HB 607 Update from BON

The Board of Nursing voted to initiate rulemaking on various aspects of HB 607 during its meetings on June 5, 2020.  You can access the minutes of the full board and long-range policy planning discussions from the “meetings” link on the Board website.

The registration application for autonomous APRNs will be available after it has been adopted by rule, which is anticipated to take approximately 90 days.  The Board voted to approve the application and move forward with rulemaking at its June 5th meeting.  The Board also voted to define “primary care practice” to include “health promotion, disease prevention, health maintenance, counselling, patient education, and diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic illnesses in a variety of healthcare settings”.  This definition will also move through the rulemaking adoption process prior to becoming effective.

The Board determined that an equivalency to the required graduate level coursework required for registration would be 45 CE hours in each of the required subject areas.  These hours must be offered by a Board-approved provider or a national organization empowered to accredit nursing CE.  The courses must have been taken within the 5 years preceding the registration application.  Submitted courses must have documentation of differential diagnosis and pharmacology in the course description and objectives.

Appointments to the Council on APRN Autonomous Practice will be finalized by the end of June 2020 and then a meeting of the Council will be scheduled and announced.  The Council is charged with developing “standards of practice” to recommend to the Board for adoption by rule.

Additional discussions on HB 607 will take place during the Board’s August 6-7, 2020, meeting.