HB 178 New Mexico House · 2025 Regular Session

NURSING PRACTICE CHANGES

HB 178 amends New Mexico's Nursing Practice Act to clarify which nurses can administer general anesthesia, anesthetics, and sedatives, directly affecting registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and advanced practice nurses (including nurse anesthetists). The bill defines specific scope-of-practice boundaries for each nurse category and updates licensing procedures to align with these clarifications. It also expands the Board of Nursing's authority, modifies disciplinary processes, and mandates confidentiality for communications related to potential disciplinary actions. These changes aim to provide clearer, more consistent guidelines for nursing practice and administrative procedures.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

House Passage

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Mar 2025

Signed into Law

Apr 2025

Introduced Jan 28, 2025 Signed Apr 9, 2025

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What changed between versions

introduced version → Final Version · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill updates the New Mexico Nursing Practice Act to clarify definitions of nursing roles, particularly around anesthesia and advanced practice, and expands the Board of Nursing's authority over disciplinary processes and confidentiality requirements. The changes aim to modernize regulations to reflect current nursing practice standards and improve patient safety through clearer role distinctions.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of the Nursing Practice Act to include more explicit definitions of nursing roles and introduces new requirements for confidentiality in disciplinary proceedings.

DEFINITION

Added and refined definitions for 'general anesthesia' to explicitly exclude it from the scope of anesthetics that nurses can administer, clarifying that nurses can administer topical, local, or intravenous anesthetics but not general anesthesia.

Introduced new definitions for 'artificial intelligence' and expanded definitions for various nursing roles including certified nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and certified clinical nurse specialists.

Added definitions for new roles including 'certified hemodialysis technician' and 'certified medication aide' to clarify their scope of practice under nursing supervision.

REQUIREMENT

Added requirements for confidentiality of communications related to potential disciplinary actions against nurses.

ENFORCEMENT

Expanded the powers and duties of the Board of Nursing regarding disciplinary processes and licensing procedures.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 20, 2025 · House Mar 4, 2025

How they voted

39–0

Passed · 1 other

Total votes 40

Mar 20, 2025

D Democratic24

24 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican16

15 Yea 1

93% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 9, 2025

Signed into law

Signed

executive

Mar 22, 2025

Executive · Passed

House concurred in Senate amendments

executive

Mar 20, 2025

Upper · Passed

passed Senate

upper

Mar 20, 2025

Executive · Passed

floor substitute adopted (1 amendment)

executive

Mar 17, 2025

Upper · Passed

DO PASS, as amended, committee report adopted

upper

Mar 5, 2025

Introduced

Sent to Senate Judiciary Committee & Senate Finance Committee

upper

Mar 4, 2025

Lower · Passed

passed House

lower

Feb 25, 2025

Lower · Passed

DO PASS, as amended, committee report adopted

lower

Feb 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

DO PASS, as amended, committee report adopted

lower

Jan 28, 2025

Introduced

Sent to House Health & Human Services Committee & House Judiciary Committee

lower

5 primary · 0 co-sponsors