STAND. COM. REP. NO. 495

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 619

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Health and Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 619 entitled:

 

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

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to amend provisions concerning fitness to proceed examinations in criminal proceedings to specify circumstances in which qualified advanced practice registered nurses or advanced practice registered nurses with certain required certifications may participate.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Hawaii State Center for Nursing, The Queen's Health Systems, Hawaii – American Nurses Association, Hawaii Association of Professional Nurses, and six individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, Department of Health, Hawaii Psychological Association, and two individuals.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Judiciary and Board of Nursing.

 

     Your Committees find that there is a need for greater access to healthcare, including forensic evaluation services relating to fitness to proceed examinations in criminal proceedings, particularly for those communities in rural areas and on the neighbor islands.  Your Committees further find that this measure provides courts with greater flexibility by allowing qualified advanced practice registered nurses or advanced practice registered nurses (APRN) with prescriptive authority who hold an accredited national certification in an advanced practice registered nurse psychiatric specialization to conduct fitness to proceed evaluations in criminal proceedings.  Your Committees also find that the State has adopted the national best practices for APRNs and enacted administrative rules that create a safe practice environment with clear standards to ensure high quality and safe care by APRNs.

 

     Your Committees note the concerns of the Department of Health and the Department of the Attorney General that Act 26, Session Laws of Hawaii 2020, which made recent changes to the forensic examination panel process, be allowed to operate without further changes to the applicable laws so that its effects can be monitored and assessed.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

 

     (2)  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 Health and Commerce and Consumer Protection that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 619, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 619, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

 


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

 

________________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

 

________________________________

JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair