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NMAC reassigns subcommittee seats; members debate how scope and regulation work together
Summary
The Nurse Midwifery Advisory Committee voted to add Kim Do to the nurse‑midwifery education subcommittee and transfer Dr. Kenneth James to the public engagement and website subcommittee. Members also discussed how scope‑of‑practice changes and regulations interact and how subcommittees should coordinate research and outreach.
The Nurse Midwifery Advisory Committee voted to reassign subcommittee membership, adding Kim Do to the nurse‑midwifery education subcommittee and moving Dr. Kenneth James to the public engagement and website subcommittee.
The motion was made and seconded during the committee’s consideration of standing subcommittee assignments; members said the change was meant to align member expertise with current work on website updates and outreach. The committee took a roll‑call vote and approved the reassignment.
Members also spent considerable time clarifying the roles and limits of NMAC subcommittees. BRN staff explained that scope of practice for nurse midwives is set in statute and that regulations can only implement or clarify statutory language, not expand it. Committee members discussed which subcommittee — regulations or scope — should gather workforce data and reach out to external agencies such as CDPH or HCAI; BRN staff and legal counsel said advisory committee members may do background outreach individually or in subcommittees but must report activity in the public forum so the full committee and public remain informed.
Legal counsel Reza cautioned members about shorthand language such as “independent practice,” saying it can be misleading: “There’s no such thing as true full independent practice that has no limits,” he told the committee. Staff and counsel emphasized that any policy or regulatory drafting will require legal review and that the Bagley‑Keene open‑meetings law constrains how subcommittees may communicate outside public meetings.
Ending: The committee approved the membership change and asked staff to follow up on meeting planning and agenda‑setting processes that would allow subcommittees to advance work between plenary meetings while preserving public notice and transparency.
