THE VALUED VOICE

Wisconsin’s Board of Nursing took action today in response to WHA’s request for continuation of provisions enacted under Emergency Order 16 and 2019 Act 185.
 
WHA Vice President Workforce and Clinical Practice Ann Zenk and WHA General Counsel Matthew Stanford offered targeted recommendations to address issues identified by WHA and WHA members, for which the Board has statutory authority: Temporary Licensing and Temporary Permits.
 
“The impact of COVID-19 continues to be felt by hospitals and health systems, and our workforce, and the changes we propose are necessary to enable nurses to effectively join the workforce,” Zenk said. Board of Nursing chair Peter Kallio concurred: “We need to go forward with some urgency to consider these recommendations.” Board member and CNO Pam White noted that “we do experience delays in licensure with our border states and need to consider how to best avoid that delay.” Stanford explained that “the rule we propose would be a bridge for out-of-state licensees in good standing while application processing is underway.”
 
On a parallel track, WHA has also alerted the Board and Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) of a potential issue impacting temporary permits and graduate nurses: a backlog in NCLEX nurse licensure test slots. DSPS has been in contact with the NCLEX vendor and will seek further information to determine if backlogs are resolving at a sufficient pace, or if further action by DSPS and the Board is needed.
 
The Board will convene an additional meeting as soon as possible to take further action on WHA’s recommendations.