Licensed registered nurses and licensed vocational nurses: Nurse Licensure Compact.

Existing law, the Nursing Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of nursing by the Board of Registered Nursing. The Vocational Nursing Practice Act provides for the licensure and regulation of vocational nurses by the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians of the State of California. The Nursing Practice Act establishes the Board of Registered Nursing Fund and the Vocational Nursing Practice Act establishes the Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians Fund. This bill would enact the Nurse Licensure Compact, under which the Board of Registered Nursing and the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians would be authorized to issue a multistate license that would authorize the holder to practice as a registered nurse or a licensed vocational nurse, as applicable, in all party states under a multistate licensure privilege, as specified. The bill would designate the Board of Registered Nursing as the licensing board for registered nurses for purposes of the compact and would designate the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians as the licensing board for vocational nurses for purposes of the compact. The bill would require the boards to participate in a coordinated licensure information system that would include all of the licensure and disciplinary history of all licensed registered nurses and licensed vocational nurses. The bill would provide that the Board of Registered Nursing and the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians shall alternate as the administrator of the compact for the state and as members of an entity known as the Interstate Commission of Nurse Licensure Compact Administrators. The bill would authorize the commission to adopt rules that have the force and effect of law. The bill would prohibit fees collected by the Board of Registered Nursing or the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians for purposes of granting a multistate license pursuant to the bill from exceeding the cost of administering that multistate license under the compact and would require those fees to be deposited in the Board of Registered Nursing Fund or the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians Fund, as applicable. By authorizing out-of-state licensees to practice in this state under the multistate compact privilege created by the bill, the bill would expand the scope of the criminal provisions of the Nursing Practice Act and Vocational Nursing Practice Act, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.