SCR167.DOC

WHEREAS, section 457-9(b), Hawaii Revised Statutes, requires a nurse who has not actively practiced for more than five years in this State or any other state, territory, or possession under the jurisdiction of the United States to submit proof of continued competency by retaking and passing the licensing examination or successfully completing a refresher course approved by the Hawaii Board of Nursing to restore a license; and

WHEREAS, title 16, chapter 89C, Hawaii Administrative Rules, requires advanced practice registered nurses with prescriptive authority to submit proof of successfully completing thirty contact hours of continuing education, including eight hours of pharmacology, to renew prescriptive authority; and

WHEREAS, advanced practice registered nurses without prescriptive authority, registered nurses, and practical nurses are not now required to submit proof of having completed continuing education to renew their licenses; and

WHEREAS, nursing careers take widely divergent paths, varying by professional role, setting, clients, disease conditions, and therapeutic modalities as well as level of health care delivery; and

WHEREAS, nursing practice inherently evolves from entry level generalist to an experienced, focused practice; and

WHEREAS, according to the American Nurses Association, an accredited provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation, nursing professional development is a career-long process of active participation in learning activities that assist in developing and maintaining nurses' continuing competence, enhancing their professional practice, and supporting achievement of their career goals; and

WHEREAS, the American Nurses Association also found that nursing professional development builds on nurses' basic education and experience and significantly contributes towards the goal of ensuring the delivery of quality health care to the public; and

WHEREAS, continuing education plays a significant role in nursing professionals' ongoing development for the betterment of the profession and the patients they serve; and

WHEREAS, continuing education requirements must be administratively feasible, cost-effective, and equitably applied and enforced; and

WHEREAS, a continuing education program should include the descriptions of proposed offerings, program and course objectives, faculty credentials, administrative structure, sources of financial support, recordkeeping mechanisms, and a valid method of evaluation, and consider the intended audience; and

WHEREAS, any continuing education requirement applicable to all nursing license renewals needs an adequate phase-in period to allow educational institutions, employers, and professionals sufficient time to meet the mandatory continuing education requirements; and

WHEREAS, the Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing is in a position to play a pivotal role in the development and administration of a continuing education program for nurses which will more fully engage it with their constituents; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing is requested to examine the feasibility, benefits, costs, obstacles, and a potential timeframe of establishing a continuing education requirement for all nursing license renewals and a Hawaiian Nursing Continuing Education Program; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing is requested to identify:

(1) The resources required to ensure proper delivery, monitoring, and compliance of a Hawaiian Nursing Continuing Education Program, including but not limited to funds needed for qualified staff, space, materials, and equipment, and the fiscal impact on nurses, employers, the State, and educational institutions providing the continuing education credits;

(2) The availability of resources needed to establish a continuing education program for the 24,000 nurses licensed in Hawaii;

(3) The chronologic evolution of nursing practice and how factors specific to individual nurses such as age, gender, type of basic nursing education, propensity for self-study, specialty area, and work setting influence the evolution of the practice and types of continuing education courses that would best respond to these factors;

(4) The determinants of safe post-entry practice and what characterizes safe versus unsafe nursing practice; and

(5) A professional program or programs suitable for analyzing the training and educational needs of nurses and for providing continuing education; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing is requested to establish a joint advisory committee to conduct the study, plan the establishment of a continuing education program for nurses, and report its findings and recommendations to the Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the joint advisory committee consists of the following members:

(1) One representative from the School of Nursing established within each of the following institutions: the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hawaii Pacific University, the University of Hawaii at Hilo, Kapiolani Community College, Maui Community College, Kauai Community College, Hawaii Community College, and the University of Phoenix;

(2) One representative from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing;

(3) One representative from each of the following: the Hawaii Association of Professional Nurses, the Hawaii Nurses Association, the Philippine Nurses Association, the Hawaii Association of Nurse Anesthetists, the Hawaii Association of Nurse Executives, the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, and the Hawaii Long Term Care Association;

(4) One representative from Hawaii Pacific Health, The Queen's Medical Center, and any other Hawaii hospital specified by the Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing; and

(5) The Director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs or the Director's designee; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the joint advisory committee select a chairperson from among themselves, and the chairperson is requested to convene meetings of the joint advisory committee; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the joint advisory committee shall serve without compensation and without reimbursement for expenses; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing take the recommendations of the joint advisory committee under advisement; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing is requested to review all reports prepared by the Office of the State Auditor and the National Council of State Boards of Nursing relating to continuing education; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing report its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, pertaining to the establishment of a Hawaii nursing continuing education program to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2011; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the joint advisory committee is to dissolve on June 30, 2011; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President and Dean of the School of Nursing of the University of Hawaii at Manoa; the Presidents of Hawaii Pacific University and the University of Phoenix; and the Chancellors of the University of Hawaii at Hilo, Kapiolani Community College, Maui Community College, Kauai Community College, and Hawaii Community College; the Executive Directors of the Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, the Hawaii Association of Professional Nurses, the Hawaii Nurses Association, the Philippine Nurses Association, the Hawaii Association of Nurse Anesthetists, the Hawaii Association of Nurse Executives, the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, and the Hawaii Long Term Care Association; the Presidents and Chief Executive Officers of Hawaii Pacific Health and the Directors of the Department of Health, the Department of Human Services, and the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs; and the State Auditor.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Hawaii State Center for Nursing; Establishing a Joint Task Force

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	167
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010
STATE OF HAWAII