Bill to reinvigorate the nursing profession clears full Senate

Senate Bill 10 is sponsored by Sen. Robby Mills (R) Henderson

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ)- Senate Bill 10, sponsored by Sen. Robby Mills (R) Henderson, cleared the full Senate Tuesday. The bill sets in motion efforts to reinvigorate the nursing profession within the commonwealth. Kentucky has long suffered a shortage of workers in the nursing industry, a problem exacerbated by COVID-19.

“We can all be happy to see the latest wave of COVID-19 dramatically declining, but the awareness it has brought to our nursing shortage cannot be forgotten,” Mills said. “Enacting SB 10 will bring some relief to the nursing profession and is intended to prevent a crisis like this from happening again.”

According to Sen. Mills, the nursing shortage is largely a result of an overwhelmed and overworked profession and bureaucratic red tape where nursing programs have had arbitrary caps placed on their enrollment capacities and out-of-state or foreign trained nurses experienced unnecessary difficulties practicing in Kentucky.

One of the main objectives of SB 10 is to restructure the Kentucky Board of Nursing (KBN) in a more equitable fashion. According to Sen. Mills, the KBN consists of governor-appointed members, without any consideration of geographic location and practice status. This bill requires there be two appointed members from each Congressional district, as well as proportionate representation of practicing nurses, all of which must be confirmed by the Senate. Also, board members could not serve more than three terms or 12 consecutive years.

In addition to restructuring the KBN, SB 10 removes the board’s ability to set arbitrary enrollment caps. According to Sen. Mills, the sentiment behind this change is that fully accredited nursing education programs should have the autonomy to set their own enrollment quotas, as long as their National Council of Licensure Exam pass rates are at least 80 percent over three years. This bill streamlines the process for out-of-state and foreign nurses to get licensed to practice in Kentucky.

Sen. Mills calls SB 10 a thoughtful approach and says, “The changes made were focused on maintaining a high standard of care, but also considered the most efficient ways to bring more nursing professionals to the commonwealth. This bill is not a temporary fix and puts measures into law that will yield positive long-term results for Kentucky’s nursing profession.”