By McDonald H.B. No. 983
74R4658 PB-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of licensed vocational nurses.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 5(g), Chapter 118, Acts of the 52nd
1-5 Legislature, Regular Session, 1951 (Article 4528c, Vernon's Texas
1-6 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-7 (g) The Board shall employ a full-time Director of
1-8 Education, who shall have had at least five (5) years experience in
1-9 teaching nursing in an accredited school of nursing or an approved
1-10 program in vocational nursing. The Board may select either a
1-11 Licensed Vocational Nurse or a Registered Nurse as the Director of
1-12 Education. The duties of the Director of Education shall be to
1-13 visit and inspect all schools of vocational nursing to determine
1-14 whether the Board's minimum requirements for vocational nursing
1-15 programs are being met. The Board, by rule, may establish a
1-16 separate fee for the survey of approved programs, which may be
1-17 allocated to cover the cost of implementing the survey. The Board
1-18 shall prescribe such methods and rules of visiting, and such
1-19 methods of reporting as may in its judgment be deemed proper.
1-20 SECTION 2. Sections 6(a) and (d), Chapter 118, Acts of the
1-21 52nd Legislature, Regular Session, 1951 (Article 4528c, Vernon's
1-22 Texas Civil Statutes), are amended to read as follows:
1-23 (a) Except as provided in Section 7 of this Act, every
1-24 person desiring to be licensed as a Licensed Vocational Nurse or
2-1 use the abbreviation L.V.N. in the State of Texas, shall be
2-2 required to pass the examination approved by the Board of
2-3 Vocational Nurse Examiners. The applicant shall make application
2-4 by presenting to the Board, on forms furnished by the Board,
2-5 satisfactory sworn evidence that the applicant holds a high school
2-6 diploma issued by an accredited secondary <has had at least two (2)
2-7 years of high> school <education> or <its> equivalent educational
2-8 credentials and has completed an approved course in an approved
2-9 school for educating vocational nurses. An approved school as used
2-10 herein shall mean one approved by the Board or by another state.
2-11 <Application for examination by the Board or its delegate shall be
2-12 made at least thirty (30) days prior to the date set for the
2-13 examination.>
2-14 (d) If an applicant has graduated from an approved
2-15 educational program in vocational nursing in this state, another
2-16 state, or the District of Columbia, or successfully completed an
2-17 acceptable level of education in a professional nursing program in
2-18 this state, another state, or the District of Columbia, the Board
2-19 may issue to the applicant, pending the results of the licensing
2-20 examination, a temporary permit to practice vocational nursing
2-21 under the direct supervision of a licensed vocational nurse,
2-22 registered professional nurse, or licensed physician. A permit
2-23 issued to an applicant who fails the examination expires on the
2-24 date the examination result is reported to the Board <indicated on
2-25 the permit>. A permit issued to an applicant who passes the
2-26 examination expires on the applicant's receipt of a permanent
2-27 license from the Board. A permit may not be issued to an applicant
3-1 who has previously failed an examination administered by the Board
3-2 or by another state.
3-3 SECTION 3. Section 7, Chapter 118, Acts of the 52nd
3-4 Legislature, Regular Session, 1951 (Article 4528c, Vernon's Texas
3-5 Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
3-6 Sec. 7. QUALIFICATION FOR LICENSING BY ENDORSEMENT. (a) To
3-7 qualify for a temporary license to practice as a licensed
3-8 vocational nurse by endorsement, an applicant for licensing must:
3-9 (1) submit to the Board an application fee as
3-10 determined by the Board and a completed application given under
3-11 oath, in the form prescribed by the Board;
3-12 (2) have possessed at the time of initial licensing as
3-13 a licensed vocational nurse the qualifications necessary to have
3-14 been eligible for licensing at that time in this state; and
3-15 (3) have presented to the Board proof of initial
3-16 licensing by examination and proof that the current active license
3-17 and other license or licenses granted to the applicant by any other
3-18 state have not been suspended, revoked, canceled, surrendered, or
3-19 otherwise restricted for any reason<; and>
3-20 <(4) submit to the Board a notice of sponsorship of
3-21 the applicant by the holder of a Texas health care professional
3-22 license under whom the applicant will practice>.
3-23 (b) A holder of a temporary license under this section shall
3-24 receive a permanent license if the applicant:
3-25 (1) has submitted official verification of the
3-26 academic and professional credentials of the applicant; and
3-27 (2) satisfies any other requirement set by statute.
4-1 (c) The Board shall either grant or deny an application for
4-2 a permanent license within 180 days after the date of the Board's
4-3 receipt of all required forms or information. The Board may extend
4-4 the 180-day deadline to allow for the receipt and tabulation of
4-5 pending examination results.
4-6 (d) <The Board shall adopt rules relating to the conditions
4-7 of sponsorship under Subsection (a)(4) of this section, including
4-8 waiver of the requirement in the event of a hardship.>
4-9 <(e)> The Board shall specify training, education, or
4-10 examination requirements that an applicant may complete in lieu of
4-11 the requirements of Subsection (a)(2) of this section.
4-12 (e) The Board shall adopt rules to address the practice of
4-13 vocational nursing by a vocational nurse who holds a license issued
4-14 by another state who is in this state on a nonroutine basis for a
4-15 period not to exceed five days or 120 hours to provide care to a
4-16 patient who is being transported into, out of, or through this
4-17 state.
4-18 SECTION 4. Chapter 118, Acts of the 52nd Legislature,
4-19 Regular Session, 1951 (Article 4528c, Vernon's Texas Civil
4-20 Statutes), is amended by adding Section 10G to read as follows:
4-21 Sec. 10G. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF LICENSE. (a) If the
4-22 majority of the Board or a three-member committee of Board members
4-23 designated by the Board determines from the evidence or information
4-24 presented to it that a licensed vocational nurse, by continuation
4-25 in the practice of vocational nursing, would constitute a
4-26 continuing and imminent threat to the public welfare, the Board or
4-27 the three-member committee shall temporarily suspend the license of
5-1 the licensed vocational nurse.
5-2 (b) A license may be suspended under this section without
5-3 notice or hearing on the complaint if:
5-4 (1) proceedings for a hearing before the State Office
5-5 of Administrative Hearings are initiated simultaneously with the
5-6 temporary suspension; and
5-7 (2) a hearing is held as soon as practicable under
5-8 this Act and Chapter 2001, Government Code (the Administrative
5-9 Procedure Act).
5-10 (c) The State Office of Administrative Hearings shall
5-11 conduct a preliminary hearing not later than the 21st day after the
5-12 date of the temporary suspension order to determine if probable
5-13 cause exists that a continuing and imminent threat to the public
5-14 welfare is still occurring. That office shall conduct a final
5-15 hearing on the matter not later than the 91st day after the date of
5-16 the temporary suspension order.
5-17 SECTION 5. Chapter 118, Acts of the 52nd Legislature,
5-18 Regular Session, 1951 (Article 4528c, Vernon's Texas Civil
5-19 Statutes), is amended by adding Section 10H to read as follows:
5-20 Sec. 10H. INFORMATION; SUBPOENAS. (a) Each person shall
5-21 respond promptly and fully to any request for information from the
5-22 Board and to any subpoena issued by the Board and may not refuse,
5-23 deny, or resist the request or subpoena unless the request or
5-24 subpoena requests information subject to the attorney-client
5-25 privilege of confidentiality. No other privilege applies to a
5-26 proceeding of the Board.
5-27 (b) Each subpoena issued by the Board may be served
6-1 personally by a Board investigator, by certified mail, or by any
6-2 other manner authorized by law.
6-3 (c) The Board may pay a reasonable fee for photocopies
6-4 subpoenaed at the request of the Board in an amount not to exceed
6-5 the amount that the Board charges for a copy of a Board record.
6-6 (d) To the extent possible, the Board shall protect the
6-7 identity of patients named in information received by the Board.
6-8 SECTION 6. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this
6-9 section, this Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
6-10 (b) Section 6, Chapter 118, Acts of the 52nd Legislature,
6-11 Regular Session, 1951 (Article 4528c, Vernon's Texas Civil
6-12 Statutes), as amended by this Act, applies only to an application
6-13 for a license as a licensed vocational nurse that is filed with the
6-14 Board of Vocational Nurse Examiners on or after the effective date
6-15 of this Act. An application filed before that date is governed by
6-16 the law in effect on the date that the application was filed, and
6-17 the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
6-18 (c) Sections 10G and 10H, Chapter 118, Acts of the 52nd
6-19 Legislature, Regular Session, 1951 (Article 4528c, Vernon's Texas
6-20 Civil Statutes), as added by this Act, take effect January 1, 1996.
6-21 Not later than December 31, 1995, the Board of Vocational Nurse
6-22 Examiners shall adopt rules as necessary to implement those
6-23 sections.
6-24 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
6-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-26 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-27 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.