SPONSOR: |
Sen. Hall-Long & Rep. Barbieri |
|
Sens.
Bushweller, Lopez; Reps. Carson, Heffernan, Jaques, J. Johnson, Kenton, Miro,
Osienski, Potter, Baumbach |
DELAWARE STATE SENATE 148th GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
SENATE BILL NO. 57 |
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DELAWARE BOARD OF NURSING. |
Amend Chapter 19, Title 24
of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and
insertions as shown by underline as follows:
§
1902. Definitions.
(b)(1)
"Advanced practice registered nurse" means an individual whose
education and certification meet criteria established by the Board of Nursing
who is currently licensed as a registered nurse and has a master's degree or a
postbasic program certificate in a clinical nursing specialty with national
certification. When no national certification at the advanced level exists, a
master's degree in a clinical nursing specialty will qualify an individual for
advanced practice nurse licensure. with knowledge and skills acquired in
basic nursing education; licensure as an RN; and graduation from or completion
of a graduate level APRN program accredited by a national accrediting body and
current certification by a national certifying body in the appropriate APRN
role and at least one population focus. “Advanced practice registered
nurse" shall include, but not be limited to, certified nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse
anesthetists, certified nurse midwives and or clinical nurse specialists. Advanced practice nursing
means an expanded scope of nursing in a role and population focus approved by
the Board of Nursing, with or without compensation or personal profit, and
includes the RN scope of practice. The scope of an APRN includes, but is not
limited to,
performing acts of advanced
assessment, diagnosing, prescribing and ordering. Advanced practice nursing is the application of
nursing principles, including those described in subsection (o) of this
section, at an advanced level and includes:
§ 1906. Delaware Board of Nursing --
Powers and duties.
(a) The Board shall:
(7) Establish categories of advanced practice nurses
which shall include, but not be limited to, pediatric nurse practitioner,
family nurse practitioner, maternal-gynecological nurse practitioner, clinical
specialist in psychiatric-mental health nursing, nurse anesthetist and
gerontological nurse practitioner and standards for the advanced practice nurse
in each category. Such standards shall take into account the type of advanced
levels of nursing practice which are or may be performed and the clinical and
didactic education, experience or both needed to practice safely at those
levels. In setting such standards, the Board shall consult with advanced
practice nurses and physicians and health care organizations utilizing advanced
practice nurses. The standards shall be consistent with the national certifying
organization standards of practice recognized by the Board in its rules and
regulations; Establish categories
of advanced practice registered nurses in the roles of certified nurse
practitioner (CNP), certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), certified
nurse midwife (CNM), and clinical nurse specialist (CNS) and in the population
foci of family/individual across the lifespan, adult-gerontology, neonatal,
pediatrics, women’s health/gender-related or psychiatric/mental health. Each APRN shall use the designation “APRN”
plus role title as a minimum for purposes of identification and documentation. When providing nursing care, the APRN shall
provide clear identification that indicates his/her APRN designation;
§
1918. Renewal or reinstatement of license; lapse of license; late renewal;
penalties; retirement from practice; temporary permit to practice.
(a)
Every advanced practice
registered nurse, registered or licensed practical nurse licensed under this
chapter shall reregister biennially by filing an application; provided however,
that the license of any licensee who is on active military duty with the armed
forces of the United States and serving in a theater of hostilities on the date
such application or reregistration is due shall be deemed to be current and in
full compliance with this chapter until the expiration of 60 days after such
licensee is no longer on active military duty in a theater of hostilities. The
advanced practice nurses' independent practice and/or independent prescriptive
authority shall be subject to biennial renewal upon application made to the
"Joint Practice Committee." The advanced practice registered
nurses' licensure and/or prescriptive authority shall be subject to biennial
renewal coinciding with RN license renewal. In the event the applicant has not been
actively employed in professional, practical, or advanced practice
registered nursing in the past 5 years, the applicant will be required to
give evidence of satisfactory completion of a professional or practical
nursing refresher program within an approved agency within 2 years prior to
renewal before licensure by renewal will be granted an appropriate board
approved nursing refresher program within 1 year prior to licensure by
reinstatement.
APRNs not in clinical practice for more than the past two
years must provide evidence of satisfactory completion of 24 contact hours of
CE, 12 in pharmacotherapeutics and 12 in the clinical management of patients
within one year prior to applying for renewal.
APRNs not in clinical practice for more than the past five years must
complete 45 hours of pharmacotherapeutics CE within one year prior to
application in addition to the advanced practice
nursing refresher program. In the event no advanced practice refresher program
is available, the applicant must complete 600 hours of supervised
clinical experience in the appropriate advanced practice role and population
focus, with a qualified preceptor within 1 year prior
to licensure by reinstatement. A qualified APRN preceptor holds an
active unencumbered license or privilege to practice as an APRN or is a
physician who has an active unencumbered license and practices in a comparable
practice focus in the clinical setting.
(b) Upon receipt of the application
and fee, the Board shall verify the accuracy of the information set forth in
the application and issue to the applicant a certificate of renewal of license
for 2 years, provided that the applicant has successfully completed continuing
education requirements as may be established by the Board. Such certificate
shall entitle the holder to engage in the practice of professional,
practical, or advanced practice registered nursing for the period stated
therein. Any licensee whose license lapses for failure to renew the license may
be reinstated by the Board upon satisfactory evidence of active employment in
professional, or practical, or advanced practice
registered nursing within the past 5 years or satisfactory completion of a
refresher program within an approved agency within a 1-year period prior to
renewal and upon satisfactory explanation for the failure to renew the license
and payment of a penalty fee to be determined.
(d) After a
license has lapsed or been inactive for 5 or more years and the applicant has
not been in active practice in professional or practical nursing in the past 5
years, the applicant will be required to give evidence of satisfactory completion
of a professional or practical nursing refresher program within an approved
agency within 2 years one year prior to reinstatement before
licensure by reinstatement will be granted. In the event no refresher course is
available the Board may consider alternate methods of evaluating current
knowledge in professional or practical nursing.
§ 1920. License
requirements; use of abbreviations.
(b) No person shall
engage in practice as an advanced practice registered nurse without a
Board-issued license as an advanced practice registered nurse.
Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the use of title and
abbreviation for advanced practice registered nurses is authorized in
accordance with the following:
(1) Only certified registered nurse practitioners
may use that title, the abbreviation "CRNP" or any other
words, letters, signs or figures indicating that the person using the same is a
certified nurse practitioner.
(2) Only certified registered nurse anesthetists may use
that title, the abbreviation "CRNA" or any other words, letters,
signs or figures indicating that the person using the same is a certified
registered nurse anesthetist.
(3) Only certified registered nurse midwives may use
that title, the abbreviation "CNM" or any other words, letters, signs
or figures indicating that the person using the same is a certified nurse
midwife.
(4) Only clinical nurse specialists may use that title, the
abbreviation "CNS" or any other words, letters, signs or figures
indicating that the person using the same is a clinical nurse specialist.
(5) The abbreviation for the APRN designation for a
certified nurse practitioner, a certified registered nurse anesthetist, a
certified nurse midwife, and for a clinical nurse specialist will be APRN, plus
the role title, i.e., CNP, CRNA, CNM, or CNS.
It shall be unlawful for any person to use the title “APRN” or “APRN”
plus their respective role titles, authorized abbreviations or any other title
that would lead a person to believe the individual is an APRN, unless permitted
by this Act.
§ 1927. Prescription requirements.
No written prescription shall be prescribed if it does not
contain the following information clearly written, clearly hand printed,
electronically printed, or typed:
(1) The name, address and phone number of the
prescriber;
(2) The name and strength of the drug prescribed;
(3) The quantity of the drug prescribed;
(4) The directions for use of the drug;
(5) Date of issue.
An
APRN licensed by the Board may prescribe, order, procure, administer, store,
dispense and furnish over the counter, legend and controlled substances
pursuant to applicable state and federal laws and within the APRN’s role and
population focus.
(1)
Written, verbal or electronic prescriptions and orders shall comply with
all applicable state and federal laws.
(2)
All prescriptions shall be clearly written, clearly hand printed,
electronically printed, or typed and shall include, but not be limited to, the
following information:
(a)
The name, title, address, phone number, and registration
number of the prescriber;
(b)
Name of patient;
(c)
Date of prescription;
(d)
Full name of the drug, dosage, route, amount to be
dispensed and directions for its use;
(e)
Number of refills;
(f)
Signature of prescriber on written prescription;
(g)
DEA number of the prescriber on all scheduled drugs.
(3) APRNs may receive, sign for, record and
distribute samples to patients.
Distribution of drug samples shall be in accordance with state law and
DEA laws, regulations and guidelines.
SYNOPSIS
This bill
modernizes the abbreviated title of Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) to Advanced
Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), it updates the renewal and
reinstatement requirements for advanced practice nursing licensure, and
clarifies prescription requirements. |
Author: Senator Hall-Long