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Senate Bill 1058 |
Senate Author: Nelson |
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Effective: 9-1-13 |
House Sponsor: King, Susan |
Senate Bill 1058 amends provisions of the Occupations Code relating to the regulation of the practice of nursing. The bill revises the acts to which the Nursing Practice Act does not apply and requires the Texas Board of Nursing to develop a system for obtaining criminal history record information for a person accepted for enrollment in a nursing educational program that prepares the person for initial licensure as a registered or vocational nurse. The bill authorizes the board to develop a similar system for an applicant for enrollment in a nursing educational program and to file a petition for a declaratory order as to a person's license eligibility based on the results of the criminal history record information check performed on a person accepted or applying for enrollment in certain nursing educational programs. The bill requires the board by rule to adopt requirements for the petition and determination of license eligibility and establishes the deadline by which the board is required to make such a determination. The bill establishes continuing education requirements for all license holders in nursing jurisprudence and nursing ethics and for certain license holders in older adult or geriatric care.
Senate Bill 1058 authorizes the board to require a person determined to have committed a prohibited act in violation of the Nursing Practice Act to abstain from the consumption of alcohol or the use of drugs and to submit to random periodic screening for alcohol or drug use. The bill exempts a license temporarily suspended on the basis of drug and alcohol abuse from the prohibition against disciplinary action being taken by the board unless certain notice and hearing requirements are fulfilled. The bill provides for the disclosure of certain information relating to complaint and investigation proceedings for a nurse ordered to participate in a peer assistance program. The bill establishes procedures for the deferral of a final disciplinary action by the board. The bill removes the requirement for the executive director to report to the board on whether affected nurses accepted the corrective actions and authorizes the board to consider a corrective or deferred action taken against a person to be a prior disciplinary action under the Nursing Practice Act when imposing a sanction on the person for a subsequent violation.