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Committee hears bill to move legislative nurse oversight to nursing practice standards; hearing held open for technical edits
Summary
Senate Bill 197 would remove statutory language giving the Department of Health and Human Services' commissioner medical supervisory oversight of the nurse assigned to legislative facilities and instead make that nurse subject to the Board of Nursing and RSA 326-B, the Nurse Practice Act.
Senate Bill 197, introduced to the Legislative Administration Committee on behalf of Senator Pearl, would remove language assigning medical supervisory oversight of the nurse employed at legislative facilities to the commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services and instead place the nurse under the Board of Nursing and RSA 326-B, the Nurse Practice Act.
Ryan Malidi, assistant to Senator Pearl, told the committee that SB 197 “removes supervision of [the] nurse employed by the legislative facilities committee from the Department of Health and Human Services and provides that the nurse shall act within the scope of practice provided by the Board of Nursing and RSA 326-B, the Nurse Practice Act.”
John Williams, legislative director for the Department of Health and Human Services, said the department requested the change after reviewing provisions that had not been amended since 1995. Williams said current statutory language allows the departmentcommissioner, who is not a licensed clinician, to have "medical supervisory oversight over your RN," and that the department and the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification had discussed the proposed change. Williams told the committee the department "is fine with this language as well."
Committee members asked why the amendment was needed and whether the commissioner had in practice been supervising the nurse. Representative Wade said the supervisory language appeared in the statute but "wasn't actually happening." Williams and Malidi confirmed the statutory language dated to earlier decades and that the last time the section was amended was 1995; Williams said the last doctor to serve in that oversight role was prior to 1995.
Chairman Hill said committee staff and the House Attorney had suggested waiting briefly before final action so the committee could consider additional technical revisions to the statute. Hill said staff and the chief operating officer for the joint legislative committee, Terry Poff, plan to propose a few other updates and that the committee would hold the bill while those suggestions are prepared. No motion or formal vote on SB 197 was recorded during the hearing.
What the committee did not decide: there was no formal vote recorded on SB 197 in this hearing. Committee members and department witnesses emphasized that the bill preserves the departmentlegislature relationship as a resource for staff health needs while aligning clinical supervision with the Board of Nursing. Chairman Hill closed the hearing and said the committee expects to receive proposed amendments and to schedule a short follow-up meeting to consider housekeeping language.
The committee did not adopt changes on the floor at the hearing; staff will circulate proposed technical amendments and the chairman indicated a brief follow-up session will be scheduled to consider those edits.
