FLORIDA 2022 LEGISLATIVE UPDATE:
The 2022 Florida Legislative Session started on January 11 and wrapped up on March 14. This year Florida Legislators addressed issues vital to nursing and healthcare delivery. The Florida Coalition of Advanced Practice Nurses, through its member organizations, addressed a challenging legislative session. Although nursing was not able to achieve all of our goals and objectives, the member organizations of the Coalition worked together to advance our mutual agendas and prevent legislation that would have been deleterious to nursing and healthcare.
You will view below a summary of the legislation that was filed that had implications for nursing and the outcome of the bill.
The Florida Coalition of Advanced Practice Nurses applauds the mutual efforts of our member organizations and looks forward to future efforts to advance the profession of nursing in our state.
- FLORIDA CENTER FOR NURSING
The Florida Nurses Association, University of South Florida, all Coalition Member organizations worked with legislators in the Florida House and Senate to include funding for the Florida Center for Nursing within the 2023 Florida Budget. This legislation has been advanced to Governor DeSantis and is pending his signature.
2. HB Free Speech of Health Care Practitioners by Drake
This piece of legislation would have limited the ability of professional boards (Nursing/Medicine/etc) from penalizing individuals licensed under these boards if they disseminated information that could be interpreted as “misinformation”.
DIED IN COMMITTEE
3. SB 312/HB 17 TELEHEALTH
This legislation would have allowed a licensed provider to utilize telehealth to prescribe a controlled substance listed in Schedule II of s. 893.03 for the following: The treatment of a psychiatric disorder; Inpatient treatment at a hospital; The treatment of a patient receiving hospice services; The treatment of a resident of a nursing home facility
STATUS: WITHDRAWN FROM CONSIDERATION
4. HB 193 -Using Alternative Therapies to Treat Mental Health and Other Medical Conditions
WITHDRAWN FROM CONSIDERATION
5. CS/HB 1521 – Professional Counselors Licensure Compact
Professional Counselors Licensure Compact: Creates Professional Counselors Licensure Compact; provides for recognition to practice licensed professional counseling in member states; provides for recognition of the practice of professional counseling through telehealth in member states; provides for the development of data system, reporting procedures, & exchange of specified information between member states; specifies licensees practicing in remote state under compact must adhere to laws & rules of remote state.
Effective Date: upon enactment of the Professional Counselors Licensure Compact into law by 10 states
Last Event: Ordered enrolled on Wednesday, March 9, 2022 3:20 PM; PENDING GOVERNORS SIGNATURE
6. CS/HB 413 -Delegation of the Administration of Prescription Medications
Delegation of the Administration of Prescription Medications: Requires nurse registry that authorizes registered nurse to delegate tasks to certified nursing assistant or home health aide to ensure certain requirements are met; authorizes registered nurse to delegate administration of duties for care of a patient of nurse registry or county detention facility; authorizes certified nursing assistants to administer certain medication to patients of nurse registries or county detention facilities.
DIED IN COMMITTEE
7. HB 437 -Collaborative Practice of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists
Collaborative Practice of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists: Authorizes advanced practice registered nurse who is certified as registered nurse anesthetist to administer anesthesia in collaboration with specified licensed physicians; revises general functions certified nurse anesthetist may perform in collaboration with specified licensed health care practitioners.
This legislation would have removed “under the supervision of an anesthesiologist” language from statute.
Last Event: Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration
8. SB 1192 – Medical Specialty Designations
Medical Specialty Designations: Prohibiting health care practitioners from using certain medical specialty designations in connection with their credentials unless they are qualified or authorized to do so; requiring the Department of Health to enforce such prohibition; vesting the department with specified enforcement authority, etc. This legislation would have limited the ability of health care providers from using titles such as “anesthesiologist”. “cardiology”, “dermatology”, etc. unless the individual was a board-certified medical provider.
DIED IN COMMITTEE
9. SB 1686 – Autonomous Practice by Advanced Practice Registered Nurses
Autonomous Practice by Advanced Practice Registered Nurses: Requiring certified nurse-midwives providing out-of-hospital birth services to have a written plan for the appropriate delivery of emergency care; providing requirements for the plan; deleting a requirement that certified nurse-midwives have a written patient transfer agreement with a hospital and a written referral agreement with a licensed physician, etc.
DIED IN COMMITTEE
10. SB 1366 – Anesthesiologist Assistants
Anesthesiologist Assistants: This legislation would have revised the definition of “Direct Supervision” to the anesthesiologist being physically on the premises in relation to the anesthesiology assistant administering anesthetic agents; the bill would have required hospitals and surgical centers to grant privileges to anesthesiology assistants within 90 days of an application for privileges unless there was “cause” for denial.
DIED IN COMMITTEE
11. SB 986 – Collaborative Practice in Health Care
Collaborative Practice in Health Care: Specifying that certified registered nurse anesthetists administering anesthesia in hospital settings must be working in collaboration with, rather than under the direction of, certain health care practitioners; exempting certified registered nurse anesthetists from specified protocol requirements under certain circumstances; authorizing certified registered nurse anesthetists to perform specified functions in collaboration with, rather than pursuant to an established protocol under, certain health care practitioners, etc.
DIED IN COMMITTEE
12. CS/SB 700 – Delegation of Medication Administration
Delegation of Medication Administration: Requiring licensed nurse registries to ensure specified requirements are met if they allow registered nurses to delegate certain tasks to certified nursing assistants or home health aides; authorizing registered nurses to delegate to certified nursing assistants and home health aides the administration of certain medications to nurse registry patients and patients in county detention facilities under certain circumstances; authorizing certified nursing assistants to administer certain medication to nurse registry patients and patients in county detention facilities under certain circumstances, etc.
DIED IN COMMITTEE
