Sample Creative Writing On Texas Senate Bill 1339

Brief legislation description

The bill filed by Senator Royce West (D-Dallas) as Senate Bill No. 1339. The governor approved the bill on September 30 2012 after which it was filed by the secretary of state. The Legislative Budget Board (LBB) that was meant to implement Government Efficiency and Effectiveness Report recommendations related to the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) had introduced the House Bill 915 (HB 915). The Senate Bill 1339 is the improved version of that bill. The Senate Bill allows the Texas Board of Nursing (BON) to grant full diagnosing and prescribing authority to all qualified APRNs who completed some specified (500 hours) of supervised prescribing and diagnosing (Coalition for Nurses in Advanced Practice).

Legislation rationale

The Senate Bill 1339 and its predecessor HB 915 are much shorter than the previous bills HB 708 and the HB1266/1260. The two were meant to deal with the APRN graduates who have not completed the recommended supervisory hours so that they gain prescriptive authority. In addition, the new bill was necessary to avoid some sections that exclude APRNs from physician practice as stipulated in the Medical Practice Act . The Senate Bill 1339 does not include some conforming sections provided in the HB 708 and HB 1266/SB 1260. One major conforming section includes the insurance code. The most notable issue was the language used in drafting the SB 1339, which refers to APRNs with prescriptive authority instead of the authorized roles that APRNs previously played. There are sections where the bill has omitted the word “dispense” which is common in other related bills.
The bill gave the Texas legislature the mandate to implement the recommendations of consumer and public policy organizations, which are aimed at improving access to primary care services. The manner in which the legislature can do this is through the elimination of the physician delegation requirements as well as the fact that the APRNs were granted full prescriptive authority. The organizations that were given powers to recommend issues to the Texas legislature include the

National Alliance on Mental Illness San Antonio

The AARP Texas
Heritage Foundation
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Center for American progress
CATO Institute
As such, the passing of the legislation improved public opinion on healthcare since the people demanded quality and affordable healthcare. The acquisition of full prescriptive authority by APRNs was a huge step in the realization of better healthcare.

Legislation support and opposition

There was virtually no opposition to the bill as it was deemed to have been brought in the best interest of a sector that needed much revamping and transformation at the time-Health. Other interest groups that supported the bill include the non-nursing groups such as the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP-Texas) as well as the Texas Association of Business. The legislation gained lukewarm support from the Texas Hospital Association and the Texas Medical Association. The two medical associations remained powerful and determined to defend the rights and interest of physicians. The organizations had a strong network of physicians in all the legislative districts of Texas and they set to oppose any legislation they deemed as affecting their “scope of practice”. The budget shortfalls also caused some level of opposition and restriction in the passing of the bill.

Legislation outcome

Although faced by some challenges, the Senate Bill 1339 by Senator Royce West (D-Dallas) was passed. The bill which was aimed at improving the terms and conditions of the APRNs as previously stipulated in HB 1266 and SB 1260, managed to lower the number of hours that a graduate APRN had to work under a physician in order to gain prescriptive authority. The bill managed to grant APRNs more autonomy by scraping off the 3600 previously required under a physician to only 500 hours. However, the bill maintained the recommendations of the Legislative Budget Board (LBB).

Impact on professional practice

The Texas Senate Bill 1339 granted nurses more authority and powers to do their work. As opposed to the previous bill (HB 915) which required that nurses complete 3600 hours of supervised diagnosing and prescribing, the new bill required only 500 hours of such supervision. The bill maintains nurses under physician-delegated prescribing authority for all new APRNs. The legislation removes strict physician delegation and supervision, thereby allowing APRNs to practice fully of their education and training. The APRNs also gained power of diagnosing and prescribing through writings. In order to acquire such powers, the APRNs would need to undergo supervision for a period of 500 hours under s physician. Alternatively, the new or graduate APRNs would undergo such supervision under another APRN who had full prescription authority. The law, therefore, have more APRNs access to jobs and quicker promotion schemes thereby increasing the number of nurses to serve the Texas populace.

References

CNAP. (n.d.). 82nd Texas Legislative Session: 2011. Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://www.cnaptexas.org/?214
CoalitionforNursesinAdvancedPractice. (n.d.). APRN Independent Prescriptive Authority Bills. Retrieved April 2, 2015, from Coalition for Nurses in Advenced Practice: http://www.cnaptexas.org/?216
Jim, W. (2011, September). 2011 Session: A Roller Coaster Ride For Nursing. Texas Nursing Voice , pp. 2-15.
SB-1339 Commute benefit policies. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2015, from http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120120SB1339
Susan Desanti, J. F. (2011, May 11). Letter to Honorable Royce West and Honorable Rodney Ellis. Austin, Texas, USA. Retrieved from https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/advocacy_documents/ftc-staff-letter-honorable-rodney-ellis-and-honorable-royce-west-senate-state-texas-concerning-texas/v110007texasaprn.pdf