PRINTER'S NO. 393
No. 343 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY BARRAR, BAKER, BEYER, BOYD, BUXTON, CALTAGIRONE,
CAPPELLI, CLYMER, COHEN, CREIGHTON, DALEY, DENLINGER,
FABRIZIO, FREEMAN, GEIST, GEORGE, GIBBONS, GINGRICH, GRELL,
HENNESSEY, JAMES, LEACH, MILLARD, MOYER, NAILOR, PETRONE,
PHILLIPS, REICHLEY, RUBLEY, SCAVELLO, SIPTROTH, SOLOBAY,
SONNEY, STABACK, THOMAS, TRUE, WATSON, YOUNGBLOOD AND
YUDICHAK, FEBRUARY 9, 2007
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON PROFESSIONAL LICENSURE,
FEBRUARY 9, 2007
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of May 22, 1951 (P.L.317, No.69), entitled, as
2 amended, "An act relating to the practice of professional
3 nursing; providing for the licensing of nurses and for the
4 revocation and suspension of such licenses, subject to
5 appeal, and for their reinstatement; providing for the
6 renewal of such licenses; regulating nursing in general;
7 prescribing penalties and repealing certain laws," adding
8 definitions; and providing for clinical nurse specialists.
9 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
10 hereby enacts as follows:
11 Section 1. Section 2 of the act of May 22, 1951 (P.L.317,
12 No.69), known as The Professional Nursing Law, is amended by
13 adding clauses to read:
14 Section 2. Definitions.--When used in this act, the
15 following words and phrases shall have the following meanings
16 unless the context provides otherwise:
17 * * *
18 (15) The "Practice of clinical nurse specialist" means the
1 provisions of direct and indirect nursing care at the advanced
2 level.
3 (16) "Clinical nurse specialist" means a registered nurse
4 licensed in this Commonwealth who is certified by the board as a
5 clinical nurse specialist.
6 Section 2. Section 2.1(a) of the act, amended June 29, 2002
7 (P.L.651, No.99), is amended to read:
8 Section 2.1. State Board of Nursing.--(a) [The State Board
9 of Nursing shall consist of the Commissioner of Professional and
10 Occupational Affairs, three members appointed by the Governor,
11 with the advice and consent of a majority of the members elected
12 to the Senate, who shall be persons representing the public at
13 large, and nine members appointed by the Governor, with the
14 advice and consent of a majority of the members elected to the
15 Senate, six of whom shall be registered nurses, graduated from
16 schools of nursing where practical and theoretical instruction
17 is given, at least three of whom shall possess Masters' degrees
18 in nursing, two of whom shall be licensed practical nurses and
19 one of whom shall be a licensed dietitian-nutritionist, and all
20 of whom shall have been engaged in nursing or the practice of
21 dietetics-nutrition in this Commonwealth for the five-year
22 period immediately preceding appointment. The dietitian-
23 nutritionist member of the board initially appointed need not be
24 licensed by the licensure examination adopted by the board but,
25 at the time of appointment, must have satisfied the education
26 and experience requirements of this act for licensure as a
27 dietitian-nutritionist. In making appointments to the Board, the
28 Governor shall give due consideration to providing
29 representation from diversified fields of nursing or dietetics-
30 nutrition, including, but not limited to, specialized nurses or
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1 dietitian-nutritionists of all types. The persons representing
2 the public at large may not have a financial interest in the
3 provision of goods and services for dietitian-nutritionists and
4 may not be a dietitian-nutritionist or have a household member
5 who is a dietitian-nutritionist.] The State Board of Nursing
6 shall consist of the Commissioner of Professional and
7 Occupational Affairs, three members appointed by the Governor,
8 with the advice and consent of a majority of the members elected
9 to the Senate, who shall be persons representing the public at
10 large, and ten members appointed by the Governor, with the
11 advice and consent of a majority of the members elected to the
12 Senate, seven of whom shall be registered nurses, graduated from
13 schools of nursing where practical and theoretical instruction
14 is given, at least three of whom shall possess Masters' degrees
15 in nursing, one of whom shall be a practicing clinical nurse
16 specialist, two of whom shall be licensed practical nurses and
17 one of whom shall be a licensed dietician-nutritionist, and all
18 of whom shall have been engaged in nursing or the practice of
19 dietetics-nutrition in this Commonwealth for the five-year
20 period immediately preceding appointment. The dietician-
21 nutritionist member of the board initially need not be licensed
22 by the licensure examination adopted by the board but, at the
23 time of appointment, must have satisfied the education and
24 experience requirements of this act for licensure as a
25 dietician-nutritionist. The clinical nurse specialist member of
26 the board initially need not be certified by the board but, at
27 the time of appointment, must meet the qualifications for
28 certification by the board. In making appointments to the board,
29 the Governor shall give due consideration to providing
30 representation from diversified fields of nursing or dietetics-
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1 nutrition, including, but not limited to, specialized nurses or
2 dietician-nutritionists of all types. The persons representing
3 the public at large may not have a financial interest in the
4 provision of goods and services for dieticians-nutritionists and
5 may not be a dietician-nutritionist or have a household member
6 who is a dietician-nutritionist.
7 Section 3. Section 3 of the act, amended December 20, 1985
8 (P.L.409, No.109), is amended to read:
9 [Section 3. Registered Nurse, Use of Title and Abbreviation
10 "R.N."; Credentials; Fraud.--Any person who holds a license to
11 practice professional nursing in this Commonwealth, or who is
12 maintained on inactive status in accordance with section 11 of
13 this act, shall have the right to use the title "registered
14 nurse" and the abbreviation "R.N." No other person shall engage
15 in the practice of professional nursing or use the title
16 "registered nurse" or the abbreviation "R.N." to indicate that
17 the person using the same is a registered nurse. No person shall
18 sell or fraudulently obtain or fraudulently furnish any nursing
19 diploma, license, record, or registration or aid or abet
20 therein.]
21 Section 3. Registered Nurse, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Use
22 of Title and Abbreviation "R.N." or "C.N.S."; Credentials;
23 Fraud.--Any person who holds a license to practice professional
24 nursing in this Commonwealth, or who is maintained on inactive
25 status in accordance with section 11 of this act, shall have the
26 right to use the title "registered nurse" and the abbreviation
27 "R.N." No other person shall engage in the practice of
28 professional nursing or use the title "registered nurse" or the
29 abbreviation "R.N." to indicate that the person using the same
30 is a registered nurse. Any person who holds a license to
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1 practice professional nursing in this Commonwealth, or who is
2 maintained on inactive status in accordance with section 11 of
3 this act, and who is certified by the board as a clinical nurse
4 specialist shall have the right to use the title "clinical nurse
5 specialist" and the abbreviation "C.N.S." No other person shall
6 use the title "clinical nurse specialist" or the abbreviation
7 "C.N.S." No person shall sell or fraudulently obtain or
8 fraudulently furnish any nursing diploma, license, record, or
9 registration or aid or abet therein.
10 Section 4. Sections 6.2 and 7 of the act are amended by
11 adding subsections to read:
12 Section 6.2. Education Programs, Approved Lists,
13 Distribution; Student Credits Where School Removed from List.--*
14 * *
15 (c) Educational programs for the education of clinical nurse
16 specialists that are operated within a regionally accredited
17 college or university and that culminate in at least a Master's
18 degree or Doctorate in nursing or a post-master's certificate in
19 nursing, with a concentration in the role of the clinical nurse
20 specialist and that are approved by a national accrediting body
21 for nursing education programs recognized by the board will be
22 considered approved programs for the purposes of conferring
23 certification to practice as a clinical nurse specialist:
24 (1) Within ninety (90) days of the effective date of this
25 subsection, the board shall announce on its Internet website the
26 recognized national accrediting bodies for purposes of this
27 subsection.
28 (2) Within one hundred eighty (180) days of the effective
29 date of this subsection, education programs meeting these
30 requirements shall submit the name, address and telephone number
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1 of the program; name and curriculum vitae of the program
2 director; and proof of accreditation to the board by a national
3 accrediting body recognized by the board for inclusion on the
4 list of approved clinical nurse specialist education programs.
5 (3) Programs created more than six (6) months after the
6 effective date of this subsection shall submit the information
7 required in this subsection to the board for inclusion on the
8 list of approved programs.
9 Section 7. Graduates of Schools of Other States, Territories
10 or Dominion of Canada.--* * *
11 (c) The board may issue a certification to clinical nurse
12 specialists who have completed a course of study considered by
13 the board to be equivalent to that required in this Commonwealth
14 at the time such course was completed or who is licensed or
15 certified by another state, territory or possession of the
16 United States or a foreign country as deemed equivalent to
17 Pennsylvania's certification requirements, and who has met all
18 the requirements as to character and preliminary education
19 elsewhere in this act.
20 Section 5. The act is amended by adding sections to read:
21 Section 8.5. Clinical Nurse Specialist; Qualifications.--(a)
22 The board may certify a licensed registered nurse as a clinical
23 nurse specialist if the nurse satisfies the requirements
24 established by this act. Certification of a clinical nurse
25 specialist by the board shall expire on the same date as the
26 license of that nurse expires. Beginning on the effective date
27 of this section a nurse shall not qualify for initial
28 certification by the board unless the nurse holds a master's
29 degree, doctoral degree or post-master's certificate from an
30 educational program in nursing that has been approved by the
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1 board and that prepares graduates to practice as a clinical
2 nurse specialist and:
3 (1) holds current national certification as a clinical nurse
4 specialist in a designated specialty or in an area pertinent to
5 the designated specialty;
6 (2) meets equivalence requirements as specified in
7 regulations of the board where there is no certification
8 examination available in the specialty area; and
9 (3) meets all other board requirements to practice as a
10 clinical nurse specialist.
11 (b) Persons who completed an educational program in a
12 related discipline previously recognized for national
13 certification as a clinical nurse specialist from a board-
14 recognized national certification organization shall be issued
15 certification by the board upon:
16 (1) submitting evidence of having current American Nurses
17 Association or American Nurses Credentialing Center
18 certification; and
19 (2) submitting an application to the board.
20 (c) As a condition for biennial renewal of certification by
21 the board, a clinical nurse specialist must, in the two years
22 prior to renewal, complete at least thirty (30) hours of
23 continuing education approved by the board.
24 (d) For initial certification under this act the currently
25 practicing clinical nurse specialist shall file an application
26 with the board and pay an initial certification fee of one
27 hundred dollars ($100). The board may amend the initial
28 certification fee by regulation.
29 Section 8.6. Scope of Practice for Clinical Nurse
30 Specialists.--Nothing in this act shall be construed to limit or
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1 prohibit a clinical nurse specialist from engaging in those
2 activities which normally constitute the practice of nursing as
3 defined in section 2.
4 Section 6. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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