Colorodo legislature HB 03-1284 attempting to remove SBON powers

Nurses Activism

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hb 03-1284 - "concerning changes to the nursing programs at state-supported institutions of higher education, and, in connection therewith, directing the colorado commission on higher education to implement a plan designed to increase access to, enrollment in, and graduation from nursing certificate and nursing degree programs." (rep. debbie stafford, r-aurora and sen. steve johnson, r-fort collins)

declares that there must be substantial changes in the nursing education programs in this state to eliminate barriers that limit access to, enrollment in, and graduation from nursing programs. declares that the barriers that must be addressed include: a) delays in and denial of approval of nursing programs; b) limits on the number of qualified applicants accepted to nursing programs; c) poor application processes; d) unavailability of course and clinical work; and e) the failure to implement more nurses for the colorado fund. further, repeals the authority of the state board of nursing to approve nursing programs in this state and grants such authority to the colorado commission on higher education(cche).

hb 03-1284 also repeals the authority of the state nursing board to determine whether institutions outside colorado have acceptable education programs for the purposes of nursing licensure requirements as well as the requirement that an institution in colorado seek approval from the state nursing board for its educational programs that prepare individuals for licensure as a practical or professional nurse. state institutional program approval shifts, under the bill, to cche. cche would be required to submit specific data to the colorado general assembly regarding nursing courses in each state-supported institution of higher education that offers nursing courses. the bill further requires cche to direct the governing board of each institution to secure participation from health care providers and to ensure timely, effective, and efficient use of moneys donated for the "more nurses for colorado" fund.

hb 03-1284 further requires cche and the governing board of each institution, on or before july 1, 2004, to develop, approve, and implement a plan to increase access to, enrollment in, and graduation from the nursing certificate and degree programs.

the bill requires each plan; a) to include specific methodologies, course and clinical work, application processes, and an academic subcommittee; b) to ensure an immediate increase in nurse graduates and clinical sites offered; c) each institution to annually report data regarding certificate and degree programs in nursing to cche; and d) cche to analyze such data and report the data to the state legislature. current status as of 2/11/2003: introduced in the house 1/31 and assigned to the house health, environment, welfare and institutions (hewi) committee. awaiting hewi committee hearing.

http://www.cccoes.edu/docs/dome/thedomevol2-3.html

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under 23-1-126. commission - nursing programs.

(b) establish a maximum thirty-credit-hour licensed practical nurse certificate program and a maximum

sixty-credit-hour registered nurse certificate program, and at f o ur- yea r institutio n s, an ad d itio n al

one-hundred-twenty-credit-hour bachelor of nursing degree program;

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see the full proposed hb03-1284 legislation:

http://www.leg.state.co.us/2003a/inetcbill.nsf/fsbillcont/ba2317cd1c30f3c387256cb000789108?open&file=1284_01.pdf

will this legislation improve nursing practice and number of graduates in colorado or just shift balance of power????

Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Med-Surg.

It does not seem to me that lack of reciprocity would be a very strong argument, since one of the goals would be to keep Colorado-trained nurses from being able to leave the state.

Colorado, of course, could still take nurses in from other states and other countries, leaving it a net gainer of nurses.

Specializes in Critical Care,Recovery, ED.

Terrible idea this piece of legislation.

It is a typical and historical response in a time of shortage, lower the standards of entrance into practise and thereby increase supply. This will ultimately do two things. First lower quality of nursing care and secondly lowering the wages of nurses (supply and demand shift).

Remember that people who think like this, view nursing as a cost that must be controlled rather then a valuable economic service that must be maintained and expanded.

To the Coloradian Nurses you need to fight and defeat this legislation and all other bills of this nature.To the Nurses from other states and countries be on the lookout for similiar bills.

I know that COLORADO VOTERS/LICENSED RN's will have the most punch in contacting legislators

Yes, if you are a registered voter and/or a nurse licensed in Colorado, please contact your elected officals to voice your opposition of this bill (HB03-1284).

Colorado Elected Officials

what do you think would be an affective stratigy for us to use?

The Colorado Nurses Association is a constituent of the ANA. I'm sure the ANA is aware of this. Perhaps nurses from other states can write a letter in support of Colorado Nurses position and their opposition to the bill. Also, since this directly involves the Colorado SBON (who also opposes the bill), writing a letter to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) opposing the legislation and siding with CO nurses would show national nursing unification.

American Nurses Association National Council of State Boards of Nursing

I'll keep up with it and post as developments occur. Thanks for your help.

Linda

What a surprise. The chief push for the passage of this bill to lower the standards of the nursing profession in that state & take it all out of control of nurses comes from none other than a businessman with an interest in a benefit to his business. Supporting nursings fight against crap like that is exactly why I am a member of my state nurses assoc & what my dues pay for, and as a member of the ANA, some of the dues I pay in NYC are probably going to help fund that fight in Colorado. And thats fine with me. You gotta fight fire with fire & if nurses arent in the political arena to do it & also fund their fight, people like this big-bucks nursing home owner/businessman are going to get away with making the laws & decisions for us. And we all will suffer. I hope that meeting is packed to the rafters with Colorado nurses & nursing students too. It just doesnt end with the end of our shift anymore.

As I understand there are at least 13 states who have said they will not accept Colorado nurses under this program, should it go through. :( Nurses would not receive a degree, but rather a certificate. Forget travelling. Suppose they're trying to make sure we're locked into Colorado to alleviate the nursing shortage. The irony here is the state wants to take it over- hmmm aren't they the ones bottlenecking the whole nursing flow anyway? If they won't fund the institutions with money to pay faculty, there are no instructors. No instructors, no programs... no programs, no nurses...

Update: From a representative of the State House and committee member.

HB1284 has been greatly amended. It will be presented on March 5. We have a good compromise. Thank you for contacting me. It will be heard in the Health, Environment, Welfare, and Institutions Committee. Take care.

Actually, I've been told (cannot verify) but the colorado commission on Higher education (CCHE) is against this legislation. The only proponent of the bill is Ralph Nagle, who is president of the CCHE and the nursing home owner.

I'll continue to post updates as I find/receive them.

Linda

Pretty scary. I expect to see a memo soon. From Ralph. To Slylvan Learning Centers: How much to "fix" those computers?

The House Health, Environment, Welfare & Institutions Committee voted 6 to 5 to postpone the bill indefinitely. The motion to forward the bill to the appropriations committee failed.

Linda

Woot! :)

update From the Colorado Nurses Association:

HB 1284 DEFEATED Thanks to Nursing Input from around the State

As a result of scores of phone calls, emails and faxes from nurses around the state, HB 1284 was defeated in the House, Education, Welfare and Institutions (HEWI) Committee by a vote of 4-7. Thanks to Represenatives Boyd (D), Cloer ®, Frangas (D), Johnson ®, Romanoff (D), Tochtrop (D) and Weissman (D) who voted against the bill. Rep. Ramey Johnson and Rep. Lois Tochtrop are both RNs.

The sponsor of the bill, Representative Debbie Stafford, did meet with nurses three times between the initial posting of the bill and the final hearing in committee on March 5. The day before the HEWI committee, she presented a significantly amended bill, which deleted the components - such as decrease in education hours for nursing and change in oversight of schools from the State Board of Nursing to the Commission on Higher Education - that nurses were most concerned about. She added a section on Multistate Licensure Compact as a possible solution to the nursing shortage.

After more than two hours of testimony from many student nurses, staff nurses, nursing educators, nursing organizations, and even a consumer, the committee voted to kill the bill.

The primary reason seemed to be that many of the concerns about the nursing shortage which the bill had attempted to address, were in fact already being addressed through schools, clinical settings within the community and the State Board of Nursing policies.

The nursing community can take great pride in coming together on this important issue of nursing education, practice and regulation of nursing practice. Many legislators have learned much more about the importance of the nursing profession to the citizens of Colorado.>>>

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http://www.nurses-co.org/legiss.html

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Yea! More progress!

Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.
they won't fund the institutions with money to pay faculty, there are no instructors. No instructors, no programs... no programs, no nurses...

Excellent point--exactly what we're seeing right now in North Carolina. It's getting harder and harder to find quality ADN instructors, since the students we graduate often make more money than we do. We just lost an excellent clinical instructor who had been at our CC for the past 19 years--she's gone to work PRN as a staff nurse at a nearby hospital, making $40/hr.

On a lighter note, SO GLAD that this horrendous bill was stopped!!!

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