STAND. COM. REP. NO. 916

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 63

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 63, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NURSES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Allow the Board of Nursing to issue temporary permits for six-month periods to registered nurses and practical nurses licensed in another jurisdiction under certain circumstances, and except from license requirements nurses who are licensed in another state, territory, or country accompanying a patient from out-of-state for a period of less than two weeks and not employed or affiliated with a health care facility in the State; and

(2) Allow an out-of-state registered nurse or licensed practical nurse to simultaneously apply for a license to practice and a temporary permit, and in such circumstances, extends the validity of a temporary permit to until the Board of Nursing approves the application to practice.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Hawai‘i Pacific Health, The Queen's Health System, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Hawaii Association of Health Plans, and Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing. Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Board of Nursing, and Grassroot Institute of Hawaii.

Your Committees find that the State is faced with a shortage of health care professionals in every field, including nurses. There are approximately one thousand open nursing positions statewide. To meet the shortfall of nurses, hospitals hire temporary and traveling nurses. These nurses must apply for a temporary permit and fulfill certain credentialing requirements before they are eligible to work in the State. However, there is considerable lag time between the submission of an application for a temporary permit and its issuance. In the meantime, the nurse is unable to work, and unable to help alleviate the State's nurse staffing shortage. This measure will help streamline the permitting process for temporary nurses to address the shortage of health care professionals in the State.

Your Committees have amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 63, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 63, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ways and Means,

________________________________ DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair