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At Chicago's Mercy Hospital,
the governor signed
Senate Bill 1842, which establishes a groundbreaking nursing
externship pilot program for Puerto Rican nurses;
Senate Bill 2064, which eliminates the pretest exam for
foreign nurses; and
Senate Bill 201, which will increase patient safety and
reduce the risk of errors by eliminating mandatory overtime for
nurses. The governor also traveled to Herrin Hospital in southern
Illinois to sign
Senate Bill 1626, which allows advanced practice nurses to
perform school health exams;
House Bill 876, which makes important changes to the advance
practice nurse license, encouraging advanced practice nurses in
Illinois to increase their skills; and
House Bill 399, which will allow for a pilot program to
protect nurses, other hospital staff and patients from violence in
state facilities.
"Nurses are the backbone of health care in this country,"
Blagojevich said. "They perform exams. They study lab results. They
work with doctors on treatment plans. As a patient, you know that
the nurse is there to help. But we have a problem in Illinois -- we
don't have enough nurses. We have to do everything we can to
increase their numbers. That's why I'm signing legislation today
that will help us recruit and retain these highly skilled
professionals. Health care is a right, not a privilege. And being
able to attract and keep the best nurses will make a difference in
the long-term picture of health care in Illinois."
According to region-by-region numbers put together by the
Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the state
currently has a nursing shortage of 7 percent (vacancies versus jobs
filled), and that shortage is projected to grow to almost 8,000
registered nurses and 1,200 licensed practical nurses (per year,
projected through 2010). Further, the number of potential
caregivers, including nurses, is projected to decrease 4.2 percent,
and the number of those who need care is projected to increase by 31
percent between 2000 and 2020.
"Because of Governor Blagojevich's leadership and the
overwhelming support of legislators, this was an incredibly
successful year for nursing," said Kathy Perry, Ph.D., R.N,
president of the Illinois Nurses Association. "INA is pleased that
Illinois government officials recognize the value of nurses in the
delivery of health care services in Illinois."
Senate Bill 1842 establishes a first-in-the-nation externship
program for registered nurses licensed under the laws of another
state or territory of the United States who wish to practice in
Illinois and are preparing to take the National Council Licensure
Examination. The law will allow these nurses, primarily from Puerto
Rico, to work under the direct supervision of a registered
professional nurse licensed in Illinois while they are enrolled in a
course that prepares them for the state exam and acclimates them to
nursing and health care delivery in our state. In conjunction with
Senate Bill 2064, it will increase diversity within the nursing
profession and prepare nurses educated in a U.S. territory for
practice in Illinois. The law, which becomes effective immediately,
was sponsored by Rep. Cynthia Soto, D-Chicago, and Sen. Miguel del
Valle, D-Chicago.
"Creating opportunities for nurses trained in U.S. territories
will increase access to quality health care in communities across
the state," Soto said. "Through the use of externships, we not only
have more nurses working in Illinois, we can be sure they are
well-trained and fully qualified."
"There is a critical need for health care providers sensitive to
the needs of minority and immigrant communities in Illinois," Del
Valle said. "By offering hands-on training at some of our state's
finest institutions, we'll be able to offer new opportunities to
nurses trained in U.S. territories and other states."
Senate Bill 2064 will make Illinois more competitive in
attracting new nurses. It clears the way for nurses trained outside
of the U.S. to enter the work force faster. Under prior law, these
nurses had to pass not only the standard national nurse licensure
exam but also sit for a special test to become licensed in Illinois.
With the Illinois test offered only four times a year, it was
virtually impossible for hospitals in Illinois to successfully
recruit foreign-trained nurses. The new law will maintain nursing
quality because foreign nurses will still have to pass the national
exam, but the legislation will speed up their entry into the work
force. Sponsored by Sen. Susan Garrett, D-Lake Forest, and Rep.
Susana A. Mendoza, D-Chicago, the law becomes effective immediately.
"The elimination of the Commission on Graduate of Foreign Nursing
Schools examination is long overdue," said Jean Lytle, of the
Chicago Bilingual Nurse Consortium. "This predictor exam has been a
barrier to entry into nursing practice for the foreign-educated
nurses. This law will help foreign-educated nurses experience a
seamless entry into professional nursing practice in the state of
Illinois."
"With the signing of this critical measure, Illinois will be able
to attract more nurses that we so desperately need," said Garrett,
Senate sponsor of the legislation.
"The opportunities for nurses in Illinois are almost limitless,
and I have confidence that this law will allow recent immigrants and
other foreign-trained nurses to use their education and experience
to care for those in need," said Mendoza, House sponsor.
Senate Bill 201 will also be critical in attracting more nurses
to Illinois and will greatly protect patient safety by reducing the
risk for medical errors when staff members have worked too many
hours. The bill, which eliminates mandatory overtime for nurses,
provides that hospitals may mandate a nurse to work overtime only in
an unforeseen emergency circumstance. If they must work overtime,
nurses may not work more than four hours beyond their regularly
scheduled shift. In addition, a nurse may not be punished for
refusing to work overtime, and if a nurse works 12 hours, there must
be an eight-hour rest period before working again. The bill
represents a compromise between the Illinois Nurses Association and
the Illinois Hospital Association. Rep. Angelo Saviano, R-Elmwood
Park, and Sen. Donne E. Trotter, D-Chicago, co-sponsored the
legislation.
"This law recognizes that mandatory overtime can put patient care
at risk," Trotter said. "It can also cause highly skilled nurses to
opt out of working at hospitals where they are urgently needed."
"Too many nurses have faced the challenge of having to work
unexpected overtime, often at the expense of family commitments or a
much-needed break from a stressful work environment," Saviano said.
"This law will ensure that the nurses on duty have their full
attention to the job at hand and are not too tired to do their best
work."
The governor signed the following bills Thursday in southern
Illinois:
Senate Bill 1626 authorizes advanced practice nurses and
physician assistants to, with proper supervision by a collaborating
physician, perform health examinations for school employees and
issue any certificates required for insurance and attendance
purposes. The law, sponsored by Rep. Susana A. Mendoza and Sen.
Carol Ronen, D-Chicago, becomes effective immediately.
"As the primary caregiver in school-based settings, nurses are
immediately qualified to authorize health certificates necessary for
extended leaves of students and teachers," Ronen said. "This new law
gives them the authority to do so."
"This law recognizes and clarifies the responsibilities of
school-based advanced practice nurses," Mendoza said. "As the health
care professional with day-to-day contact with faculty and staff, it
makes sense for nurses to have the authority to issue health
certificates."
House Bill 876 will encourage highly trained advanced practice
nurses to stay in Illinois by making it easier for them to advance
in their careers. The law will enable advanced practice nurses to be
licensed in more than one specialty without having multiple graduate
degrees, as long as they have the educational and clinical
experience to be nationally certified. This law, sponsored by Rep.
Richard T. Bradley, D-Chicago, Rep. Angelo Saviano, R-Elmwood Park,
and Sen. Carol Ronen, D-Chicago, is effective immediately.
"Illinois health care offers many opportunities for advanced
practice nursing specialists," Saviano said. "Now, nurses wanting to
train in more than one specialty will be able to focus their studies
on core curricula and clinical experience and will face fewer
bureaucratic barriers to additional licenses."
"This law will encourage advanced practice nurses to learn new
specialties by eliminating the need for some of the nonessential
course work currently demanded in the licensing process," Ronen
said. "The need for advance practice nurses in a variety of
specialties is urgent, and whenever we can speed up the process, we
should do so."
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 House Bill 399, the Healthcare Workplace Violence Prevention Act,
requires designated state facilities to create a two-year pilot
program to implement a violence protection plan and staff education
program by July 1, 2006. After two years, a task force will evaluate
the program. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, and
Sen. Debbie DeFrancesco Halvorson, D-Chicago Heights, becomes
effective immediately.
"No health care professional should have to face violence at
their workplace, and this law establishes new programs designed to
protect staff and patients from the potential of violence," Lang
said.
"This law recognizes that violence in the workplace is not
acceptable," Halvorson said. "Through the pilot programs at the
designated facilities, we will be able to assess the best ways to
ensure a nurse a safer working environment."
The governor has initiated several other steps to both retain
nurses who are already practicing and bring more nurses to Illinois:
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Critical Skills Shortage
Initiative -- In his State of the State speech, the governor
made a commitment to address the shortage of health care workers
through his Critical Skills Shortage Initiative. A total of $18
million dollars is being invested statewide to ensure that every
region of the state has a well-trained and equipped work force
in the health care industry. Through an innovative approach that
is currently being replicated by Indiana, local work force
investment boards, area employers, economic development
professionals, educators and service providers are developing
individualized strategies to address local employment needs and
to get more health care professionals into the work force.
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The Nursing Education Scholarship
Program has increased its effectiveness with additional
funding included in the reauthorization of the Nursing Practice
Act, signed by Blagojevich in 2004. The act increased the
percentage of license fees that are transferred into the
scholarship program. In 2006, there will be $1.2 million -- an
increase of $450,000 -- to provide approximately 150 students
with financial assistance to pursue an associate degree in
nursing, an associate degree in applied sciences in nursing, a
hospital-based diploma in nursing, a baccalaureate degree in
nursing, a graduate degree in nursing or a certificate in
practical nursing.
- License process streamlining -- Through a coordinated
effort by the governor's office, the Department of Financial and
Professional Regulation, and the Illinois State Police, 800
licensing applications for nurses were reviewed and approved
since the governor's State of the State address. Since 2001,
Illinois has required nursing professionals to submit to a
background check as part of the application process. A backlog
of more than 1,800 applications had built up since the law was
enacted. Both the Department of Financial and Professional
Regulation and the Illinois State Police have developed
comprehensive guidelines for dealing with licensed fingerprint
vendors to ensure that backlogs do not recur in the future.
Thursday's announcement of bills signed is part of the governor
long-standing effort to make sure that more people get more health
care and better benefits; protect coverage for those who have health
care; and help hospitals, doctors and nurses provide better health
care. Specifically:
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Best in the nation for providing
health care to the working poor: Since Blagojevich took
office, 318,000 more men, women and children have received
health care through the KidCare and FamilyCare programs -- at a
time when most states are not only not providing more
coverage for the working poor, but also kicking people off
Medicaid or significantly reducing their benefits. This year's
budget included funding to add another 56,000 men, women and
children. The Kaiser Foundation has ranked Illinois the best
state in the nation for providing health care to people who need
it.
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One of only a handful of states
to protect Medicaid recipients: The budget signed by
Blagojevich a few weeks ago ensures -- for the third consecutive
year, despite facing budget deficits -- that Medicaid recipients
maintain their health care, unlike states ranging from Missouri
to Tennessee to Texas to Washington that are either kicking
people off Medicaid or significantly reducing benefits.
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First state to develop a
statewide small-business health insurance pool and program: Blagojevich and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce are
developing a small-business health insurance program that will
help small businesses reduce their costs by 10 percent to 15
percent and provide more health care for their employees.
Illinois will be the first state to create a pool that
businesses of 50 or fewer employees can join, saving money on
the negotiated rate, administrative costs and broker fees.
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First state to make prescription
drugs from foreign countries available: Under Blagojevich,
Illinois became the first state to allow its citizens to
purchase prescription drugs from Europe, Canada, Australia and
New Zealand. More than 10,000 people have enrolled in the last
few months alone to take advantage of lower prices (25 percent
to 50 percent less) for over 120 name-brand prescription drugs.
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Most comprehensive state response
to fill gaps in the federal prescription drug benefit: This
spring, the General Assembly passed the governor's Leave No
Senior Behind legislation, which is Illinois' response to the
federal Medicare prescription drug benefit. Because of major
holes in the federal program, the governor's plan fills in the
gaps, so Illinois seniors will not suffer the same fate as
seniors in other states.
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First state to require
pharmacists to dispense female contraceptives: In April,
Blagojevich issued an emergency rule requiring pharmacists whose
pharmacies sell contraception to dispense birth control to women
with valid prescriptions. The governor's emergency rule will
become permanent this summer. In addition, the state has
launched a new website to help women know which insurers now
cover contraceptives, helping hundreds of thousands of women
save an average of $400 per year on the cost of their
contraceptives. Several of the leading prescription
contraceptives are now also available through I-Save Rx with
savings of up to 79 percent.
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Improving women's health
programs: Blagojevich created the Illinois Healthy Women
program to provide health care to women who otherwise would go
without. To date, the program has served more than 90,000 women.
In addition, Illinois has dramatically increased the number of
mammograms and cervical cancer screenings since Blagojevich took
office.
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Accessing nearly $2 billion in
new federal health care money: Blagojevich signed the
hospital assessment legislation, which means nearly $2 billion
in new federal funding for Illinois hospitals. Last year, the
governor persuaded the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services to approve a plan that meant nearly $500 million in new
federal funds for Illinois hospitals. This plan, which requires
federal approval but was constructed with their guidelines in
mind, means more than three times that amount.
- Medical malpractice reform: This summer, Blagojevich
will sign major medical malpractice reform legislation, which
will reduce the cost of insurance premiums for doctors and stop
doctors from leaving the state. Blagojevich helped pass the
legislation despite his personal opposition to caps, because
making sure that people have access to health care is probably
the most important function government performs.
[News release from
the governor's office]
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