STAND. COM. REP. NO. 356

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 38

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 38 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ADVANCED PRACTICE REGISTERED NURSES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require each hospital within the State to allow advanced practice registered nurses to practice within the full scope of their practice in order to fully utilize these health care professionals.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing; the University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene; and the Hawaii Government Employees Association.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii, Kaiser Permanente, and one private citizen. 

     Your Committee finds that advanced practice registered nurses have proven themselves to have clinical experience of sufficient depth and breadth to safely practice within their specialties.  Given the shortage of primary care providers, especially in rural and other underserved areas, your Committee further finds that hospitals within the State should recognize and allow these skilled professionals to realize the full extent of their practice. 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to allow for further discussion of this measure. 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 38, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 38, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

____________________________

JOSH GREEN, M.D., Chair