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Committee clears House Bill 89 to clarify nursesscope for delegated assessments
Summary
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted to send House Bill 89 to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation. The bill replaces ambiguous "contributing to" language with "performing appropriate delegated focused assessments" to clarify when registered nurses may delegate assessment tasks to licensed practical nurses.
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee on Feb. 25 voted to send House Bill 89 to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation after a brief discussion about language clarifying nursing scope of practice.
Representative Healy, who introduced the bill, said the measure is a narrow technical fix intended to remove ambiguous wording from statute and align the code with existing administrative rules. "This may be the simplest you do see this year," Healy said, explaining the change replaces the phrase "contributing to" an assessment with language allowing RNs to direct LPNs to "perform appropriate delegated focused assessments." Healy told the committee that IDAPA nursing rules already use the term "assess," not "contribute."
Senator Brandon Shippey asked whether there is a practical difference between the statement of purpose language "performing delegated assessments" and the bill language "performing appropriate delegated focused assessments." Healy replied that "there really isn't a difference," but that adding "appropriate" and "focused" clarifies that delegated tasks should be within the RN's purview and within the LPN's scope of practice.
Representative Healy gave examples to illustrate the distinction, saying an RN should not delegate an intake that the RN is responsible for, while asking an LPN to take vital signs or assess skin integrity would be appropriate.
Senator Blaylock said the bill "enhances the clarity of scope of practice" and said the goal is to keep patients safe while allowing nursing teams across assisted living and skilled nursing settings to work to their full abilities.
After discussion, Senator Blaylock moved and Senator Wintrow seconded that the committee send House Bill 89 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation. The committee approved the motion by voice vote.
The bill seeks to replace an ambiguous statutory phrasing with language that mirrors IDAPA rules and clarifies delegation and scope between registered nurses and licensed practical nurses.
No formal amendments were offered during the committee discussion and no public testimony was recorded on the bill during this hearing.
Votes at this hearing were taken by voice; the committee did not record a roll-call tally in the transcript.
