Are you an nurse trying to reenter the profession? TBON has proposed some new rules for you!

OK, this almost sneaked by me without comment, but perhaps I should comment because this is an extensive revision of the rules for reentry to the nursing profession.  The proposed rules were published in the Texas Register on August 20.  I have republished just the proposed rules and the justification here.

The deadline for public comment on the new rules is September 19th.  I anticipate that there will be a request for a public hearing(s) related to this set of proposed rules and the deadline to make this request is the same, September 19.  More about the change after the jump:

The story starts reasonably enough, with a nurse out of the profession for 18 years looking to renew a license.  The Texas Board of Nursing (TBON)  denied the request, citing several factors.  So the Board looked at re-entry to practice over the last two years and these rules are the result.  There are three basic scenario’s when it comes to reactivating a delinquent license:

• The former licensee has been delinquent in Texas for less than four years;
• The former licensee has been delinquent in Texas for more than four years, but has not practiced in another state; and
• The former licensee has been delinquent in Texas for more than four years, but has maintained a license and practiced nursing in another jurisdication.

Dealing with the first scenario will be simple – File a re-activation application, provide evidence of continuing education and pay a fee.  And complying with the last scenario is also fairly simple – Complete all of the above steps AND take a TBON sponsored or approved jurisprudence class AND take TBON’s Nursing Jurisprudence exam.  There is also a parallel rule for those with an inactive (designated inactive rather than just delinquent) licenses.

A significantly more involved process will be required if the nurse has not been practicing AND delinquent (or inactive) for more than four years.  Similar requirements as noted above for those who practiced in another jurisdiction with respect to application, fees and jurisprudence class/exam.  In addition, the nurse will be required to take a nursing refresher course.

While this has been a requirement in Texas for many years, TBON has made changes to the construction of the nursing refresher classes.  The rules, as proposed, do not set out the requirements for the refresher courses.  However, those requirements are contained in the application documents that can be found here for RN’s and here for LVN’s.  These are applications for temporary permits, which are required by the rules before a nurse may take a refresher course and practice on patients during that course.

The proposal for changes to the refresher class raises some questions for me, especially since some of the curriculum for the refresher course seems to be covered in some of the board stipulation classes and from a perspective of efficiency, I think some minor tweaks can be made (especially since TBON is already requiring the separate jurisprudence class and exam) that will help reduce some of the overlap between the courses.

And finally, under subsection (i) of the proposed rules, if the former licensee falls into one of the specified categories, generally situations where there is a criminal conviction, incarceration or felony probation OR where there was a disciplinary action taken in another jurisdiction, then the applicant must have a disposition from TBON regarding their investigation.

As has been pointed out by other commentators, many times, is that if you have any arrest, indictment, conviction or other criminal legal action, pending or complete, then you need to consult with a license defense attorney immediately, if not sooner, because there are significant hurdles you will have to clear before you will be able to obtain a license to practice nursing in Texas.

Marc