NURSE LICENSURE COMPACT

Amends the Nurse Practice Act. Ratifies and adopts the Nurse Licensure Compact. Allows for reciprocity of licensure of licensed practical nurses and registered nurses among the states. Provides for administration of the Compact by the Nursing Act Coordinator. Provides that the licensing board shall participate in a Compact Evaluation Initiative designed to evaluate the effectiveness and operability of the Compact. Provides that the Compact does not relieve employers from complying with statutorily imposed obligations. Provides that the Compact does not supersede existing State labor laws. Makes changes relating to the purposes of the Compact. Provides that any practical nurse or registered nurse exercising the practice privilege afforded under the Nurse Licensure Compact who provides direct patient care in Illinois shall be registered with the eNotify Nurses Database system which can be assessed at no cost by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Provides that the Department may revoke or limit the multistate licensure privilege of any practical nurse or registered nurse to practice in Illinois necessary to protect the health and safety of the public. Further provides that a practical nurse or registered nurse shall be denied the privilege to practice by the Department if he or she has been convicted of certain criminal offenses or has been required to register under the Sex Offender Registration Act. Provides that each practical nurse or registered nurse licensed by a party state under the Nurse Licensure Compact that is applying for the privilege to practice in this State shall have his or her fingerprints submitted to the Department of State Police for the purposes of a criminal history records check.