DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

(Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission)

[Filed April 4, 2023, 8:54 a.m., effective May 7, 2023]

Effective Date of Rule: May 7, 2023.

Purpose: WAC 246-840-365 Inactive and reactivating an ARNP license and 246-840-367 Expired license. The nursing care quality assurance commission (commission) is adopting amendments to WAC 246-840-365 and 246-840-367 to remove nonevidence-based licensure requirements for inactive and reactivating advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP) licenses.

Amendments to WAC 246-840-365 and 246-840-367 are currently enacted under emergency rule, and the commission is adopting the amendments into permanent rule. The requirements include completion of 250 hours of advanced clinical practice for each designation within the past two years. If the ARNP has not satisfied the advanced clinical practice requirements, the requirements include completion of at least 250 hours of supervised advanced clinical practice hours and the need to obtain an interim permit to complete the practice hours.

For ARNPs whose license has been expired for less than two years, the rule removes the requirement for ARNPs who do not meet required advanced clinical practice requirements to complete 250 hours of supervised advanced clinical practice for every two years the ARNP has been out of practice and the need to obtain an interim permit to complete the practice hours.

Housekeeping amendments remove "of chapter 246-12 WAC, Part 2" in subsection (1)(a) and replaces [it] with "for initial and renewal credentialing of practitioners as identified under WAC 246-12-020 through 246-12-051[.]"

The commission is adopting amendments to current rules identified as barriers to the provision of services both in emergency response and during regular operations.

Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 246-840-365 and 246-840-367.

Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 18.79.010, 18.79.110, and 18.79.250.

Adopted under notice filed as WSR 23-01-134 on December 20, 2022.

A final cost-benefit analysis is available by contacting Jessilyn Dagum, P.O. Box 47865, Olympia, WA 98504-7864 [7865], phone 360-236-3538, fax 360-236-4738, TTY 711, email ncqac.rules@doh.wa.gov, website www.nursing.wa.gov.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, Amended 2, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.

Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 2, Repealed 0.

Date Adopted: January 27, 2023.

Paula R. Meyer, RN, MSN, FRE

Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 19-08-031, filed 3/27/19, effective 4/27/19)

WAC 246-840-365Inactive and reactivating an ARNP license.

To apply for an inactive ARNP license, an ARNP shall comply with WAC 246-12-090 or 246-12-540, if military related.

(1) An ARNP may apply for an inactive license if he or she holds an active Washington state ARNP license without sanctions or restrictions.

(2) To return to active status the ARNP:

(a) Shall meet the requirements ((identified in chapter 246-12 WAC, Part 4))for an inactive credential for nonmilitary practitioners identified under WAC 246-12-090 through 246-12-110;

(b) Must hold an active RN license under chapter 18.79 RCW without sanctions or restrictions;

(d) Shall submit evidence of current certification by the commission approved certifying body identified in WAC 246-840-302(1); and

(e) Shall submit evidence of ((thirty))30 contact hours of continuing education for each designation within the past two years((; and

(f) Shall submit evidence of two hundred fifty hours of advanced clinical practice for each designation within the last two years.

(3) An ARNP applicant who does not have the required practice requirements, shall complete two hundred fifty hours of supervised advanced clinical practice for every two years the applicant may have been out of practice, not to exceed one thousand hours.

(4) The ARNP applicant needing to complete supervised advanced clinical practice shall obtain an ARNP interim permit consistent with the requirements for supervised practice defined in WAC 246-840-340 (4) and (5))).

(((5)))(3) To regain prescriptive authority after inactive status, the applicant must meet the prescriptive authority requirements identified in WAC 246-840-410.

AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 19-08-031, filed 3/27/19, effective 4/27/19)

WAC 246-840-367Expired license.

When an ARNP license is not renewed, it is placed in expired status and the nurse must not practice as an ARNP.

(1) To return to active status when the license has been expired for less than two years, the nurse shall:

(a) Meet the requirements ((of chapter 246-12 WAC, Part 2))for initial and renewal credentialing of practitioners as identified under WAC 246-12-020 through 246-12-051;

(b) Meet ARNP renewal requirements identified in WAC 246-840-360; and

(2) ((Applicants who do not meet the required advanced clinical practice requirements must complete two hundred fifty hours of supervised advanced clinical practice for every two years the applicant may have been out of practice, not to exceed one thousand hours.

(3) The ARNP applicant needing to complete supervised advanced clinical practice shall obtain an ARNP interim permit consistent with the requirements for supervised practice defined in WAC 246-840-340 (4) and (5).

(4))) If the ARNP license has expired for two years or more, the applicant shall:

(a) Meet the requirements ((of chapter 246-12 WAC, Part 2))for initial and renewal credentialing of practitioners as identified under WAC 246-12-020 through 246-12-051;

(b) Submit evidence of current certification by the commission approved certifying body identified in WAC 246-840-302(3);

(c) Submit evidence of ((thirty))30 contact hours of continuing education for each designation within the prior two years; and

(d) ((Submit evidence of two hundred fifty hours of advanced clinical practice completed within the prior two years; and

(e) Submit evidence of an additional thirty contact hours in pharmacology if requesting prescriptive authority, which may be granted once the ARNP license is returned to active status.

(5) If the applicant does not meet the required advanced clinical practice hours, the applicant shall obtain an ARNP interim permit consistent with the requirements for supervised advanced clinical practice as defined in WAC 246-840-340 (4) and (5).))Meet the prescriptive authority requirements identified in WAC 246-840-410 if requesting prescriptive authority, which may be granted once the ARNP license is returned to active status.