REPORT TITLE:
Operation Nightingale


DESCRIPTION:
Reestablishes the Operation Nightingale program. (SB851 HD2)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        851
THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           S.D. 2
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO HEALTH CARE.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  In the mid-eighties, the supply of licensed
 
 2 nurses working in the state did not meet the demand.  To
 
 3 alleviate the nursing shortage, the legislature established
 
 4 operation nightingale, a six-year pilot program to facilitate the
 
 5 entry of international and U.S. graduate registered nurses into
 
 6 the Hawaii health care delivery system.  This was accomplished
 
 7 by:
 
 8      (1)  Preparing qualified international and U.S. nurse
 
 9           graduates to successfully take the National Council of
 
10           Licensure Exam for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN); and
 
11      (2)  Facilitating the reentry of currently licensed, but not
 
12           working, registered nurses into Hawaii's health care
 
13           delivery system.
 
14      The legislature finds that by January 1995, six months prior
 
15 to the closure of the program, a total of fifty-four students
 
16 completed the nursing license examination preparation program.
 
17 Of the fifty-four students, twenty-nine had gone on to pass the
 
18 NCLEX-RN exam and had earned the title of "registered nurse."  In
 
19 addition, more than one hundred twenty applicants preparing to
 
20 take the NCLEX-RN examination attended free "community review"
 

 
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 1 classes offered by operation nightingale since the program's
 
 2 inception.  The contribution that operation nightingale made
 
 3 towards alleviating the nursing shortage was thirty-six new
 
 4 registered nurses into the work force per year at the cost of
 
 5 $4,583 for each new nurse, a bargain by any standard.
 
 6      Hawaii is again facing another nursing shortage,
 
 7 particularly in the area of pediatric intensive care units,
 
 8 emergency rooms, and operating rooms.
 
 9      Recognizing this pressing nursing shortage, the legislature
 
10 further finds that again there is a need for a program to
 
11 immediately increase the number of licensed nurses in the State.
 
12 There are many graduate nurses in Hawaii working as nurses aides,
 
13 ward clerks, doctor's secretaries, and in other similar nursing
 
14 related work, who have not yet passed the written examination
 
15 required by the state board of nursing.  The time demands of
 
16 their occupation and other socioeconomic pressures prevent them
 
17 from otherwise being able to prepare adequately for the licensing
 
18 examination.  With some concerted assistance from the private
 
19 sector and the State, these graduate nurses may be able to pass
 
20 the written examination and become licensed nurses.
 
21      The purpose of this Act is to reestablish the operation
 
22 nightingale program in the department of health to design and
 
23 operate review and training courses as may be necessary to enable
 

 
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 1 graduates of nursing schools to pass the written examination
 
 2 required by the state board of nursing.
 
 3      SECTION 2.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
 4 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $     or so much
 
 5 thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2000-2001 to
 
 6 reestablish the operation nightingale program.
 
 7      The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of
 
 8 health for the purposes of this Act.
 
 9      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2000.