Amended bill would let nursing students who complete fundamentals sit for LNA exam; OPLC asks wording and timing fixes

Senate Bill 93, as amended, would put into statute an existing practice: students who have completed the fundamentals of nursing curriculum in a board‑approved program (generally a first‑year designation) would be eligible to sit for the Licensed Nursing Assistant (LNA) exam and work while they continue toward their nursing education.

Grant Bossi, deputy chief of staff for the Senate, introduced the amendment on behalf of a sponsor and explained the change would "ease the path for nursing students to enter the workforce and address New Hampshire's long standing nursing shortage."

OPLC implementation questions

Deanna Juris and OPLC counsel Nicholas Fry confirmed the practice is already in place through rule language but said statutes did not clearly authorize it. Juris recommended small drafting fixes to the bill's phrasing — principally commas to clarify that the board‑approved program requirement modifies both pathways in the sentence — and asked the committee to consider making the effective date "upon passage" rather than the bill’s standard 60 days so students could be eligible for imminent exams.

Committee members asked whether the statutory language would allow students to sit for the exam based on non‑board approved coursework; Bossi and Juris characterized the bill's intent as requiring board‑approved program completion and said the "or its equivalent" phrase is meant to allow programs that use different course titles to qualify but still be board approved.

Timing and outreach

OPLC noted a practical problem under current statute: students sometimes are eligible to sit for the exam before the office has explicit authority to credential them, creating confusing messaging for programs and students. Juris asked the committee to consider an effective date that would permit students preparing for May exams to apply and be licensed rather than waiting 60 days after passage.

Ending

Committee members discussed technical comma placements and asked OPLC to supply final drafting to avoid ambiguity. No formal vote was recorded; OPLC said it was willing to return for a follow‑up work session if the committee wanted more detail.

Speakers quoted in this story: Grant Bossi (Deputy Chief of Staff, Senate); Deanna Juris, executive director, OPLC; Nicholas Fry, general counsel, OPLC.