Report of the Executive Director National News
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Agenda Item #1.1 Prepared by: Katherine Thomas Meeting Date: April 22, 2021 REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NATIONAL NEWS 34 States and 1 Territory Enact the Nurse Licensure Compact: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming have enacted the revised Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC). Alabama, Indiana and New Jersey passed the Compact in 2019. Alabama implemented on January 1, 2020, New Jersey partially implemented on March 24, 2020 and Indiana implemented on July 1, 2020. New Jersey plans a full implementation in 2021. On March 5, 2021, Guam became the first US Territory to enact the Nurse Licensure Compact. Guam’s entry into the NLC will enable nurses holding an active, unencumbered multistate license to practice in Guam to assist with the nursing shortage. Residents of Guam will not be able to obtain a multistate license until the NLC is fully implemented in 2022. https://www.ncsbn.org/nurse-licensure-compact.htm See Board item 6.1 for further information on implementation of the compact. NCSBN Unveils Nurse Licensure Guidance Tool: NCSBN has launched the External Link Nurse Licensure Guidance tool that provides direction and resources on becoming a licensed nurse. This innovative online tool breaks down the licensure process, providing state-specific information for both domestically and internationally educated nurses on applying for a registered nurse (RN) or licensed practical/vocational nurse (LPN/VN) license in the U.S. https://www.ncsbn.org/nurse-licensure-guidance.htm NCSBN Offers Convenient Access to Enrollment for Volunteer COVID-19 Vaccine Providers: NCSBN is offering eligible vaccinators, such as nurses and physicians, the opportunity to volunteer to administer the COVID-19 vaccine in one convenient location. Volunteers can access the most up- to-date national list of state registries for vaccine provider enrollment at ncsbn.org/VaccinationVolunteers. Recognizing that the supply of COVID-19 vaccines will exponentially increase in the coming weeks and there will be a vital need for qualified health care provider vaccinators, NCSBN compiled a list of state registries for provider enrollment. Individuals wishing to volunteer can directly access their state registry on the NCSBN website. NCSBN Joins COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project: NCSBN has joined the COVID- 19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project in working to provide information about the clinical trials process, regulatory review, and distribution of and access to potential COVID-19 vaccines in a way that promotes equity and trust. This partnership is one component in NCSBN’s ongoing effort to provide recommendations about vaccine administration, offer free COVID-19 continuing education courses for health care providers and lead in advocating for practice/academic partnerships that enable nursing students to gain access to vital clinical experiences. As NCSBN pursues these endeavors, it maintains its paramount goal of ensuring that its NCLEX examinations remain operational and available to candidates in order to funnel new nurses into the workforce. NCSBN joins more than 75 other organizations in supporting the overall mission of the COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project. 1 NCSBN’s Annual Environmental Scan: COVID-19 and its Impact on Nursing and Regulation: NCSBN published its annual environmental scan in the Journal of Nursing Regulation, which focuses on COVID-19 and its impact on nursing and regulation. The environmental scan highlights professional, political and social changes for nurse regulators and other nursing leaders, with a current and comprehensive portrait of nursing in the U.S., including emerging issues and challenges. The report provides data on the global nursing workforce and the U.S. nursing workforce, stressing that, “COVID-19 has demonstrated an even greater need for workforce data collection, planning, and mobility. In the future, researchers, policymakers, and public health planners will expect that state and national workforce databases will help deploy nurses in future emergencies to areas of need. Pressure may increase on BONs to add workforce data collection to the licensure renewal process." In addition, the report details a September 2020 survey of boards of nursing about nursing education and solutions to replace clinical experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. (See Attachment A) NCSBN e-Notify Service: This service delivers real-time notification to employers about nurses in their employ. The system provides licensure and publicly available discipline data directly as the information is entered into the Nursys database by boards of nursing. Employers chose the types of notifications such as expiration of license and discipline on a license as well as the frequency of such notifications. NCSBN permits individual nurses to enroll as well. Currently there are 1,754 Texas nursing employers with 565,014 Texas nurses enrolled in e-Notify. There are also 95,901 individual Texas nurses self-enrolled. Enrollment information is available at: https://www.nursys.com/EN/ENDefault.aspx Nursing School Enrollment Increase Amid COVID-19 Pandemic According to preliminary results from the American Association of College of Nursing’s (AACN) annual survey of 900 nursing schools, enrollment in baccalaureate nursing programs increased by nearly 6% in 2020, to 250,856. Two-year associate nursing degree programs appear to be experiencing a similar increase and medical schools saw an 18% increase in applications in 2020. As a potential explanation for the enrollment increases, the article notes that, “It’s possible that the media stories, social media accounts and front-line medical workers’ personal accounts of battling the novel coronavirus have played a role.” In addition, “Nurse” was the number one term that people queried “how to become” on Google in 2020, according to Google trends data. https://khn.org/news/article/i-wanted-to-go-in-there-and-help-nursing-schools-see-enrollment-bump- amid-pandemic/ Additionally, more than 222,000 U.S-educated nurses took the NCLEX in 2020, an increase of 5% from 2019. STATE NEWS Texas Board of Nursing Covid-19 Website: To locate multiple resources for the public, the BON has created a webpage which contains announcements, information on waivers, resources and FAQs pertaining to Covid-19. It can be found at: https://www.bon.texas.gov/COVID-19.asp 87th Legislative Session: Board staff have testified at budget hearings before Senate Finance and House Appropriations Committees. The Senate has passed their budget bill, SB 1, which has been sent to the House. Because the two chambers have different recommendations, a conference committee may be formed. The conference committee consisting of members of both chambers is appointed to resolve the differences between the house and senate versions of the bill. Please see item 1.3 on the agenda for a broader Legislative Update. Texas Facilities Commission: In the 86th Legislative Session, SB 1349 (Watson) passed, authorizing the sale of certain property by the Texas Facilities Commission (TFC) including the William P. Hobby Building complex. State agencies located in the Hobby building will be required to relocate to the George H. W. Bush building in the summer of 2022. This Bush building is under construction at 1801 Congress Avenue. The BON is participating with TFC in planning for physical 2 space and resources needed for the move. We have reviewed a draft layout of the offices and provided feedback regarding enhancements needed for some spaces. The Board’s budget request for FY 22-23 included funds for the move. This request was revised when TFC provided more detailed information. At this time, construction is expected to be completed on time. Health Professions Council: The Health Professions Council (HPC) met on March 15, 2021. The Texas Facilities Commission (TFC) was invited to attend the meeting to answer agency questions regarding to relocation to the George H.W. Bush Building in 2022. TFC provided guidance to agencies regarding expenses that TFC will cover and those that tenant agencies will be responsible for purchasing. The entire meeting was devoted to this discussion and other agenda items were deferred to a future meeting. The HPC Annual Reports for 2019 and 2020 are included in agenda item 7.2. BOARD NEWS NCLEX in Texas During Covid-19 Pandemic: Pearson Vue testing centers opened to 100% seating capacity in early fall 2020. Mitigation includes requirements for masks by candidates and testing center staff, partitions between each candidate and hygiene measures. Candidates for the exam who have received an Authorization to Test from the Board of Nursing are able to schedule within a few days. As expected, we are currently experiencing a surge in the number of applications from graduates of nursing programs. May is the largest graduation cohort of the year in Texas. We are not expecting any interruption in testing availability, but if the Pandemic cases trend upward significantly, adjustments may be made to testing site availability, and alerts will be sent to schools of nursing and posted on the website. BON Bulletin Articles: The April 2021 issue of the Board of Nursing Bulletin contains the following articles: 1.) Nursing