Subject of Possible Rule Making: WAC 246-840-342 and 246-840-360 pertaining to advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP) clinical practice hour requirements. The nursing care quality assurance commission (commission) is considering amendments to ARNP renewal and initial endorsement clinical practice hour requirements.

Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: The commission's advanced practice subcommittee (APSC) recently completed a literature review to determine if the requirement for ARNPs to submit proof of two hundred fifty clinical practice hours upon license renewal or initial endorsement is redundant and burdensome to licensees. The results of the review indicated a lack of evidence that the existing clinical practice hour requirement has an impact on patient safety. Additionally, many other states and health professions do not have a clinical practice requirement, and there is no evidence to suggest these other states and professions have more issues with patient safety.

APSC also reviewed the important role of national certifying bodies in maintaining standards for ARNPs and requiring proof of competencies for national certification renewal. For an individual to maintain an active ARNP license in Washington state, the commission requires proof of an active national certification by one of the approved certifying bodies listed in WAC 246-840-302. Therefore, APSC recommended that the commission open WAC 246-840-342 and 246-840-360 to remove the requirement to submit proof of two hundred fifty clinical practice hours to the commission upon licensure renewal or initial endorsement because it is redundant and unnecessary given the requirement to maintain certification. The commission adopted the motion to open these rules for consideration of removal of the requirement to submit proof of two hundred fifty clinical practice hours to the commission.

Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication by contacting Amber Zawislak, P.O. Box 47864, Olympia, WA 98504, 360-236-4785, fax 360-236-4738, TTY 360-833-6388 or 711, email amber.zawislak@doh.wa.gov, web site https://www.doh.wa.gov/LicensesPermitsandCertificates/NursingCommission.

Additional comments: Interested stakeholders may sign up for the commission's interested parties list at https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/WADOH/subscriber/new. All interested parties will receive rule-making notices via GovDelivery.