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

PANA Members Pack the Halls of Capitol in D.C.

The AANA Mid-Year Assembly is nurse anesthetists’ largest advocacy event of the year, and this year the Pennsylvania Association of Nurse Anesthetists (PANA) sent a small army to the nation’s capital to inform federal lawmakers and advocate for our shared profession.

📝PANA had 76 registrants for the annual event in Washington, D.C. Over the course of the assembly, which ran April 29 to May 3, Pennsylvania-based certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) and students (SRNAs), advocating in groups, convened 19 in-person meetings with lawmakers or their key staff members.

🏛️Where we couldn’t meet with lawmakers or staff, our team dropped off packets of information and promised to follow up to secure in-district meetings, something any of us can do whenever our schedules allow. Advocacy is key to promoting our issues and strengthening our profession.

The Mid-Year Assembly happened a bit later than usual this year, bumping up against PANA’s own Spring Symposium in Hershey, so the time crunch was a real challenge for many of our CRNAs and SRNAs, but the number of attendees proves our devotion to the cause.

PANA Members Pack the Halls of Capitol in D.C.

What’s more, for some of our SRNAs, the Mid-Year Assembly came during finals week, too. In fact, a few students from the University of Scranton School of Nurse Anesthesia went above and beyond --- not only in their advocacy but in their assigned schoolwork. They took finals remotely, either in the middle of the day or at the start of a long day running between office buildings to attend meetings. That commitment is impressive.

The Mid-Year Assembly offers five days of educational sessions, live speakers, legislative lobbying, and networking, all of which is important for attendees to gain the knowledge and tools to drive change in our profession, enhance their careers, and promote CRNAs at both the national and state levels.

🩺Thank you to everyone who participated. As tiring as Mid-Year Assembly can be, it is equally impressive, and the talent we see among our CRNAs and SRNAs gives us confidence in the good work we are doing to affect change that enhances our profession, improves health-care delivery models and ensures patients have affordable access to the highest level of care.

PANA Advocates with Senator Bob Casey

But wait...there's more 📷!

THANK YOU, CRNAs AND SRNAs FOR ATTENDING THE 2023 AANA MYA !!!

INTERESTED IN JOINING US? CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Shapiro addresses lag times in licensing

Gov. Josh Shapiro has announced plans to cut red tape and make it easier to work in Pennsylvania by creating a “money-back” guarantee for industries that require different professional licenses, certificates and permits --- and that includes nursing licenses.

In February 2021, PANA joined with the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association (PSNA) and the Pennsylvania Coalition of Nurse Practitioners (PCNP) to push the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing (SBON) to do more to address urgent concerns and challenges regarding licensing.

At the time, members reported difficulties related to initial licensure and/or renewal application processes. There were numerous examples where an employer has suspended a nurse due to a lag in new or renewal applications. Problems still persist, today.

Under the executive order Shapiro signed on Jan. 31, the governor is directing state agencies to catalog all the licenses, certificates and permits they issue, the rules outlining how long agencies should take to process applications, and the fees that are charged. Agencies have 90 days to comply.

Shapiro also made the pledge that if it takes too long to get a professional license, applicants should get their money back.

In 2021, NPR reported that Pennsylvania had some of the longest wait times in the country to issue nursing licenses, a critical need during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

But it's not just nurses. More than one million workers need a license from Pennsylvania to do their jobs, ranging from doctors and hair stylists to accountants and real estate agents, according to a 2018 report by the Department of State.

Shapiro is directing state agencies to review existing digital services used to apply for licenses, certificates and permits, and then work to modernize them.

More details are forthcoming as agencies prepare their reports in the next 90 days.