Shapiro Administration Takes Action, Allowing Additional Licensed Nurses to Practice in PA

RNs, LPNs Licensed Through Interstate Nurse Licensure Compact Will Be Able To Practice In PA, Help Ease Commonwealth’s Nursing Shortage

🗞️ UPDATED: 08/28/2023 | View Original Post here

​Harrisburg, PA – In keeping with Governor Josh Shapiro's commitment to expanding Pennsylvania's workforce and serving Pennsylvanians more efficiently, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt announced today Pennsylvania is taking the first step to implement the Nurse Licensure Compact by allowing nurses with multistate licenses issued by 40 other states and territories to practice in Pennsylvania. This key step will help address Pennsylvania's severe nursing shortage and increase health care access for patients across the Commonwealth. 📆 Starting Sept. 5, registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) who hold a multistate license through the interstate Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) will be permitted to practice in the Commonwealth. Administered by the National Council for State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), the NLC is an agreement among 41 states and territories to recognize nurses licensed by compact members. Act 68 of 2021 authorized Pennsylvania to join the NLC, which increases patients' access to in-person and telehealth care.

Addressing the nursing shortage and ensuring nurses get on the job faster is a top priority of the Shapiro Administration. In his first month in office, Governor Shapiro signed an executive order that catalogued each of the 2,400 permits, certificates, and licenses the Commonwealth issues and set timelines for each of them. At a time when we need every qualified nurse on the job as quickly as possible, Governor Shapiro knows that we cannot have trained nurses kept off the job by paperwork delays. Under the Shapiro Administration, Pennsylvanians have certainty that state government will move more quickly and efficiently. Today's announcement continues this commitment.

"The Shapiro Administration is committed to ensuring that Pennsylvanians can receive top-notch care from licensed, qualified health care professionals," Schmidt said. "By implementing this first phase of Pennsylvania's engagement in the NLC, we are expanding opportunities for patients and providing hospitals and health systems with access to an approved, vetted group of licensed RNs and LPNs."

🗒️ A November 2022 industry survey by The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) showed vacancy rates of 30% for RNs providing direct care, which is a 10 percentage point increase since 2019. A separate HAP report from January 2023 showed that Pennsylvania could have a shortfall of more than 20,000 RNs by 2026.

"This is a critical first step in the full implementation of the Nurse Licensure Compact. The Department of State continues to work diligently with its state and federal partners to satisfy the preconditions necessary to fully implement the NLC," Schmidt said. "Once that occurs, Pennsylvania's State Board of Nursing will be able to issue NLC multistate licenses to Pennsylvania nurses, allowing them to practice in compact member states and territories."

Among the preconditions for fully implementing the NLC is being able to certify to other compact states that Pennsylvania's State Board of Nursing has performed an FBI criminal background check on Pennsylvania applicants, a process that requires FBI authorization. The Department of State has sought this authorization and is awaiting a response.

"We are also ensuring that other technical and regulatory requirements are able to be met so that the commonwealth can fully implement the NLC as quickly as possible once we receive FBI approval," Schmidt added.

Sen. Lisa Boscola, who was the prime sponsor of the legislation that became Act 68 of 2021, thanked Governor Shapiro and the Department of State for prioritizing taking steps to implement the NLC. "Our hospitals and health care systems need nurses now," Boscola said. "Allowing nurses who have a compact license from another state to start work without unnecessary bureaucratic hoops to jump through is a great first step. I will continue to work to ensure this compact is fully implemented in Pennsylvania because our nurses deserve the full benefits of being a compact state."

Rep. Bridget Kosierowski, a registered nurse who sponsored the House bill that led to Act 68 of 2021, echoed Boscola's sentiments: "While there is still work to do to get to full implementation of the compact, as a nearly 30-year registered nurse, I am very clear about the critical need for increasing the number of nurses in our Commonwealth. I am grateful and excited that the Department of State has taken this positive action that hopefully will not only increase the availability of nurses but will also help to lessen the incredible burden of paperwork the Department has to process."

"Today's announcement is an important step to bringing more nurses to the bedside to care for Pennsylvanians. HAP thanks the Shapiro Administration for its action on this initiative and its ongoing efforts to finalize Pennsylvania's implementation of this compact," said Nicole Stallings, president and CEO of The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP).

"It's critically important that we do everything we can to alleviate the hospital staffing crisis that is driving RNs from the bedside and imperiling patient care in every corner of our state," said Maureen May, R.N., president of PASNAP, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals. "By drawing more nurses to PA, the Nurse Licensure Compact will help ensure that, at this very critical time, our hospitals are amply staffed and that our nurses are able to give the care they want and have been trained to give." Resources Facilities licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) that wish to employ nurses with MSLs through the compact can find guidance on how to do so on DOH's website.

"Nurses play vital roles in all health care organizations and facilities, so anything we can do to attract nursing talent to the state is a win for patients and the Commonwealth. Participating in the nursing compact overcomes a barrier to attracting that talent and building our state's health care workforce," said Dr. Debra Bogen, Acting Secretary of Health. "I deeply appreciate the interagency collaboration that it has taken to make this happen." For answers to frequently asked questions about how today's announcement affects in-state and out-of-state nurses, as well as Pennsylvania patients, visit dos.pa.gov.

Health care employers can verify the status of an RN or LPN applicant's multistate license status at nursys.com, which is the NCSBN's central repository for licensing information.

To learn more about the NLC, visit nursecompact.com or email nursecompact@ncsbn.org.

Other medical licensure compacts In 2020, Pennsylvania fully implemented the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT), which allows psychologists licensed through the compact to practice telepsychology in participating states. More than 900 Pennsylvania psychologists are licensed by PSYPACT to practice across state lines.

Pennsylvania is also legislatively authorized to enter the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact (IMLC) and the Physical Therapy Licensure Compact (PT Compact), and the Shapiro Administration is committed to fully implementing both of those as well. Partial implementation is not an available option for these compacts at this time.

Related News:

• Pennsylvania to allow out-of-state nurses to practice in effort to address hospital staffing shortages | PhillyVoice

• Pennsylvania taking action to address state’s nursing shortage | Times Leader

• Nurses with multi-state licenses will soon be able to practice in Pennsylvania (abc27.com)

• Out-of-state nurses can work in Pennsylvania starting Sept. 5 | 90.5 WESA

• Pennsylvania will allow some out-of-state nurses to practice (mcall.com)

• Help may be on the way to alleviate Pa. nursing crisis - Central Penn Business Journal (cpbj.com)

• Shapiro administration to allow additional licensed nurses to practice in Pennsylvania (wtaj.com)

• Pennsylvania to recognize Nurse Licensure Compact multistate licenses (inquirer.com)

• Pa. joins multistate compact to fill nursing void | Local News | bedfordgazette.com

Beyond the Mask Podcast🎙️Episode: Brett Fadgen's Road to Anesthesia

It's here! The Beyond the Mask podcast taping from PANA's Spring Symposium in Hershey! #ICYMI in person, Jeremy Stanley, CFP, AIF and Sharon Pearce, MSN, CRNA sat down with #CRNAinPA Brett Fadgen back on Saturday, May 6th to hear more about his personal story, which includes a timeline of the innovations and opportunities for CRNAs, once believed to be unattainable.

Episode Description

🍫Jeremy and Sharon were up in Hershey for the PANA Spring Symposium and hosted a live taping of the podcast with Brett Fadgen, MSN, CFRN, CRNA. If you haven’t heard Brett’s story, it’s a remarkable one about perseverance and never giving up in the face of life’s challenges. Join us to hear all about his journey and how he became the only one-armed nurse anesthetist.

Here are some of the things you’ll learn on this show:

🔹 Brett’s childhood and growing up with a congenital defect. (3:21)

🔹 The journey from being a paramedic to RN to anesthesia school. (9:05)

🔹 The challenges he faced in anesthesia school. (13:47)

🔹 The contact he has with other people with limitations that are interested in anesthesia. (23:55)

🔹 What questions do patients ask? (26:15)

🔹 The final message Brett has for people. (32:00)

🎧 Listen to this episode below via Spotify or via Soundcloud.

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More about Brett: CRNA Inspires by Defying Stereotypes, Exceeding Expectations (panaforqualitycare.com)

Visit us online: http://beyondthemaskpodcast.com.

Get the CE certificate here.

Related Posts (View All)

• Proud to be from Pittsburgh: UPMC nurse overcoming obstacles to help others

• AANA Features PA CRNA: Up to any challenge, one CRNA “does things a little differently"

• CRNA Inspires by Defying Stereotypes, Exceeding Expectations (panaforqualitycare.com)

CRNAs in the News: Prolung Ngin Taking on Diverse Patient Challenges in the APP Field

Advanced Practice Provider Spotlight: Certified registered nurse anesthetist shares perspective on caring for diverse patients

Advanced practice providers (APPs) play an integral role in meeting the needs of Penn State Health’s increasingly diverse patient populations. With their advanced training and credentials, these professionals expand access to high-quality care, build trust with patients and are a valuable aspect of patients’ overall experience.

Posted April 11, 2023 by Penn State Health News

Prolung Ngin, a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, said she was inspired to become a health care practitioner at a young age when she was her mother’s interpreter during her doctor’s visits and hospitalizations. Her family had fled Cambodia as political refugees and settled in the United States, where Ngin said she admired the doctors and nurses who cared for her mother. That motivated her to learn to care for her mother and others as well.

Ngin studied to become a nurse at Villanova University near Philadelphia and planned to become a pediatric critical care nurse practitioner. Part of her pediatric critical care transport training involved performing advanced airway management in the operating room. Her interactions with other CRNAs piqued her interest in pursuing certification in the field, which she said were a natural fit with her experience in pediatric critical care and transport.

A CRNA specialty, Ngin added, “allows a marriage of advanced critical care skills, the technical skills, advanced knowledge and skill sets required to take of care of patients in a variety of settings.”

After graduating from the nurse anesthesia program in 2010, Ngin began working at Hershey Medical Center, where she said she enjoys providing care to its diverse patient population.

ADDRESSING DIVERSITY CHALLENGES IN THE FIELD

Diversity in the nurse anesthetist field was challenging when she was enrolled in the anesthesia program at Villanova, Ngin said. At that time 85% of the students were white, 14% were Asian and there was no Black or Latino representation in the program. She compared those statistics to the current composition of CRNAs at Penn State Health, which is predominantly white, with 6% Asian and 8% Black CRNAs but no Latino representation.

Reflecting on the impact of diversity in her field, Ngin shared that she feels socially isolated from time to time and “invisible” as a minority female. Because English is her second language, she experiences occasional microaggressions, she said.

While there is always room for improvement, “I think it’s been very positive that there is a systemwide push for inclusion and diversity at Penn State Health,” Ngin said. “By doing this, we are meeting the need of our growing diverse patient population. I think we are moving in a good direction.”

One way Penn State Health is helping to meet the needs of its diverse patients is by being flexible with its medical processes, allowing families to be a part of their child’s care in the hospital. She also noted the health system’s effort to address language barrier challenges through certified interpreters, appreciating different cultural beliefs and traditions and providing equitable care to all, no matter their socioeconomic background.

The best approach to addressing diversity issues, Ngin said, is by “leaders and educators continuing to promote a culture of acceptance, understanding and empathy toward diverse individuals, staff and patients.”

HOW TO BECOME A CRNA

After CRNAs earn a bachelor’s degree, become a registered nurse and gain experience in critical care, they must also earn either a doctorate in nursing practice or in nurse anesthesia practice and pass a national board certification exam before obtaining a license to practice in their state.

PATIENT CARE RESPONSIBILITIES

CRNA patient care responsibilities include:

• Administering anesthesia before, during and after surgery

• Monitoring a patient’s response to anesthesia

• Educate patients before and after they receive anesthesia

The advance practice providers at Penn State Health include certified registered nurse practitioners, physician assistants, certified registered nurse anesthetists, certified nurse midwives and clinical nurse specialists. Rigorously trained and credentialed, APPs work collaboratively with other health care providers to offer patients the highest level of care possible. This is the second feature in our APP Spotlight series. See the March APP Spotlight feature on nurse practitioners.

If you're having trouble accessing this content, or would like it in another format, please email Penn State Health Marketing & Communications.