Connecticut 2023 2023 Regular Session

Connecticut House Bill HB06672 Introduced / Bill

Filed 02/09/2023

                       
 
LCO No. 4018  	1 of 5 
 
General Assembly  Raised Bill No. 6672  
January Session, 2023 
LCO No. 4018 
 
 
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH  
 
 
Introduced by:  
(PH)  
 
 
 
 
AN ACT CONCERNING ENDOMETRIOSIS. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 20-94d of the general statutes is 1 
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2 
1, 2023): 3 
(b) Except as provided in this section, for registration periods 4 
beginning on and after October 1, 2014, a licensee applying for license 5 
renewal shall earn a minimum of fifty contact hours of continuing 6 
education within the preceding twenty-four-month period. Such 7 
continuing education: [shall: (1) Be] (1) Shall be in an area of the 8 
advanced practice registered nurse's practice; (2) shall reflect the 9 
professional needs of the licensee in order to meet the health care needs 10 
of the public; (3) shall include at least five contact hours of training or 11 
education in pharmacotherapeutics; (4) shall include at least one contact 12 
hour of training or education in each of the following topics: (A) 13 
Infectious diseases, including, but not limited to, acquired immune 14 
deficiency syndrome and human immunodeficiency virus, (B) risk 15 
management, (C) sexual assault, (D) domestic violence, (E) cultural 16  Raised Bill No.  6672 
 
 
 
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competency, and (F) substance abuse, including, but not limited to, 17 
prescribing controlled substances and pain management; (5) [on and 18 
after January 1, 2016,] shall include not less than two contact hours of 19 
training or education during the first renewal period in which 20 
continuing education is required and not less than once every six years 21 
thereafter on the topic of mental health conditions common to veterans 22 
and family members of veterans, including (A) determining whether a 23 
patient is a veteran or family member of a veteran, (B) screening for 24 
conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, risk of suicide, 25 
depression and grief, and (C) suicide prevention training; [and (6) on 26 
and after January 1, 2020,] (6) may include not less than two contact 27 
hours of training or education during the first renewal period in which 28 
continuing education is required and not less than once every six years 29 
thereafter in diagnosing and treating cognitive or mental health 30 
conditions, including, but not limited to, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, 31 
delirium, related cognitive impairments and geriatric depression; and 32 
(7) on and after October 1, 2023, for licensees working as a school nurse 33 
or as a nurse for a school-based health center, shall include at least one 34 
contact hour of training or education during the first renewal period in 35 
which continuing education is required and not less than once every six 36 
years thereafter in diagnosing and treating endometriosis, including a 37 
review of (A) an educational toolkit regarding endometriosis developed 38 
by an organization recognized by the Department of Public Health, and 39 
(B) information on how systemic racism, explicit and implicit bias, racial 40 
disparities and experiences of transgender and gender diverse youth 41 
affect the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis. For purposes of this 42 
section, qualifying continuing education activities include, but are not 43 
limited to, courses, including on-line courses, offered or approved by 44 
the American Nurses Association, Connecticut Hospital Association, 45 
Connecticut Nurses Association, Connecticut League for Nursing, a 46 
specialty nursing society or an equivalent organization in another 47 
jurisdiction, an educational offering sponsored by a hospital or other 48 
health care institution or a course offered by a regionally accredited 49 
academic institution or a state or local health department. The 50 
commissioner may grant a waiver of not more than ten contact hours of 51  Raised Bill No.  6672 
 
 
 
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continuing education for an advanced practice registered nurse who: 52 
[(A)] (i) Engages in activities related to the advanced practice registered 53 
nurse's service as a member of the Connecticut State Board of Examiners 54 
for Nursing, established pursuant to section 20-88; or [(B)] (ii) assists the 55 
department with its duties to boards and commissions as described in 56 
section 19a-14. 57 
Sec. 2. Subsections (a) and (b) of section 20-94e of the general statutes 58 
are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 59 
October 1, 2023): 60 
(a) As used in this section: 61 
(1) "Contact hour" means a minimum of fifty minutes of continuing 62 
education and activities; and 63 
(2) "Registration period" means the one-year period for which a 64 
license has been renewed in accordance with section 19a-88 and is 65 
current and valid. 66 
(b) For registration periods beginning on and after January 1, 2022, a 67 
registered nurse licensed pursuant to this chapter who is actively 68 
practicing in this state, and a licensed practical nurse licensed pursuant 69 
to this chapter who is actively practicing in this state, applying for 70 
license renewal shall, during the first renewal period and not less than 71 
once every six years thereafter, (1) earn not less than two contact hours 72 
of training or education on [(1)] (A) screening for conditions such as 73 
post-traumatic stress disorder, risk of suicide, depression and grief, and 74 
[(2)] (B) suicide prevention training, and (2) for such registered nurses 75 
and licensed practical nurses working as a school nurse or nurse in a 76 
school-based health center, earn not less than one contact hour of 77 
training or education in diagnosing and treating endometriosis, 78 
including a review of (A) an educational toolkit regarding 79 
endometriosis developed by an organization recognized by the 80 
Department of Public Health, and (B) information on how systemic 81 
racism, explicit and implicit bias, racial disparities and experiences of 82 
transgender and gender diverse youth affect the diagnosis and 83  Raised Bill No.  6672 
 
 
 
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treatment of endometriosis. For purposes of this section, qualifying 84 
continuing education activities include, but are not limited to, in-person 85 
and online courses offered or approved by the American Nurses 86 
Association, Connecticut Hospital Association, Connecticut Nurses 87 
Association, Connecticut League for Nursing, a specialty nursing 88 
society or an equivalent organization in another jurisdiction, an 89 
educational offering sponsored by a hospital or other health care 90 
institution or a course offered by a regionally accredited academic 91 
institution or a state or local health department. 92 
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2023) (a) Not later than January 1, 93 
2024, the Department of Public Health shall establish an endometriosis 94 
data and biorepository program to (1) foster research and clinical 95 
collaborations to assist in understanding the pathology, drivers and 96 
impact of endometriosis; (2) allow for the curation of information 97 
regarding endometriosis from a diverse cross-section of communities to 98 
ensure representation of all ethnic groups in such communities; (3) 99 
support the identification of biomarkers of endometriosis to allow for 100 
earlier diagnosis of the disease; (4) encourage the advancement of new 101 
therapeutic strategies in the treatment of endometriosis, including 102 
earlier access for Connecticut residents to the latest therapeutic options 103 
as such options are developed; (5) support better care management of 104 
endometriosis; and (6) serve as a centralized resource to disseminate 105 
information, educate the public and raise awareness regarding 106 
endometriosis to promote early diagnosis and treatment of adolescents 107 
and adults. 108 
(b) Not later than January 1, 2025, and annually thereafter, the 109 
Commissioner of Public Health shall report, in accordance with the 110 
provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing 111 
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 112 
relating to public health regarding the implementation of the 113 
endometriosis data and biorepository program established pursuant to 114 
subsection (a) of this section. 115  Raised Bill No.  6672 
 
 
 
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following 
sections: 
 
Section 1 October 1, 2023 20-94d(b) 
Sec. 2 October 1, 2023 20-94e(a) and (b) 
Sec. 3 October 1, 2023 New section 
 
Statement of Purpose:   
To require school nurses to receive training regarding endometriosis 
and establish an endometriosis data and biorepository program. 
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except 
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not 
underlined.]