BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1028
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 16, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Richard S. Gordon, Chair
AB 1028 (Patterson) - As Amended: April 3, 2013
SUBJECT : Vocational nursing: interim permits.
SUMMARY : Authorizes an applicant for licensure as a vocational
nurse (VN) to submit an application for an interim permit (IP)
at the same time as the applicant submits his or her application
for licensure by examination, and requires the Board of
Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians (BVNPT) to
immediately issue the IP after both the IP application and the
application for licensure by examination have been processed.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides for the licensure and regulation of 92,271 licensed
VNs and 10,101 psychiatric technicians by BVNPT. (Business and
Professions Code (BPC) Section 2849 et seq.)
2)States that if BVNPT receives an application for VN licensure
no later than four months after completion of a BVNPT-approved
nursing program, BVNPT may issue an IP authorizing the
applicant to practice vocational nursing pending the results
of the first licensing examination, or for a period of nine
months, whichever occurs first. (BPC 2872.2)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of this bill . This bill seeks to expedite the issuance
of a vocational nursing IP by allowing applicants to submit an
IP application simultaneously with his or her application for
licensure by examination. It is unclear whether this will
make permit issuance more efficient because the primary cause
of application processing delays appears to be a shortage of
staff to process the applications. This bill is author
sponsored.
2)Author's statement. According to the author, "Vocational
nursing applicants are currently experiencing extraordinary
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delays with application processing times. AB 1028 aims to
ensure that these critical health care providers can begin
working in a timely manner once they have finished schooling
and have entered the licensing process with BVNPT by speeding
up the process by which they can apply for and receive an IP
while they complete all board exams.
"This bill would not be altering the process already in code
regarding the interim permits that can be issued to these
nursing graduates, but it would be allowing the application
process for the interim permits to begin simultaneously with
the general application process, so that once all the
currently required information has been processed-including
fingerprinting and background check-the interim permit can be
issued immediately."
3)Interim permits . To obtain an IP, a VN candidate must be
approved to take the VN licensure exam. An IP allows a VN
candidate to practice vocational nursing under the supervision
of a licensed VN or registered nurse while the candidate waits
for his or her first examination results (up to nine months).
If the candidate passes the exam, the IP continues to be valid
until BVNPT issues the VN license (up to six months). An IP
is terminated upon notice that the candidate has failed the
exam.
BVNPT last received a request for an IP in 2010; this may be
due in part to the fact that BVNPT does not promote IPs --
there is no mention of the availability of an IP on BVNPT's
Web site under "licensing", nor does BVNPT offer an IP
application online as it does for its application for
licensure by examination.
4)Processing delays . Although BVNPT's Web site states that
applications for licensure by examination take 4-5 weeks to
process, BVNPT acknowledges that it currently takes 8-12
weeks. This is due primarily to staffing shortages; there are
presently eight vacancies in their licensing division. BVNPT
reports that an IP generally takes 3-4 weeks to process, but
this is not a current figure because they have not received a
request for an IP in over two years.
5)Questions for the committee . It is unclear to what extent this
bill would speed the ability of VN candidates to work, either
under an IP or full license, because the underlying problem is
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a shortage of staff to process applications and this bill
would increase the total number of applications to be
processed. Presumably, if more candidates requested an IP,
BVNPT's processing times would fall farther behind for both
the IP and licensure by examination because of the additional
staff time required to process the new IP applications.
Furthermore, there is nothing presently in law that prohibits
an applicant from filing an application for an IP
simultaneously with his or her application for licensure by
examination. In fact, current law does not even specify that
an additional application is necessary. This raises the
question as to whether or not a separate IP application should
even be required.
BVNPT reports that candidates typically take their
examinations before an IP is needed because testing is now
done year-round. However, even if a candidate successfully
takes the licensed VN exam immediately after receiving
approval from BVNPT, it takes 2-3 weeks for the results to be
processed, after which the candidate has to wait for BVNPT to
send a form for the applicant to complete and return by mail,
and then it takes another 3-4 weeks for the license to be
issued. The VN candidate could be working during this time,
and the IP was originally designed to facilitate that purpose.
The Committee may wish to inquire of the author and BVNPT as
to whether or not it would be more efficient to grant IPs
automatically to all licensure exam applicants upon receipt
and processing of a single application.
6)Arguments in support . The California Hospital Association
writes, "CHA supports AB 1028 for several reasons. First, as
a result of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act
(ACA), about 4.7 million Californians will be eligible for
health insurance starting in 2014. The newly insured, with
increased demand for health care on an already strained
system, will need increased providers to provide primary care
and preventive services?.
"Presently, registered nurses (RNs) are permitted to operate
with an interim permit which affords organizations the ability
to employ RNs and inculcate them into introductory practice in
a safe environment, enhancing their skills and increasing
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retention rates in their facilities. Organizations could use
the same principles to apply the interim permittee program to
vocational nurses. This could be a very positive opportunity
for our California hospitals and health systems to grow and
expand the use of vocational nurses in the new delivery team
models."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Hospital Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Sarah Huchel / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301