nursing board licensee be required to inform the board upon conviction of any misdemeanor offense.
Terri Roberts of the Kansas State Nurses Association said there
were
thousands of misdemeanor offenses, including traffic violations, and asked senators to narrow the proposed bill”s scope to include only misdemeanors “involving illegal drug use.”
Committee members are expected to complete their work on the bills Thursday.
Mike Shields is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. He can be reached at
mshields@khi.org
or at 785-233-5443, ext. 123.