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Board hears nurse‑assistance program updates, including new oral‑swab testing and cost concerns
Summary
Staff reported Kansas Nurse Assistance Program (KNAF/KNAP) data showing about 100 participants and 18 successful completions in FY25, described a new oral‑swab testing option (two swabs for $90, one swab $75), proposed participant surveys and flagged expensive fitness‑to‑practice evaluations as a barrier for licensees.
At the Sept. 4 meeting of the Kansas State Board of Nursing investigative committee, staff updated members on the Kansas Nurse Assistance Program and related monitoring and testing issues.
Linda Davies, MSN, BSN, RN, the board’s practice specialist, said the FY25 packet (page 17) shows about 100 participants in the assistance program and 18 successful completions. She recommended producing graphical trend displays for the committee in December to clarify outcomes. "Eighteen were successful, which I find is very good news," Davies said.
Davies described a change in drug-screen practice: the vendor is offering an oral‑swab option intended to reduce the need for nurses to leave the workplace for visual urine collection. The oral option is $90 for two swabs (one for analysis and one for confirmation/challenge) or $75 for a single swab; it detects roughly 13–16 substances but has a shorter look‑back window than urine testing, she said. "The first drug screen that you're called for is a urine drug screen. And then the licensee can ask to do the orals," Davies said.
The committee discussed using hospital laboratory sites for specimen collection to avoid workplace disruption, but Davies cautioned about employer–lab confidentiality concerns that are still being worked out. She also said KNAF plans to survey both participants who completed the program and those currently enrolled to gather baseline feedback and identify improvements. "I think it might be nice to give you a visual...so you can kind of see just exactly what they're seeing," she said.
Davies noted monitoring interruptions and multistate license rules: licensees with a multistate license must notify the board within 10 days of entering monitoring because multistate eligibility can be affected. She also flagged the high cost of some fitness‑to‑practice evaluations, citing an example cost of $8,500, and said staff are exploring sliding‑fee providers in Kansas City.
The committee supported staff outreach to other state boards and to national organizations for best practices, and asked staff to draft survey language and report back to the committee.
