H807 - Modernize Nursing Practice Act

• Establishes a new Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) licensure category effective January 1, 2016, encompassing nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and clinical nurse specialists with specific role and population focus requirements.

• Expands the Board of Nursing from 13 to 14 members by adding one APRN member, and adds stricter qualifications for all board members including no disciplinary history within 10 years, no felony convictions, and no nursing-related misdemeanors.

• Grants APRNs authority to prescribe, order, dispense, and furnish medications and creates specific disciplinary authority for unsafe prescribing practices by APRNs.

• Modernizes nursing practice definitions and strengthens Board oversight by clarifying investigative powers, establishing confidentiality of investigative records, requiring mandatory self-reporting of arrests, and creating provisions for mental and physical competency examinations.

• Implements mandatory employer verification of nursing licensure for health care facilities and establishes criminal history record check procedures that consider factors like crime severity, date, and rehabilitation rather than automatic disqualification.