Board discusses tighter international‑travel rules, testing options for monitored nurses

At a June meeting of the Kansas State Board of Nursing’s Investigation Committee, members and staff discussed proposed changes to monitoring rules for participants in the state assistance program after an increase in requests for international travel by monitored licensees. Board members said staff are preparing an addendum to program contracts that would require advance notice and impose testing or other conditions before a nurse may resume practice after travel.

The issue arose after staff reported a sharp rise in requests for international travel from participants in the Kansas Nurse Assistance Program. "We realized that for the contract, we were not supposed to be doing monitoring of interruptions for, like, travel or, like, personal vacations," a program representative said during the meeting. Board member Brenda Sharp asked that the panel preserve exceptions for urgent life events: "I just wanted to be sure that we are in fact allowing for some…