AB 396

Nursing practice and licensure

This bill makes various changes to practice, licensure, and certification

requirements for nurses, which are administered by the Board of Nursing.

Licensure of advanced practice registered nurses

Under current law, a person who wishes to practice professional nursing must

be licensed by the Board of Nursing as a registered nurse (RN). This bill creates an

additional system of licensure for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), to

be administered by the board. Under the bill, in order to apply for an APRN license,

a person must 1) hold, or concurrently apply for, an RN license; 2) have completed

an accredited graduate-level or postgraduate-level education program preparing

the person to practice as an APRN in one of four recognized roles and hold a current

national certification approved by the board; 3) possess malpractice liability

insurance in an amount determined as provided in the bill; 4) pay a fee determined

by the Department of Safety and Professional Services; and 5) satisfy certain other

criteria specified in the bill. The bill also allows a person who has not completed an

accredited education program described above to receive an APRN license if the

person 1) on January 1, 2019, was both licensed as an RN in Wisconsin and practicing

in one of the four recognized roles; and 2) satisfies additional practice or education

criteria established by the board. The bill also, however, automatically grants

licenses to certain RNs, as further described below. The four recognized roles, as

defined in the bill, are 1) certified nurse-midwife; 2) certified registered nurse

anesthetist; 3) clinical nurse specialist; and 4) nurse practitioner. The bill requires

the board, upon granting a person an APRN license, to also grant the person one or

more specialty designations corresponding to the recognized role or roles for which

the person qualifies.

The holder of an APRN license may append the title “A.P.R.N." to his or her

name, as well as a title corresponding to whichever specialty designations that the

person possesses. The bill prohibits any person from using the title “A.P.R.N.," and

from otherwise indicating that he or she is an APRN, unless the person is licensed

by the board as an APRN. The bill also prohibits the use of titles and abbreviations

corresponding to a recognized role unless the person has a specialty designation for

that role. However, the bill allows an APRN to delegate a task or order to another

clinically trained health care worker if the task or order is within the scope of the

APRN's practice, the APRN is competent to perform the task or issue the order, and

the APRN has reasonable evidence that the health care worker is minimally

competent to perform the task or issue the order under the circumstances. The bill

requires an APRN to adhere to professional standards when managing situations

that are beyond the APRN's expertise.

Under the bill, when an APRN renews his or her APRN license, the board must

grant the person the renewal of both the person's RN license and the person's APRN