BP BHEAD INT S

AN ACT Relating to completion of prescriptive authority for advanced registered nurse practitioners; amending RCW 18.79.050, 18.79.240, and 18.79.250; adding a new section to chapter 18.79 RCW; creating new sections; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature recognizes that advanced registered nurse practitioners have a vital role in the delivery of health care in Washington state. Nurse practitioners practice independently within their specialty in a variety of health care settings and currently are authorized to prescribe legend drugs and Schedule V controlled substances. Allowing nurse practitioners to practice without restrictions on their prescribing authority will benefit Washington residents by improving timely access to care and decreasing health care costs by avoiding unnecessary duplication of services. In addition, it will place direct responsibility and liability in the hands of persons making medication decisions, nurse practitioners.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. By July 1, 1997, the Washington state nursing care quality assurance commission shall create a temporary advisory committee to assist the commission in monitoring the implementation of this act. Membership on the advisory committee includes three advanced registered nurse practitioners licensed under chapter 18.79 RCW, with five years' active clinical experience, with prescriptive authority, to be selected by the Washington state nursing care quality assurance commission; one physician licensed under chapter 18.71 RCW, who shall also be a member of the Washington state medical quality assurance commission; a pharmacist licensed under chapter 18.64 RCW, who shall also be a member of the state board of pharmacy; and the executive directors for their respective commissions and boards who shall sit ex officio.

The advisory committee shall monitor the implementation of this act to include disciplinary trends, prescribing patterns, or any other reasonably related issues, and will meet at intervals as determined necessary by the Washington state nursing care quality assurance commission.

The Washington state nursing care quality assurance commission shall prepare a report to the legislature, due January 1, 2000, on the implementation of this act. Upon completion of the report, the advisory committee is terminated.

Each committee member shall be compensated in accordance with RCW 43.03.240 and shall be paid travel expenses when away from home as provided in RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 18.79 RCW to read as follows:

The dispensing of Schedules II through IV controlled substances is limited to a maximum of a seventy-two-hour supply of the prescribed controlled substance.

Sec. 4. RCW 18.79.050 and 1994 sp.s. c 9 s 405 are each amended to read as follows:

"Advanced registered nursing practice" means the performance of the acts of a registered nurse and the performance of an expanded role in providing health care services as recognized by the medical and nursing professions, the scope of which is defined by rule by the commission. Upon approval by the commission, an advanced registered nurse practitioner may prescribe legend drugs and controlled substances contained in Schedules II through V of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, chapter 69.50 RCW.

Nothing in this section prohibits a person from practicing a profession for which a license has been issued under the laws of this state or specifically authorized by any other law of the state of Washington.

This section does not prohibit (1) the nursing care of the sick, without compensation, by an unlicensed person who does not hold himself or herself out to be an advanced registered nurse practitioner, or (2) the practice of registered nursing by a licensed registered nurse or the practice of licensed practical nursing by a licensed practical nurse.

Sec. 5. RCW 18.79.240 and 1994 sp.s. c 9 s 424 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) In the context of the definition of registered nursing practice and advanced registered nursing practice, this chapter shall not be construed as:

(a) Prohibiting the incidental care of the sick by domestic servants or persons primarily employed as housekeepers, so long as they do not practice registered nursing within the meaning of this chapter;

(b) Preventing a person from the domestic administration of family remedies or the furnishing of nursing assistance in case of emergency;

(c) Prohibiting the practice of nursing by students enrolled in approved schools as may be incidental to their course of study or prohibiting the students from working as nursing aides;

(d) Prohibiting auxiliary services provided by persons carrying out duties necessary for the support of nursing services, including those duties that involve minor nursing services for persons performed in hospitals, nursing homes, or elsewhere under the direction of licensed physicians or the supervision of licensed registered nurses;

(e) Prohibiting the practice of nursing in this state by a legally qualified nurse of another state or territory whose engagement requires him or her to accompany and care for a patient temporarily residing in this state during the period of one such engagement, not to exceed six months in length, if the person does not represent or hold himself or herself out as a registered nurse licensed to practice in this state;

(f) Prohibiting nursing or care of the sick, with or without compensation, when done in connection with the practice of the religious tenets of a church by adherents of the church so long as they do not engage in the practice of nursing as defined in this chapter;

(g) Prohibiting the practice of a legally qualified nurse of another state who is employed by the United States government or a bureau, division, or agency thereof, while in the discharge of his or her official duties;

(h) Permitting the measurement of the powers or range of human vision, or the determination of the accommodation and refractive state of the human eye or the scope of its functions in general, or the fitting or adaptation of lenses for the aid thereof;

(i) Permitting the prescribing or directing the use of, or using, an optical device in connection with ocular exercises, visual training, vision training, or orthoptics;

(j) Permitting the prescribing of contact lenses for, or the fitting and adaptation of contact lenses to, the human eye;

(k) Prohibiting the performance of routine visual screening;

(l) Permitting the practice of dentistry or dental hygiene as defined in chapters 18.32 and 18.29 RCW, respectively;

(m) Permitting the practice of chiropractic as defined in chapter 18.25 RCW including the adjustment or manipulation of the articulation of the spine;

(n) Permitting the practice of podiatric medicine and surgery as defined in chapter 18.22 RCW;

(o) Permitting the performance of major surgery, except such minor surgery as the commission may have specifically authorized by rule adopted in accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW;

(p) Permitting the prescribing of controlled substances as defined in Schedule((s)) I ((~~through IV~~)) of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, chapter 69.50 RCW((~~, except as provided in (r) of this subsection~~));

(q) Prohibiting the determination and pronouncement of death;

(r) Prohibiting advanced registered nurse practitioners, approved by the commission as certified registered nurse anesthetists from selecting, ordering, or administering controlled substances as defined in Schedules II through IV of the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, chapter 69.50 RCW, consistent with their commission-recognized scope of practice; subject to facility-specific protocols, and subject to a request for certified registered nurse anesthetist anesthesia services issued by a physician licensed under chapter 18.71 RCW, an osteopathic physician and surgeon licensed under chapter 18.57 RCW, a dentist licensed under chapter 18.32 RCW, or a podiatric physician and surgeon licensed under chapter 18.22 RCW; the authority to select, order, or administer Schedule II through IV controlled substances being limited to those drugs that are to be directly administered to patients who require anesthesia for diagnostic, operative, obstetrical, or therapeutic procedures in a hospital, clinic, ambulatory surgical facility, or the office of a practitioner licensed under chapter 18.71, 18.22, 18.36, 18.36A, 18.57, 18.57A, or 18.32 RCW; "select" meaning the decision-making process of choosing a drug, dosage, route, and time of administration; and "order" meaning the process of directing licensed individuals pursuant to their statutory authority to directly administer a drug or to dispense, deliver, or distribute a drug for the purpose of direct administration to a patient, under instructions of the certified registered nurse anesthetist. "Protocol" means a statement regarding practice and documentation concerning such items as categories of patients, categories of medications, or categories of procedures rather than detailed case-specific formulas for the practice of nurse anesthesia.

(2) In the context of the definition of licensed practical nursing practice, this chapter shall not be construed as:

(a) Prohibiting the incidental care of the sick by domestic servants or persons primarily employed as housekeepers, so long as they do not practice practical nursing within the meaning of this chapter;

(b) Preventing a person from the domestic administration of family remedies or the furnishing of nursing assistance in case of emergency;

(c) Prohibiting the practice of practical nursing by students enrolled in approved schools as may be incidental to their course of study or prohibiting the students from working as nursing assistants;

(e) Prohibiting or preventing the practice of nursing in this state by a legally qualified nurse of another state or territory whose engagement requires him or her to accompany and care for a patient temporarily residing in this state during the period of one such engagement, not to exceed six months in length, if the person does not represent or hold himself or herself out as a licensed practical nurse licensed to practice in this state;

(f) Prohibiting nursing or care of the sick, with or without compensation, when done in connection with the practice of the religious tenets of a church by adherents of the church so long as they do not engage in licensed practical nurse practice as defined in this chapter;

(g) Prohibiting the practice of a legally qualified nurse of another state who is employed by the United States government or any bureau, division, or agency thereof, while in the discharge of his or her official duties.

Sec. 6. RCW 18.79.250 and 1994 sp.s. c 9 s 425 are each amended to read as follows:

An advanced registered nurse practitioner under his or her license may perform for compensation nursing care, as that term is usually understood, of the ill, injured, or infirm, and in the course thereof, she or he may do the following things that shall not be done by a person not so licensed, except as provided in RCW 18.79.260 and 18.79.270:

(1) Perform specialized and advanced levels of nursing as recognized jointly by the medical and nursing professions, as defined by the commission;

(2) Prescribe legend drugs and Schedules II through V controlled substances, as defined in the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, chapter 69.50 RCW, within the scope of practice defined by the commission;

(3) Perform all acts provided in RCW 18.79.260;

(4) Hold herself or himself out to the public or designate herself or himself as an advanced registered nurse practitioner or as a nurse practitioner.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Sections 1 and 3 through 6 of this act take effect January 1, 1998.