H. B. 4434
(By Delegates Staggers, Hatfield,
Swartzmiller, Manypenny, Reynolds, Ross,
Marshall, Stephens and Martin)
[Introduced February 10, 2010
; referred to the
Committee on Health and Human Resources then Government
Organization.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §30-7-15a and §30-7-15b of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to expanding
prescriptive authority of advanced nurse practitioners.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §30-7-15a and §30-7-15b of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL NURSES.
§30-7-15a. Prescriptive authority for prescription drugs;
collaborative relationship with physician
requirements; promulgation of rules;
classification of drugs to be prescribed;
coordination with other boards; coordination with
Board of Pharmacy.
(a) The board may, in its discretion, authorize an advanced
nurse practitioner to prescribe prescription drugs
in a collaborative relationship with a physician licensed to practice in
West Virginia and in accordance with applicable state and federal
laws. An authorized advanced nurse practitioner may write or sign
prescriptions or transmit prescriptions verbally or by other means
of communication.
The Board of Examiners for Registered
Professional Nurses as set forth in section three, article seven of
this chapter has sole authority to govern and regulate the practice
of advanced nurse practitioners.
(b) For purposes of this section an agreement to a
collaborative relationship for prescriptive practice between a
physician and an advanced nurse practitioner shall be set forth in
writing. Verification of such agreement shall be filed with the
board by the advanced nurse practitioner. The board shall forward
a copy of such verification to the board of Medicine. Collaborative
agreements shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) Mutually agreed upon written guidelines or protocols for
prescriptive authority as it applies to the advanced nurse
practitioner's clinical practice;
(2) Statements describing the individual and shared
responsibilities of the advanced nurse practitioner and the
physician pursuant to the collaborative agreement between them;
(3) Periodic and joint evaluation of prescriptive practice;
and
(4) Periodic and joint review and updating of the written
guidelines or protocols.
(c) (b) The board shall promulgate legislative rules in
accordance with the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this
code governing the eligibility and extent to which an advanced
nurse practitioner
may prescribe drugs. Such rules shall provide,
at a minimum, a state formulary classifying those categories of
drugs which shall not be prescribed by advanced nurse
practitioners, including, but not limited to, Schedules I and II of
the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, anticoagulants,
antineoplastics, radio-pharmaceuticals and general anesthetics.
Drugs listed under schedule III shall be limited to a seventy-two
hour supply without refill.
(d) The board shall consult with other appropriate boards for
the development of the formulary. is allowed to have prescriptive
authority.
(e) (c) The board shall transmit to the Board of Pharmacy a
list of all advanced nurse practitioners with prescriptive
authority. The list shall include:
(1) The name of the authorized advanced nurse practitioner;
(2) The prescriber's identification number assigned by the
board; and
(3) The effective date of prescriptive authority.
§30-7-15b. Eligibility for prescriptive authority; application;
fee.
An advanced nurse practitioner who applies for authorization
to prescribe drugs shall:
(a) Be licensed
and certified in West Virginia as an advanced
nurse practitioner holding a baccalaureate degree in science or the
arts as a registered professional nurse in West Virginia and
recognized in West Virginia as an advanced nurse practitioner with
a graduate degree in nursing from a school of nursing accredited by
a nationally recognized nursing accreditation body approved by the
United States Department of Education;
(b)
Not be less than Be at least eighteen years of age;
(c) Provide the board with evidence of successful completion
of forty-five contact hours of education in pharmacology and
clinical management of drug therapy under a program approved by the
board, fifteen hours of which shall be completed within the two-
year period immediately before the date of application;
(d) Provide the board with evidence that he or she is a person
of good moral character and not addicted to alcohol or the use of
controlled substances; and
(e) Submit a completed, notarized application to the board,
accompanied by a fee of $125.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow nurse practitioners
to practice independently.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.