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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
1/30/2007
HB 380
SHORT TITLE
Certified Nurse Technician Licensure
SB
ANALYST Moser
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
$67.4
Recurring
130- Other Revenue
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)
FY07
FY08
FY09 3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
Total
$67.4
$70.7 $138.1 Recurring 130-Other
revenue
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
NM Board of Nursing
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 380 creates a statewide program for licensure of certified nurse technicians and
exempts religious practitioners from the Nurse Practice Act.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
House Bill 380 creates a positive fiscal impact of $64.7 thousand to the board of nursing through
the fees generated by the Board of Nursing’s certification of nurse technicians.
pg_0002
House Bill 380 – Page
2
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
House Bill 380 allows for the regulation and supervision of unlicensed assistive personnel who
provide hands on nursing care under the supervision of a registered nurse and a licensed practical
nurse in various health care settings except for the long term care setting. The board of nursing
indicates that this bill would not impact the Department of Health regulatory requirements for
certified nurse aides. The certified nurse aide is a federal mandated program for individuals who
work primarily in long term care agencies. The Department of Health will continue to regulate
certified nurse aides.
Currently the Board of Nursing has regulatory oversight for certified medication aides and
certified hemodialysis technicians. This bill would directly impact the Board of Nursing through
the expansion of its unlicensed assistive personnel to include individuals working in those health
care sites that provide direct hands-on nursing care with nursing supervision.
This bill also amends the Nurse Practice Act to allow individuals to be exempt from coverage
who practice in accordance with the tenets of any church or religious denomination that teach
reliance upon spiritual means through prayer for healing and does not allow these individuals to
claim to be a licensed practical nurse or a registered nurse.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
The board of Nursing acknowledges that while the number of unlicensed personnel who would
meet the regulatory requirement is unknown at this time, the Board of Nursing has budgeted for
additional staff a testing for initial certification, renewal of certificates and survey visits can be
supported with the current staff and the additional budgeted staff.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
The Department of Health has regulatory oversight of the Certified Nurses Aides which is a
federally mandated program for individuals providing direct hands-on nursing care in long term
care agencies. The Department of Health also has oversight of the mandated federal registry for
Certified Nurses Aides. The Department of Health would maintain this registry and this bill is
not in conflict with their regulatory requirements.
National Council of State Boards of Nursing which the NM Board of Nursing is a member
supports the position that state boards of nursing should regulate nursing assistive personnel
across multiple health care settings.
ALTERNATIVES
The Board of Nursing suggests the following amendments:
1.
On line 16 of House Bill 380 needs to be amended to include the following new
(underlined) language…
Certified nurse technicians by registered nurses and
licensed practical nurses,
including…
The current bill left out the registered nurse in the writing of the bill.
pg_0003
House Bill 380 – Page
3
2.
Regarding the exemption regarding religious practice within House Bill 380, the Board at
its December 2006 meeting approved the following :
No provision in this article shall be construed as applying to a person who nurse or cares
or the sick in accordance with the practice or tenets of any church or religious
denomination which teaches reliance upon spiritual means through prayer for healing,
and who does not hold himself out to the public to be a licensed practical or professional
nurse.
GM/csd