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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Picraux

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/28/06

2/6/06 HB 484/aHCPAC

SHORT TITLE Nursing Leadership & Retention Programs

SB

ANALYST Lewis

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$625.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Duplicates SB 94.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Health (DOH)

Health Policy Commission (HPC)

SUMMARY

FOR THE LEGISLATIVE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE

Synopsis of HCPAC Amendment

The House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee amendment changes the second objective in

the $125,000 portion of the appropriation from “to develop guidelines for nurse staffing ratios”

to “to develop voluntary consensus guidelines for staffing based on best practices”.

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 484 appropriates $625,000 from the general fund to the Department of Health, includ-

ing:

1)

$125,000 to contract with a statewide organization representing hospitals and health systems

to develop an on-line reporting system of demographic information and quality measures

and to develop guidelines for nurse staffing ratios; and

2)

$500,000 to contract with a statewide nonprofit organization to expand the nursing work-

force in New Mexico, to continue development of a clinical teaching institute and to en-

House Bill 484/aHCPAC – Page

2

hance and support clinical education, professional development and retention of nurses.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $625,000 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2007 shall revert

to the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to the Department of Health (DOH), this bill is based on the recommendations in a

report developed in response to SJM 37 (Study Nurse Staffing & Retention Issues) in the 2005

Legislature. SJM 37 requested a study of the impact of nurse staffing and retention issues on

workforce development.

DOH notes that the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), predicts that by

2020 New Mexico will be unable to fill 57% of its nursing requirements. DOH adds that the

nursing work environment has direct impact on patient safety and outcomes, as well as nurse sat-

isfaction and retention.

According to the Health Policy Commission (HPC), this bill attempts to address many of the is-

sues heard by the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee about the nursing shortage

in New Mexico. HPC’s “Study of the Impact of Nurse Staffing and Retention Issues on Work-

force Development,” in response to SJM 37, presented information to the committee that exam-

ined issues associated with the nursing environment and retention. Many of the issues reported

on in the memorial noted the need for more demographic information, more information on va-

cancy rates, working conditions, and data on patient outcomes to be collected in a central loca-

tion that could be useful to workforce development.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

DOH reports that the appropriation would require an RFP process and procurement, contracting

and monitoring activities; .5 FTE at $30.0, (salary and benefits). In addition, start-up costs for

new staff (space, computer, licenses, etc.) of approximately $10,000 would be needed.

ML/mt