Hawaii-2012-HCR66-Introduced

WHEREAS, health care in the United States is experiencing a period of unprecedented change; and

WHEREAS, the national reconfiguration of health care services will have major implications at the federal, state, and local levels; and

WHEREAS, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act marks the undertaking of significant health care reform throughout the country; and

WHEREAS, reform efforts that increase access to care, provide health care to the uninsured, and close gaps in health inequalities will depend on a stable and enduring workforce that can provide health care services across many settings; and

WHEREAS, in 2010, a report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation proposed a series of recommendations to advance and strengthen the United States health care system during this period of change; and

WHEREAS, according to the report, nurses' roles, responsibilities, and education should change significantly to meet the increased demand for care created by health care reform; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature supports the key messages in the report including recommendations that: nurses should practice to the full extent of their education and training; nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression; nurses should be full partners, with physicians and other health care professionals, in redesigning the nation's health care; and effective workforce planning and policymaking require better data collection and an improved information infrastructure; and

WHEREAS, the fulfillment of these recommendations will require collaboration and commitment from national and state organizations and government agencies; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature further supports the Institute of Medicine's recommendation that states build an infrastructure for the collection and analysis of interprofessional health care workforce data and collaborate with government agencies to ensure that the data are timely and publicly accessible; and

WHEREAS, in recent years, the Legislature has passed legislation relating to nurses and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses that has addressed most of the Institute of Medicine's recommendations; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature established the Hawaii State Center for Nursing in 2003 to ensure the quality of health care for the people of Hawaii by proactively addressing nursing workforce issues; and

WHEREAS, section 304A-1407, Hawaii Revised Statutes requires state agencies, educational institutions, hospitals, and professional organizations to provide workforce data to the Hawaii State Center for Nursing; and

WHEREAS, the State Board of Nursing and the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs are responsible for the regulation of nursing practices in the State; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that the State Board of Nursing and the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division have cited a lack of resources and expertise to address existing nursing workforce issues and those that will be created through implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that increased collaboration between the State Board of Nursing and the Hawaii State Center for Nursing will ensure that the State has a stable and enduring nurse workforce that can provide seamless, quality care in response to federal health care reform; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that this collaboration will also allow the State Board of Nursing and the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division to have access to expert analyses of Hawaii State Center for Nursing data, analyze and discuss nursing workforce data, and receive valuable insight necessary to understand complex nursing issues; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that the Hawaii State Center for Nursing has encountered barriers, including the high cost of mailing information to licensees and concerns from the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division regarding statutory authority to release information, that have kept it from sharing workforce data and information on planned new initiatives; and

WHEREAS, in recent years, the Legislature has passed legislation requiring insurers to recognize Advance Practice Registered Nurses as primary care providers and permitting Advanced Practice Registered Nurses to practice within the full scope of their practice; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature also finds that despite passage of these barrier-breaking Acts, the provisions of these Acts have not been fully implemented by the State Board of Nursing and the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2012, the Senate concurring, that the State Board of Nursing, the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division, and the Department of the Attorney General are requested to work with the Hawaii State Center for Nursing to identify barriers that have prevented the Hawaii State Center for Nursing from sharing its data and information on planned new initiatives; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State Board of Nursing, the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division, and the Department of the Attorney General are requested to work with the Hawaii State Center for Nursing to identify barriers that have prevented the State Board of Nursing and the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division from fully implementing recent legislation relating to nursing, such as legislation allowing Advanced Practice Registered Nurses to practice to the full extent of their education and training; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State Board of Nursing, the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division, the Department of the Attorney General, and the Hawaii State Center for Nursing are requested to collaborate to identify ways to remove these barriers; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State Board of Nursing, the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division, the Department of the Attorney General, and the Hawaii State Center for Nursing are requested to report to the Legislative Reference Bureau their efforts to:

(1) Identify and remove barriers that prevent the Hawaii State Center for Nursing from sharing its data; and

(2) Identify and remove barriers that prevent the State Board of Nursing and the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division from fully implementing recent legislation relating to nursing; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to compile the agencies' findings and recommendations into a report, including any necessary proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2013; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau, Division Administrator of the Professional and Vocational Licensing Division of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Executive Director of the Hawaii State Center for Nursing, and State Board of Nursing.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Hawaii State Center for Nursing; Legislative Reference Bureau

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	66
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012
STATE OF HAWAII