?? A "National Nursing License" (RN)

[WriteStuff]

Just out of curiosity...........what do all of you think about the feasibility of there being a National Nursing License, for RN's?

What would some of the "pros" and "cons" be?

I live and work in Minnesota and if I'm not mistaken (correct me if I'm wrong because I haven't really researched it thoroughly), but we can work in North and South Dakota, and Wisconsin on our Minnesota License, without having to be licensed in those states.

I am licensed in seven states because I was married to a "Nomad" for twenty years (divorced now thank God).........but only keep my Minnesota License active.

It just seems to me that we could be issued a National License because the standards for licensure are comparable state by state, are they not?

It would sure make it easier for all of us as a profession because of our mobile society.

Interested to hear feedback from all of you.

Bonnie Creighton, RN, Minnesota

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

For Shannon.

The actual test NCLEX is the same all over. In FL since you have to actually have the FLORIDA license in hand before they let you work.

So wherever you live is where you take the test, but you should arrange for FL to get the report. It may mean you need to pay for 2 licenses if you will still be in MA when you take it.

Call the MA Board of Nursing.

[mosrnc]

I have thought about National Nurses Licenses on several occasions. On one hand, it would make transfering to another location and relieving staffing shortages more easy. On the other it removes the leverage of striking during labor disputes.

Labor disputes are usually not a financial-wage issue. Usually the strike issue surrounds patient care and the facilities refusal to negotiate staffing levels and address the staffs concerns. Some of the misunderstandings about Unions is that the Union and its negotiations team is made up of Union employees, people not involved in the organization. My experience with Unions and knowledge of Unions is that there are negotiation experts supplied from the Union but the direction is from the membership, those who actually are employees of the facility, those who have a vested interest. For a strike to take place there must also be a strike vote that is passed by the people who are members within the facility. And a time line, ususally about 14 days for the Hosptial to continue to negotiate a settlement in lieu of the strike. The right to strike must be protected.

Additionally, when a Hospital calls in a strike team they ususally pay the workers $5000-6000 (yes thousand)per week and the agency fee above that. A strike is rarely every about money.

The second big issue is the "nursing Shortage" I can't list the numbers of nurses who are capable of working but are not because of the working conditions! The shortage is because of an industry created problem. What other 'profession' mandates long hours, minimal and few breaks, discipline for overtime, massive charting requirements, daily exposure to known and unknown diseased, verbal and emotional abuse by patients, coworkers, and boses......and the list goes on. What other industry requires an individual to chronically give up their meals, bathroom breaks, etc in order to promote health????!!

And then consider the wages!

It is no wonder we are in a shortage!

The right to strike must be protected and the idea of a national nurse license mut be put on a shelf until the industry of health care wakes up and agrees to changes.

[purplemania, BSN, RN]

I think a national license is appropriate, since we have a national test. Individual states could still collect $ for giving the test and keeping up licensees educational requirements, who is working without license, who needs reprimands, etc. Continuing education should take the place of repeating the NCLEX. In Texas we are required to prove 20 hr. of CEU's are done q 2 years. I also think we may begin to see more agency nurses as some facilities do not achieve a standard of working conditions that entires younger nurses to work, there is already a shortage and older nurses will be retiring. Moreover, since many nurses find themselves "uninsured" and in litagation, we may be better off with contracts via an agency. Something to think about.

[Jenny P]

Thank you Mosrnc, for identifying one of the reasons that many unionized nurses are against a national license. Many nurses in "right-to-work states do not understand the importance of strikes and why some states are not in favor of the Interstate Nursing Compact.

[Cdn student]

In Canada, we too are only licenced for the province we write our RN exam in. If a Manitoba nurse wants to go to another province like Alberta to work, they must write the Alberta provincial RN exam for that province. I don't agree with it. I think if you pass the RN exam, you should be able to practice in any province without writing another exam.

[pchub]

I live in Maine and so I would be eligible for the compact nursing. I have decided to go into travel nursing so this will make it so much easier. The biggest issue I see here is that with everything else involved in nursing there is little common sense used. Having different nurse practice acts in each state has never made sense to me. Why should I receive different care in different states? Nursing needs to stop trying to make everything so difficult. A national standard of care makes perfect sense. There should be the same level of nursing care available to every patient in the USA. If this was institued however it would abolish the need for JCHO and several other organizations that make a lot of money by continually changing their requirments. How many times have you seen them come to your hospital and no matter what has been done to meet their requirements somehow there is always "just this one little change that you've missed." I have felt for a long time that there is a lot of "job justification" in these agencies. Did you all know that hospitals pay the JCAHO to come and give their approval? There are so many things like this that revlove around the almighty dollar. I just want to be able to go to work with a clear plan of how to best take care of my patients without having to worry about the hundreds of thousands of different rules and regulations that apply in so many hospitals. I've always felt that JCAHO should publish their guidelines and work toward a national standard of care for all patients.

Oh well, that is my dream in a perfect world.