Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB193 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Nelson S.B. No. 193
2	2	(King of Taylor, Naishtat)
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the regulation of the practice of nursing.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 301.207, Occupations Code, is amended to
10	10	read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 301.207. CONFIDENTIALITY OF [HEALTH] INFORMATION
12	12	PROVIDED FOR LICENSURE. The following information [Information
13	13	regarding a person's diagnosis or treatment for a physical
14	14	condition, mental condition, or chemical dependency] that a [the]
15	15	person submits to the board for a petition for a declaratory order
16	16	of eligibility for a license or for an application for an initial
17	17	license or a license renewal under this chapter is confidential to
18	18	the same extent information collected on a nurse as part of an
19	19	investigation of a complaint is confidential under Section 301.466:
20	20	(1) information, including diagnosis and treatment,
21	21	regarding a person's physical or mental condition, intemperate use
22	22	of drugs or alcohol, or chemical dependency;
23	23	(2) information regarding a person's criminal history;
24	24	and
25	25	(3) any other information in the petition for
26	26	declaratory order of eligibility.
27	27	SECTION 2. Subsection (e), Section 301.261, Occupations
28	28	Code, is amended to read as follows:
29	29	(e) The board by rule shall permit a person whose license is
30	30	on inactive status and who was in good standing with the board on
31	31	the date the license became inactive [is 65 years or older] to use,
32	32	as applicable, the title "Registered Nurse Retired," "R.N.
33	33	Retired," "Licensed Vocational Nurse Retired," "Vocational Nurse
34	34	Retired," "L.V.N. Retired," or "V.N. Retired" or another
35	35	appropriate title approved by the board.["]
36	36	SECTION 3. Subsection (b), Section 301.352, Occupations
37	37	Code, is amended to read as follows:
38	38	(b) An act by a person under Subsection (a) does not
39	39	constitute a violation of this section if a nursing peer review
40	40	committee under Chapter 303 determines:
41	41	(1) that the act or omission the nurse refused to
42	42	engage in was not:
43	43	(A) [not] conduct reportable to the board under
44	44	Section 301.403;
45	45	(B) a minor incident; or
46	46	(C) a violation of this chapter or a board rule;
47	47	or
48	48	(2) that:
49	49	(A) the act or omission in which the nurse
50	50	refused to engage was conduct reportable to the board, a minor
51	51	incident, or a violation of this chapter or a board rule; and
52	52	(B) the person:
53	53	(i) rescinds any disciplinary or
54	54	discriminatory action taken against the nurse;
55	55	(ii) compensates the nurse for lost wages;
56	56	and
57	57	(iii) restores to the nurse any lost
58	58	benefits.
59	59	SECTION 4. Subsection (j), Section 301.4521, Occupations
60	60	Code, is amended to read as follows:
61	61	(j) The results of an evaluation under this section are:
62	62	(1) confidential and not subject to disclosure under
63	63	Chapter 552, Government Code; and
64	64	(2) not subject to disclosure by discovery, subpoena,
65	65	or other means of legal compulsion for release to anyone, except
66	66	that the results may be:
67	67	(A) introduced as evidence in a proceeding before
68	68	the board or a hearing conducted by the State Office of
69	69	Administrative Hearings under this chapter; [or]
70	70	(B) included in the findings of fact and
71	71	conclusions of law in a final board order; and
72	72	(C) disclosed to a peer assistance program
73	73	approved by the board under Chapter 467, Health and Safety Code, and
74	74	to which the board has referred the nurse.
75	75	SECTION 5. Subsection (c), Section 301.455, Occupations
76	76	Code, is amended to read as follows:
77	77	(c) The State Office of Administrative Hearings shall hold a
78	78	preliminary hearing not later than the 17th [14th] day after the
79	79	date of the temporary suspension or restriction to determine
80	80	whether probable cause exists that a continuing and imminent threat
81	81	to the public welfare exists. The probable cause hearing shall be
82	82	conducted as a de novo hearing.
83	83	SECTION 6. Section 301.4551, Occupations Code, is amended
84	84	to read as follows:
85	85	Sec. 301.4551. TEMPORARY LICENSE SUSPENSION FOR DRUG OR
86	86	ALCOHOL USE. (a) The board shall temporarily suspend the license
87	87	of a nurse as provided by Section 301.455 if the nurse is under a
88	88	board order prohibiting the use of alcohol or a drug or requiring
89	89	the nurse to participate in a peer assistance program, and the
90	90	nurse:
91	91	(1) tests positive for alcohol or a prohibited drug;
92	92	(2) refuses to comply with a board order to submit to a
93	93	drug or alcohol test; or
94	94	(3) fails to participate in the peer assistance
95	95	program and the program issues a letter of dismissal and referral to
96	96	the board for noncompliance.
97	97	(b) For the purposes of Section 301.455(c), proof of the
98	98	elements required for the board to suspend a license under this
99	99	section is proof that probable cause of a continuing and imminent
100	100	threat to the public welfare exists.
101	101	SECTION 7. Chapter 303, Occupations Code, is amended by
102	102	adding Section 303.012 to read as follows:
103	103	Sec. 303.012. ERROR CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM. (a) The board
104	104	may develop a standardized error classification system for use by a
105	105	nursing peer review committee in evaluating the conduct of a nurse.
106	106	The board shall make the system available to the committee at no
107	107	cost.
108	108	(b) Information collected as part of an error
109	109	classification system is a record of the nursing peer review
110	110	committee and is confidential under Section 303.006.
111	111	(c) A nursing peer review committee may report the
112	112	information collected using the error classification system to the
113	113	board. The committee may not report to the board under this section
114	114	information that includes the identity of an individual nurse or
115	115	patient.
116	116	(d) Information the board receives under this section that
117	117	contains information identifying a specific patient, nurse, or
118	118	health care facility, the committee, or the sponsoring organization
119	119	of the committee is confidential and is not subject to disclosure
120	120	under Chapter 552, Government Code. The board must remove the
121	121	identifying information from the information before making the
122	122	remaining information available to the public.
123	123	(e) This section does not affect the obligation or authority
124	124	of a nursing peer review committee to disclose information under
125	125	Section 303.007.
126	126	SECTION 8. Section 301.355, Occupations Code, is repealed.
127	127	SECTION 9. (a) The change in law made by this Act to
128	128	Subsection (b), Section 301.352, Occupations Code, applies only to
129	129	an act or omission that occurs on or after the effective date of
130	130	this Act. An act or omission that occurs before the effective date
131	131	of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the act or omission
132	132	occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that
133	133	purpose.
134	134	(b) The change in law made by this Act to Subsection (c),
135	135	Section 301.455, Occupations Code, applies only to a temporary
136	136	suspension or restriction of a license issued by the Texas Board of
137	137	Nursing that is imposed on or after the effective date of this Act.
138	138	A temporary suspension or restriction imposed before the effective
139	139	date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the suspension
140	140	or restriction was imposed, and the former law is continued in
141	141	effect for that purpose.
142	142	(c) The change in law made by this Act to Section 301.4551,
143	143	Occupations Code, applies only to a violation of an order issued by
144	144	the Texas Board of Nursing that occurs on or after the effective
145	145	date of this Act. A violation of an order that occurs before the
146	146	effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the
147	147	order was violated, and the former law is continued in effect for
148	148	that purpose.
149	149	SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.