STAND. COM. REP. NO. 965

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 811

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Health, to which was referred H.B. No. 811, H.D. 2, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO REGISTERED NURSES,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to ease Hawaii's registered nurse licensure requirements for graduates of foreign nursing schools by requiring the Board of Nursing to adopt rules that require applicants who are foreign graduates applying for licensure in Hawaii to arrange for the applicant's school to send to the Board of Nursing:

 

     (1)  The "Breakdown of Educational Program for International Nursing Programs" form; and

 

     (2)  A certified school transcript for the applicant, translated to English, if necessary.

 

In addition, this measure removes the requirement that a foreign graduate's transcripts be evaluated by professional evaluators designated by the Board of Nursing.

 

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Nursing Advocates & Mentors, Inc., The Philippine Nurses Association Hawaii, the United Filipino Council of Hawaii, the Filipino American Citizens League, the Filipino Coalition for Solidarity, The National Federation of Filipino American Associations Region XII, the Oahu Filipino Community Council, and two individuals.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Board of Nursing and five individuals.

 

     Written testimony presented to the Committee may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

 

     Your Committee finds that the State's requirement for uniform evaluation by the recognized authority on credential evaluations, the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools, is connected to federal immigration laws that require all international health professionals, except physicians, to be certified by the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools or another independent, government-certified organization qualified to issue credentials.  Though your Committee is open to making the application process for foreign educated nurses less cumbersome, it believes that sufficient safeguards are necessary to ensure that foreign nursing school graduates are educationally qualified to apply for a registered nurse license in Hawaii.

 

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Removing the provision requiring the Board of Nursing to adopt rules requiring the applicant to arrange for the applicant's school to send the Board of Nursing a completed "Breakdown of Educational Programs for International Nursing Programs" form along with certified school transcripts;

 

     (2)  Clarifying the requirements for foreign nursing school graduates applying for a license to practice as a registered nurse by examination to apply for licensure through a credentials evaluation service or a certification program;

 

     (3)  Changing the effective date to July 1, 2009; and

 

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Health that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 811, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 811, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Health,

 

 

 

____________________________

DAVID Y. IGE, Chair