Breaking News! HB 821 Passes Out of First Committee
Posted over 6 years ago by Doreen Cassarino
HB 821 sponsored by Representative Cary Pigman was heard in the Health Quality Subcommittee and was passed with a vote of 10-3.
This bill grants “independent practice” to APRNs who meet the following requirements and register with the Board of Nursing:
-The APRN must have an active, unencumbered license to practice as an APRN in Florida
-The APRN must not have been subject to disciplinary action in Florida or any other state within the past 5 years
-The APRN must have completed at least 2,000 clinical practice hours or clinical instruction hours while practicing as an APRN under the supervision of a MD or DO with an unencumbered license, or the APRN must have completed a graduate-level course in pharmacology.
-The Board of Nursing shall register APRNs who meet the above qualifications for independent practice. The APRN will receive a specific independent practice license.
-Independent APRNs must renew their licenses every 2 years and must take 10 hours of continuing education in addition to the 30 hours required for licensee renewal.
-The bill requires independent APRNs to report adverse incidents involving controlled substances.
-States that the Board of Nursing “may” establish an advisory committee made up of 3 APRNs, 3 physicians appointed by the Board of Medicine, and Surgeon General or designee, “to make evidence-based recommendations about medical acts that an independent practice APRN may perform.”
-The Board of Nursing “must act on” the Committee’s recommendations within 90 days following submission.
-The bill adds a number of grounds for disciplinary action against independent practice APRNs, which are taken nearly verbatim from Chapters 458 and 459 (statutes regulating MD and DO practice), for acts including:
-Paying or receiving a commission, bribe or kickback, or engaging in split-fee arrangements, for referring patients to a provider or facility.
-Exercising influence within a patient relationship to engage a patient in sexual activity.
-Making a deceptive, untrue or fraudulent representations related to advanced nursing practice.
-Experimentation on a human subject.
-Delegating professional responsibilities to a person the APRN knows or has reason to believe is not qualified to perform
Late yesterday the bill was amended to include physician assistants and they would have similar requirements as do the APRNs to practice independently.
HB 821 has two more committee stops. The companion bill, SB 972 sponsored by Senator Brandes, has yet to be placed on the agenda for its first committee.
Stay tuned for breaking news and any requests for advocacy needs as the legislative session progresses.
Doreen Cassarino, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, BC-ADM, FAANP, FNAP
FNPN Legislative Vice President