Public Hearing on proposed CUE rules

The Texas Board of Nursing has posted the following public hearing regarding the proposed CUE rules. If you would like to inform the Board of your concerns, please be sure to show up:

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
JULY 9, 2009
9:00 am - 11:00 am

The Texas Board of Nursing (Board) is holding a public hearing on July 9, 2009, to receive public comments on the proposed repeal of 22 TAC Chapter 216,concerning Continuing Education, and proposed new Chapter 216, concerning Continuing Competency, as were published in the Texas Register on May 15, 2009 (34 TexReg 2864 - 2877). This hearing is designed to provide an opportunity for nurses and others to comment on the proposed repeal and proposed new sections.

The hearing will take place on July 9, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., in Room 100, in the William P. Hobby Building, located at 333 Guadalupe, Austin, Texas 78701.
The proposed repeal of 22 TAC Chapter 216, concerning Continuing Education, and proposed new Chapter 216, concerning Continuing Competency, may be viewed at: http://www.sos.state.tx.us/texreg/pdf/backview/0515/0515prop.pdf.

The Board appreciates all stakeholder participation and feedback on these proposed rule changes. Feedback received is important to the Board and makes a difference in the regulation of nursing in the State of Texas.

Because many participants may wish to provide public comments at this hearing, the following guidelines will be used:
1. Any person who wishes to appear before the Board during the hearing shall present himself/herself in person at the meeting and must fill out a registration form, which will be available at the meeting. Individuals not completing this form may not be allowed to speak, subject to the discretion of the President of the Board, or her designee.
2. Each speaker will be allowed five (5) minutes to present verbal comments.
3. Speakers are requested not to read prior written submissions.
4. Each organization with several representative members in attendance should have one representative speaker present the organization's comments.
5. The public hearing will be presided over by the Board's President, or her designee, who will reserve the right to modify time limits and order of presentation, should there be good cause to do so.

Persons with disabilities or who have special needs and who plan to attend the hearing should contact Patricia Vianes-Cabrera at 512-305-6811.

Have a License, but not working as a nurse? You had better read this!!

Do you have a nursing license and are not currently working as a nurse? If so, you should read the Texas Board's proposed CUE rules because they will affect you. Go to the Board's website and click on the May 15, 2009 proposed rules for Chapter 216. The new rules require nurses to demonstrate continuing competency in the nurse's specific area of practice. The problem is that if you are not working as a nurse, you do not have an "area of practice."

Every nurse that this impacts needs to immediately read the rules and send a comment to the Board detailing how they would be impacted by the new rules. According to the Board "To be considered, written comments on the proposal or any request for a public hearing must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on June 14, 2009, to James W. Johnston, General Counsel, Texas Board of Nursing, 333 Guadalupe, Suite 3-460, Austin, Texas 78701, or by e-mail to dusty.johnston@bon.state.tx.us, or faxed to (512) 305-8101. An additional copy of the comments on the proposal or any request for a public hearing must be simultaneously submitted to Denise Benbow, Nursing Practice Consultant, Texas Board of Nursing, 333 Guadalupe, Suite 3-460, Austin, Texas 78701, or by e-mail to denise.benbow@bon.state.tx.us, or faxed to (512) 305-8101. If a hearing is held, written and oral comments presented at the hearing will be considered.

Economic downturn and nursing

As I hear and read about the financial outlook for the US and I see the legislation that is getting signed into law for Texas nurses, I want to take the time to urge ALL nurses to get malpractice insurance. The insurance is not to protect you against lawsuits (but it does), it is to insure your license. Most malpractice insurance policies protect a nurse's license in Regulatory actions or what is commonly called licensure defense.

It is awful to have a complaint filed you, but to then not be able to afford legal assistance is stressful. Insurance policies are not expensive especially when you consider that you are insuring your career. In my January 2009 blog, I list some commonly found insurance companies/agents in order to give nurses a place to start searching for a policy. And if someone tells you that you don't need a policy, don't believe them. I have posted replies to all the myths surrounding malpractice insurance.

H1N1/Swine Flu--What are you going to do?

As health care providers, have you set up your own pandemic/disaster preparation plan? I know the hospitals and clinics are looking at their policies and what procedures will be implemented in case of a pandemic/disaster, but every health care provider needs to look at their personal life and make plans.

-Do you have a change of clothes and toiletries in your car or locker in case you have to stay at work?

-Do you have a backup plan for child care? pet care? etc?

-Are you keeping up to date on what is going on? Looking at various sources for information? I think this is important because I question how much true information we are being told. Here in Texas a woman died and it was reported that she had health problems, but then her husband was interviewed and stated that she had no health problems. I have seen similar posts and it makes me wonder if the reporting is faulty when we are told that the people dying also have additional health conditions and then the family disputes that information or if a decision is being made to downplay that the flu is infecting healthy young adults as did the Spanish flu.

-Are you prepared to feed your family (pets included) for a week or more if stores are closed?

-There are more preparations that each provider should consider, but this is just to get you thinking about preparation.

Thinking ahead, planning and preparation are some important cornerstones of health care practice.

Attorneys urged to become nurses

"Why Not Doctor a Stalled Legal Career With a Nursing Degree?" was posted on the May 11, 2009 Legal Blog Watch. The posting discusses how a nursing degree may be the solution for attorneys that are being laid off or that cannot find a position after law school. The posting is not as interesting as the comments posted on ABA Journal site. I have to agree with the majority of postings; a person should not go to nursing school unless they want to be a nurse. The fields mentioned as potential career choices ignore the fact that most of those careers require EXPERIENCE in nursing.

I get phone calls from nurses that are either thinking about becoming legal nurse consultants or they have already paid the money to become a certified nurse consultant and now they are seeking work (as a note, I do not typically use consultants in my practice, just my own nursing knowledge). Many of those nurses do not have enough nursing experience to be marketable. Most of what makes a LNC valuable is the nursing background and vast experience that the nurse has. Think back---how much did you really know in your first few years of experience?

Just like nurses want to pick an attorney who has appropriate legal experience, an attorney does not want to hire a nurse that has no appropriate nursing experience.

Thanks to LaTonia Denise Wright, R.N.,B.S.N., J.D. for the heads up on this article.