HB 3961/SB 1880 and TPAPN

I have been telling all nurses to contact their Legislators to discuss HB 3961/SB 1880. HB 3961 passed the house and should be going before the Senate tomorrow!! You need to contact the members of the Health and Human Services Committee to let them know your concerns or even better come to the Senate Chamber and testify regarding the bills. The main issues that I have identified are:

1. Section 10(b): change the "shall" to "may" to give the Board an opportunity to consider mitigating factors that may not warrant a denial or revocation and make this applicable to current cases.

2. HB 3961 is missing Section 12 of SB 1880 which involves formal charges. If Section 12 from SB1880 is added, then to avoid current problems the following should be added:

Formal charges shall be filed at SOAH. (Sec. 301.458. Initiation of Formal Charges; Discovery)


3. Section 11: Does not allow for the times when the ingestion of a substance in inadvertent nor does it allow for false positives or for unusual situations where it is appropriate that a nurse not continue with TPAPN.

4. Section 8(g)(3): this requires the release of attorney work product and should be deleted.


I also see problems with Section 8, but I am not sure that anything can be done about it because of the push to put more restrictions in place regarding potential substance abuse.