Senate Bill No. 15
(By Senator Craigo)
____________
[Introduced January 14, 1994; referred to the Committee
on Health and Human Resources.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article seven, chapter
thirty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to permitting
nurses who are licensed in other states to provide nursing
care to patients who are briefly visiting West Virginia or
who are in transit through West Virginia.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, article seven, chapter thirty of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL NURSES.
§30-7-2. License required to practice.
In order to safeguard life and health, any person practicing
or offering to practice registered professional nursing in this
state for compensation shall hereafter be required to submit
evidence that he or she is qualified so to practice, and shall be
licensed as hereinafter provided. After the thirtieth day ofJune, one thousand nine hundred sixty-five, it shall be unlawful
for any person not licensed under the provisions of this article
to practice or to offer to practice registered professional
nursing in this state, or to use any title, sign, card or device
to indicate that such person is a registered professional nurse:
Provided, That any professional nurse, properly licensed and
registered in another state who accompanies a patient, to whom he
or she administers nursing care, while such patient is in transit
through this state or while such patient is visiting herein, may
practice without a license issued under this article with the
following limitations: (a) Such nurse may only administer
nursing care to the patient whom they are accompanying in this
state; and (2) under no circumstances is any such nurse
authorized to practice nursing in this state for longer than
seventy-two hours within any three-month period. Such seventy-
two hour period shall commence and run from the time such nurse
first enters the borders of this state in the company of his or
her patient and therefrom run continuously, whether or not such
nurse dispenses nursing care, until such seventy-two hour period
has elapsed.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to grant a seventy-two
hour grace period for nurses licensed out-of-state to practice
nursing in this state without a West Virginia license when they
are accompanying a patient in transit or visiting in West
Virginia.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.