SLS 23RS-425 ORIGINAL
2023 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 20
BY SENATOR CARTER
WOMEN. Requests the Louisiana Department of Health to convene a task force to make
recommendations regarding nursing involvement to improve maternal outcomes.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to convene a Nursing Maternal
3 Mortality and Preterm Births Task Force.
4 WHEREAS, Louisiana has one of the highest incidences of maternal mortality and
5 preterm births in the nation; and
6 WHEREAS, Louisiana has limited obstetric health care in rural areas, which lack
7 maternity care resources, where there may be no hospitals or birth centers offering obstetric
8 care, and no obstetric providers; and
9 WHEREAS, Louisiana's maternal mortality rate of over fifty-eight deaths per one
10 hundred thousand births is the highest in the United States with sixty-eight percent of
11 maternal deaths deemed preventable; and
12 WHEREAS, in 2020, there were seven thousand three hundred eighty-six preterm
13 births in Louisiana, representing almost thirteen percent of live births or one in eight babies
14 born in Louisiana; and
15 WHEREAS, over thirty percent of Louisiana is considered a maternity desert with
16 little to no access to maternal care, affecting over two million women in Louisiana of
17 childbearing age and almost one hundred fifty thousand Louisiana babies; and
18 WHEREAS, Louisiana's maternal mortality rates are four times higher for black
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1 women, with fifty-nine percent of black maternal deaths deemed preventable while nine
2 percent of white maternal deaths were deemed preventable; and
3 WHEREAS, the role of the registered nurse includes fetal monitoring, helping to
4 manage pregnancy complications, assisting with cesarean deliveries, and caring for the
5 neonate and all preterm infants; and
6 WHEREAS, registered nurses are aware of the potential implications that disease,
7 physical and psychosocial trauma, and medical treatment can have on women of
8 childbearing age and on the health of a fetus or newborn; and
9 WHEREAS, the nursing profession continues to secure the highest assessment of
10 ethics and honesty, with the American public rating nurses the highest among a host of
11 professionals, including medical doctors, pharmacists, and high school teachers; and
12 WHEREAS, nursing is the nation's largest healthcare profession, with over four
13 million registered nurses nationwide; and
14 WHEREAS, nurse midwives are healthcare professionals who provide an array of
15 healthcare services for women including gynecological examinations, contraceptive
16 counseling, prescriptions, and labor and delivery care; and
17 WHEREAS, nurse midwives provide expert care during labor, delivery, and even
18 after birth, a specialty that makes them unique; and
19 WHEREAS, nurse midwives often function as both a quality and economical option
20 for birthing care; and
21 WHEREAS, according to the American College of Nurse-Midwives, the benefits of
22 receiving midwifery care include: decreased risk of needing a cesarean procedure, reduced
23 rates of labor induction and augmentation, reduced use of regional anesthesia, decreased
24 infant mortality rates, decreased risk of preterm birth, lower costs for both clients and
25 insurers, increased chances of having a positive start to breastfeeding, and increased
26 satisfaction with the quality of care; and
27 WHEREAS, the legislature finds that maternal death rates and preterm birth rates are
28 an important public health issue in Louisiana and maternal death rates and preterm birth
29 rates are a growing concern at the national level.
30 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
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1 urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to create the Nursing Maternal
2 Mortality and Preterm Birth Task Force.
3 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall be staffed by the Louisiana
4 Department of Health and charged with providing the secretary of the department with
5 recommendations regarding nursing involvement in improving maternal outcomes and the
6 development and implementation of maternal mortality and preterm birth initiatives
7 throughout the state of Louisiana.
8 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall be composed of the
9 following members:
10 (1) One Senate member appointed by the chairman of the Senate Committee on
11 Health and Welfare.
12 (2) One House member appointed by the chairman of the House Committee on
13 Health and Welfare.
14 (3) The secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health or his designee.
15 (4) The executive director of the Louisiana State Board of Nursing or his designee.
16 (5) The president of the Louisiana State Nurses Association or his designee.
17 (6) The president of the Louisiana Association of Nurse Practitioners or his designee.
18 (7) The chairman of the Louisiana Organization for Nursing Leadership or his
19 designee.
20 (8) The president of the Louisiana Hospital Association or his designee.
21 (9) The chairman of the Nursing Supply and Demand Council or his designee.
22 (10) The executive director of the Louisiana State Board of Licensed Practical Nurse
23 Examiners or his designee.
24 (11) The medical director of the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative and
25 Pregnancy Associated Mortality Review or his designee.
26 (12) The president of the Louisiana affiliate of the American College of Nurse
27 Midwives or his designee.
28 (13) The president of the Louisiana section of the Association of Women's Health,
29 Obstetrics, and Neonatal Nurses or his designee.
30 (14) The dean of the School of Nursing of the Louisiana State University Health
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1 Sciences Center at New Orleans or his designee.
2 (15) The dean of the School of Public Health of the Louisiana State University
3 Health Sciences Center at New Orleans or his designee.
4 (16) The dean of the Southern University School of Nursing or his designee.
5 (17) An LCMC Health neonatology nurse practitioner appointed by the neonatology
6 medical director.
7 (18) The LCMC Health neonatology medical director or his designee.
8 (19) An Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans neonatology nurse practitioner
9 appointed by the neonatology medical director.
10 (20) The Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans neonatology medical director or
11 his designee.
12 (21) The dean of the College of Nursing and Health of Loyola University or his
13 designee.
14 (22) The president of the Louisiana State Medical Society or his designee.
15 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall convene its first meeting no
16 later than September 1, 2023. At the first meeting, the members of the task force shall elect
17 a chairman and vice chairman and other officers as they deem appropriate.
18 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the task force shall not be
19 compensated for their services on the task force but may seek travel reimbursement from
20 their respective agencies under their respective guidelines.
21 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that meetings of the task force shall be subject to the
22 Open Meetings Law, R.S. 42:11 et. seq., and records of the task force shall be subject to the
23 Public Records Law, R.S. 44:1 et. seq.
24 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall submit recommendations to
25 the Senate and House committees on health and welfare that include all of the following:
26 (1) Identifying how to increase the number of practicing certified nurse midwives in
27 Louisiana.
28 (2) Identifying how registered nurses and advanced practice registered nurses can
29 contribute to positive maternal outcomes.
30 (3) Addressing the integration of midwifery services into current healthcare practices
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1 by identifying barriers and developing guidelines to remove obstacles to care.
2 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report shall be provided to the Senate
3 Committee on Health and Welfare, the House Committee on Health and Welfare, the
4 president of the Senate, and the speaker of the House of Representatives no later than
5 forty-five days prior to the convening of the 2024 Regular Session.
6 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
7 Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, the House Committee on Health and Welfare, the
8 Louisiana Department of Health, the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, the Louisiana State
9 Nurses Association, the Louisiana Association of Nurse Practitioners, the Louisiana
10 Organization for Nursing Leadership, the Louisiana Hospital Association, the Nursing
11 Supply and Demand Council, the Louisiana State Board of Licensed Practical Nurse
12 Examiners, the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative and Pregnancy Associated
13 Mortality Review, the Louisiana affiliate of the American College of Nurse Midwives, the
14 Louisiana section of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetrics, and Neonatal Nurses,
15 the School of Nursing of the Louisiana State University Health and Sciences Center at New
16 Orleans, the School of Public Health of the Louisiana State University Health and Sciences
17 Center at New Orleans, the Southern University School of Nursing, LCMC Health, Ochsner
18 Medical Center, the College of Nursing and Health of Loyola University, and the Louisiana
19 State Medical Society.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Brandi Cannon.
DIGEST
SCR 20 Original 2023 Regular Session Carter
Requests the Louisiana Department of Health to convene a Nursing Maternal Mortality and
Preterm Births Task Force. Provides for the membership and duties of the task force.
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