74R11859 PB-D
By McDonald, et al. H.B. No. 883
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 883:
By McDonald C.S.H.B. No. 883
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of certain nursing practices.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 2(a), Article 4513, Revised Statutes, is
1-5 amended to read as follows:
1-6 (a) The members of the board shall hold office for staggered
1-7 terms of six years, with the terms of one practicing registered
1-8 nurse, one professional nurse engaged in nurse education, and one
1-9 public member expiring on January 31 of odd-numbered years. A
1-10 <The> professional nurse member <members> must be actually engaged
1-11 <employed> in the nursing profession for at least three of the five
1-12 years preceding the <before their> appointment.
1-13 SECTION 2. Section 3, Article 4518, Revised Statutes, is
1-14 amended to read as follows:
1-15 Sec. 3. Every applicant for registration as a registered
1-16 nurse shall present to the Board evidence of good professional
1-17 character, successful completion of an accredited program of
1-18 professional nursing education, and a sworn application and shall,
1-19 upon payment of required fees, be entitled to take the examination
1-20 prescribed by the Board. Upon passing the examination, the
1-21 applicant shall be entitled to receive from said Board a
1-22 certificate attested by the seal of said Board, entitling such
1-23 person to practice as a registered nurse in the State of Texas.
1-24 The Board shall determine the criteria, not to exceed the criteria
2-1 required by a majority of the states, that constitutes passing the
2-2 examination.
2-3 SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Article 4527d, Revised Statutes,
2-4 is amended to read as follows:
2-5 (a) The board may impose an administrative penalty against a
2-6 person licensed or regulated under this chapter <article> who
2-7 violates this chapter <article> or a rule or order adopted under
2-8 this chapter <article>.
2-9 SECTION 4. Section 5, Chapter 118, Acts of the 52nd
2-10 Legislature, Regular Session, 1951 (Article 4528c, Vernon's Texas
2-11 Civil Statutes), is amended by amending Subsection (g) and adding
2-12 Subsection (u) to read as follows:
2-13 (g) The Board shall employ a full-time Director of
2-14 Education, who shall have had at least five (5) years experience in
2-15 teaching nursing in an accredited school of nursing or an approved
2-16 program in vocational nursing. The Board may select either a
2-17 Licensed Vocational Nurse or a Registered Nurse as the Director of
2-18 Education. The duties of the Director of Education shall be to
2-19 visit and inspect all schools of vocational nursing to determine
2-20 whether the Board's minimum requirements for vocational nursing
2-21 programs are being met. The Board, by rule, may establish a
2-22 separate fee for the survey of approved programs, which may be
2-23 allocated to cover the cost of implementing the survey. The Board
2-24 shall prescribe such methods and rules of visiting, and such
2-25 methods of reporting as may in its judgment be deemed proper.
2-26 (u) The Board shall disseminate, at least twice a year and
2-27 at other times as determined necessary by the Board, information
3-1 that is of significant interest to Licensed Vocational Nurses and
3-2 employers of Licensed Vocational Nurses in this state. The
3-3 information shall include summaries of final disciplinary action
3-4 taken against Licensed Vocational Nurses by the Board since its
3-5 last dissemination of information.
3-6 SECTION 5. Sections 6(a) and (d), Chapter 118, Acts of the
3-7 52nd Legislature, Regular Session, 1951 (Article 4528c, Vernon's
3-8 Texas Civil Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
3-9 (a) Except as provided in Section 7 of this Act, every
3-10 person desiring to be licensed as a Licensed Vocational Nurse or
3-11 use the abbreviation L.V.N. in the State of Texas, shall be
3-12 required to pass the examination approved by the Board of
3-13 Vocational Nurse Examiners. The applicant shall make application
3-14 by presenting to the Board, on forms furnished by the Board,
3-15 satisfactory sworn evidence that the applicant holds a high school
3-16 diploma issued by an accredited secondary <has had at least two (2)
3-17 years of high> school <education> or <its> equivalent educational
3-18 credentials and has completed an approved course in an approved
3-19 school for educating vocational nurses. An approved school as used
3-20 herein shall mean one approved by the Board or by another state.
3-21 <Application for examination by the Board or its delegate shall be
3-22 made at least thirty (30) days prior to the date set for the
3-23 examination.>
3-24 (d) If an applicant has graduated from an approved
3-25 educational program in vocational nursing in this state, another
3-26 state, or the District of Columbia, or successfully completed an
3-27 acceptable level of education in a professional nursing program in
4-1 this state, another state, or the District of Columbia, the Board
4-2 may issue to the applicant, pending the results of the licensing
4-3 examination, a temporary permit to practice vocational nursing
4-4 under the direct supervision of a licensed vocational nurse,
4-5 registered professional nurse, or licensed physician. A permit
4-6 issued to an applicant who fails the examination expires on the
4-7 date the examination result is reported to the Board <indicated on
4-8 the permit>. A permit issued to an applicant who passes the
4-9 examination expires on the applicant's receipt of a permanent
4-10 license from the Board. A permit may not be issued to an applicant
4-11 who has previously failed an examination administered by the Board
4-12 or by another state.
4-13 SECTION 6. Section 7, Chapter 118, Acts of the 52nd
4-14 Legislature, Regular Session, 1951 (Article 4528c, Vernon's Texas
4-15 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
4-16 Sec. 7. QUALIFICATION FOR LICENSING BY ENDORSEMENT. (a) To
4-17 qualify for a temporary license to practice as a licensed
4-18 vocational nurse by endorsement, an applicant for licensing must:
4-19 (1) submit to the Board an application fee as
4-20 determined by the Board and a completed application given under
4-21 oath, in the form prescribed by the Board;
4-22 (2) have possessed at the time of initial licensing as
4-23 a licensed vocational nurse the qualifications necessary to have
4-24 been eligible for licensing at that time in this state; and
4-25 (3) have presented to the Board proof of initial
4-26 licensing by examination and proof that the current active license
4-27 and other license or licenses granted to the applicant by any other
5-1 state have not been suspended, revoked, canceled, surrendered, or
5-2 otherwise restricted for any reason<; and>
5-3 <(4) submit to the Board a notice of sponsorship of
5-4 the applicant by the holder of a Texas health care professional
5-5 license under whom the applicant will practice>.
5-6 (b) A holder of a temporary license under this section shall
5-7 receive a permanent license if the applicant:
5-8 (1) has submitted official verification of the
5-9 academic and professional credentials of the applicant; and
5-10 (2) satisfies any other requirement set by statute.
5-11 (c) The Board shall either grant or deny an application for
5-12 a permanent license within 180 days after the date of the Board's
5-13 receipt of all required forms or information. The Board may extend
5-14 the 180-day deadline to allow for the receipt and tabulation of
5-15 pending examination results.
5-16 (d) <The Board shall adopt rules relating to the conditions
5-17 of sponsorship under Subsection (a)(4) of this section, including
5-18 waiver of the requirement in the event of a hardship.>
5-19 <(e)> The Board shall specify training, education, or
5-20 examination requirements that an applicant may complete in lieu of
5-21 the requirements of Subsection (a)(2) of this section.
5-22 (e) The Board shall adopt rules to address the practice of
5-23 vocational nursing by a vocational nurse who holds a license issued
5-24 by another state who is in this state on a nonroutine basis for a
5-25 period not to exceed five days or 120 hours to provide care to a
5-26 patient who is being transported into, out of, or through this
5-27 state.
6-1 SECTION 7. Section 10, Chapter 118, Acts of the 52nd
6-2 Legislature, Regular Session, 1951 (Article 4528c, Vernon's Texas
6-3 Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Subsection (h) to read as
6-4 follows:
6-5 (h) Article 6252-13c, Revised Statutes, applies to the
6-6 Board, and the Board is a licensing agency for purposes of that
6-7 article.
6-8 SECTION 8. Chapter 118, Acts of the 52nd Legislature,
6-9 Regular Session, 1951 (Article 4528c, Vernon's Texas Civil
6-10 Statutes), is amended by adding Section 10G to read as follows:
6-11 Sec. 10G. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF LICENSE. (a) If the
6-12 majority of the Board or a three-member committee of Board members
6-13 designated by the Board determines from the evidence or information
6-14 presented to it that a licensed vocational nurse, by continuation
6-15 in the practice of vocational nursing, would constitute a
6-16 continuing and imminent threat to the public welfare, the Board or
6-17 the three-member committee shall temporarily suspend the license of
6-18 the licensed vocational nurse.
6-19 (b) A license may be suspended under this section without
6-20 notice or hearing on the complaint if:
6-21 (1) proceedings for a hearing before the State Office
6-22 of Administrative Hearings are initiated simultaneously with the
6-23 temporary suspension; and
6-24 (2) a hearing is held as soon as practicable under
6-25 this Act and Chapter 2001, Government Code (Administrative
6-26 Procedure Act).
6-27 (c) The State Office of Administrative Hearings shall
7-1 conduct a preliminary hearing not later than the 21st day after the
7-2 date of the temporary suspension order to determine if probable
7-3 cause exists that a continuing and imminent threat to the public
7-4 welfare is still occurring. That office shall conduct a final
7-5 hearing on the matter not later than the 91st day after the date of
7-6 the temporary suspension order.
7-7 SECTION 9. Chapter 118, Acts of the 52nd Legislature,
7-8 Regular Session, 1951 (Article 4528c, Vernon's Texas Civil
7-9 Statutes), is amended by adding Section 10H to read as follows:
7-10 Sec. 10H. INFORMATION; SUBPOENAS. (a) Each person shall
7-11 respond promptly and fully to any request for information from the
7-12 Board and to any subpoena issued by the Board and may not refuse,
7-13 deny, or resist the request or subpoena unless the request or
7-14 subpoena requests information subject to the attorney-client
7-15 privilege of confidentiality. No other privilege applies to a
7-16 proceeding of the Board.
7-17 (b) Each subpoena issued by the Board may be served
7-18 personally by a Board investigator, by certified mail, or by any
7-19 other manner authorized by law.
7-20 (c) The Board may pay a reasonable fee for photocopies
7-21 subpoenaed at the request of the Board in an amount not to exceed
7-22 the amount that the Board charges for a copy of a Board record.
7-23 (d) To the extent possible, the Board shall protect the
7-24 identity of patients named in information received by the Board.
7-25 SECTION 10. (a) Section 6, Chapter 118, Acts of the 52nd
7-26 Legislature, Regular Session, 1951 (Article 4528c, Vernon's Texas
7-27 Civil Statutes), as amended by this Act, applies only to an
8-1 application for a license as a licensed vocational nurse that is
8-2 filed with the Board of Vocational Nurse Examiners on or after
8-3 September 1, 1995. An application filed before that date is
8-4 governed by the law in effect on the date the application was
8-5 filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
8-6 (b) Sections 10G and 10H, Chapter 118, Acts of the 52nd
8-7 Legislature, Regular Session, 1951 (Article 4528c, Vernon's Texas
8-8 Civil Statutes), as added by this Act, take effect January 1, 1996.
8-9 Not later than December 31, 1995, the Board of Vocational Nurse
8-10 Examiners shall adopt rules as necessary to implement those
8-11 sections.
8-12 SECTION 11. The importance of this legislation and the
8-13 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-14 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
8-15 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
8-16 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
8-17 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
8-18 passage, and it is so enacted.