July 2003 Bulletin

• In Appreciation
• The Board Welcomes New Members
• Current Board Members
• Board Meetings - Fiscal Year 04
• Public Information
• How is the Board of Nursing Funded?
• Discipline
• Nursys Available for Public Access
• Report from Study "Evaluating the Effectiveness of Continuing Education Mandates"

In Appreciation

The Board extends sincere appreciation to Richard L. Sheehan, M.S., R.N., and to Kimberly Boothby-Ballantyne, M.S., A.N.P., R.N., who completed their terms of service on the Board in April, 2003. Dick's and Kim's commitment and dedication to the public welfare greatly enhanced the work of the Board.

The Board Welcomes New Members

Carol J. Card, R.N., from Orrington, was appointed to fill the vacancy in one of two seats reserved for registered nurses who are active in nursing service. Carol is a staff nurse at Eastern Maine Medical Center where she practices in telemetry.

Bruce O'Donnell, C.R.N.A., from Turner, was appointed to fill the vacancy reserved for an advanced practice registered nurse. Bruce practices nurse anesthesia at Central Maine Medical Center.

Current Board Members

A full term appointment is for four years. 32 M.R.S.A. Section 2152 sets forth the qualifications for appointment, as follows:

(1) must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of this State for at least three consecutive years prior to appointment and shall file with the Secretary of State an oath of
office before beginning service;
(2) must be a graduate of a state-approved educational program in nursing
(3) holds a current state license to practice nursing; and
(4) has at least three years' experience in active practice immediately preceding appointment

A person may NOT qualify for appointment as a public member of the board if that person or a member of that person's immediate family is serving as a member of another state licensing services or the provision of health research, instruction or insurance.

Persons who meet the above qualifications and are interested in appointment to the Board of Nursing should address a letter of interest to the Governor, include an updated resume, and forward to the attention of Alanna Hounsell, Director, Boards and Commissions, Appointments, Office of the Governor, 1 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333.

Board Meetings - Fiscal Year 04

All meetings are held in Board Office, Augusta.

Correction:

The January, 2003 Bulletin, stated that there were 9 staff who work in the Board office in Augusta. This is incorrect. There are 7 staff people.

Public Information

Generally, all information held by an agency of state government is public information. This is due to the Freedom of Access Law found in 1 M.R.S.A. Section 408 FREEDOM OF ACCESS.

The following language is from the law:

§408. Public records available for public inspection
Except as otherwise provided by statute, every person shall have the right to inspect and copy any public record during the regular business hours of the custodian or location of such record; provided that, whenever inspection cannot be accomplished without translation of mechanical or electronic data compilations into some other form, the person desiring inspection may be required to pay the State in advance the cost of translation and both translation and inspection may be scheduled to occur at such time as will not delay or inconvenience the regular activities of the agency or official having custody of the record sought and provided further that the cost of copying any public record to comply with this section shall be paid by the person requesting the copy.

Occasionally nurses call or write regarding the sale of names and address to vendors. You will note from the above language that the Board is required to make this information available. Recruiters sometimes ask for lists of nurses in specific counties; others ask for lists of BSN prepared nurses. Professional associations such as the Maine State Nurses Association (MSNA), the American Nurses Association-Maine (ANA-Maine) as well as providers of conferences and classes related to nursing request lists of licensed nurses. As a state agency, the Board office must provide this information.

On occasion we have received calls from nurses stating that they have been getting too much mail and they believe it is because the Board provided the name and address. While the Board has an obligation to provide that information (see above Freedom of Access Law), you should be aware that vendors obtain names and addresses from a variety of sources other than the Board of Nursing. Some of the other possibilities include: nursing magazines and journals; businesses that sell nursing merchandise; other professional associations; conferences you may have attended; exhibitors who required your name and address to enter a drawing; and many other sources.

It is the nurse's responsibility to apprise the Board of Nursing of any change of address.

Address Confidentiality Program In those situations where a person may have been the victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, it might be helpful to know that these people are afforded protection under existing law. Last year the legislature enacted a law that established the Address Confidentiality Program within the Office of the Secretary of State. The Address Confidentiality Program authorizes the Secretary of State to assign a "designated address" to anyone certified as a program participant. State and local agencies must accept that address when creating a new public record. Applicable nurses may certainly avail themselves of this opportunity by contacting the Office of the Secretary of State at 148 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0148.

Public Contact Address Should a nurse elect to use his or her business address for the public contact address, he or she may contact the Board of Nursing with that information. A home/residential address will still be required which will be maintained on the history screen. Because of the structure of the current licensing system, your license renewal application, license and other information provided by the Board of Nursing will be sent to that address designated as your public contact address. Please remember that it is your responsibility to notify the Board of any changes in address.

How Is the Board of Nursing Funded?

The Maine State Board of Nursing is funded solely through licensure fees. This is called dedicated revenue. All licensing fees collected by the Board are used to fund that particular agency. No tax dollars go to the Board of Nursing.

Generally, boards are created at the request of a profession, as was the case in Maine in 1915 when the Maine State Board of Nursing was created. The Board was created to ensure that persons who practice nursing are qualified to do so. This endeavor is supported by the nurses themselves who fund the program through licensure fees. Thus the revenue source for the Board of Nursing is the body of nurses licensed by the board. Revenue for the Board of Nursing comes from persons who pay a licensing fee, not from taxpayer contributions.

Justifications for dedicated revenue funding a particular entity include: enforcing the benefit principle (those who receive a service pay for it); assurance of a minimum level of support and continuity of funding for specific projects and/or services; and, contribution to the stability of a program's financial situation which is essential for achieving predictability and stability.

Many nurses have either called, written or e-mailed regarding a bill that was introduced during the last legislative session (LD 449). LD 449 would have required that all licensure fees be deposited in the state's General Fund account (which are primarily your state income taxes). Many people have asked what this is about. Transferring monies collected from licensing fees paid by certain professions into the General Fund actually results in an additional tax on those selected professions. Typically this generates a perception of unfairness by the professions so affected. In essence, the tax burdens for nurses would be disproportionately higher than that of the general population.

The bill was heard March 31, 2003. The bill was not passed.

Funds Transfer

The Bureau of the Budget informed the Board of Nursing that $108,050 of the board's reserve funds will be transferred to the State's General Tax Fund during the current fiscal year due to the state's budget crisis. These funds were to be budgeted for Board operations over the next several years. Based on this transfer, the Board projects that expenses will exceed revenues sooner than anticipated.

DISCIPLINARY ACTION

Licensees fined from 01/01/2003 for practicing during lapsed license Status: 33

Complaints Dismissed from 01/01/2003 - 06/30/2003: 58

Nursys Available for Public Access

Nursys is the nursing licensure data source maintained by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Nursys was developed to allow easy, quick and centralized access to nursing licensure data. While state boards of nursing have been using Nursys to verify nursing licenses, in February, 2003, public access to Nursys became available. This allows employers and other members of the public to access a centralized source for verification of nursing licenses. Data from 27 boards are currently available through Nursys.

Boards from states not listed must be contacted directly. States are continually being added to the Nursys database. To access Nursys go to www.nursys.com and click on Nursys Licensure Quick Confirm. There is a fee for public access. For further information on the public access to Nursys, you may e-mail nursysinfo@ncsbn.org.

Report from Study "Evaluating the Effectiveness of Continuing Education Mandates"

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) was joined in this study by the regulatory agencies for medical technologists, occupational therapists, physician assistants, physical therapists, and respiratory therapists through the Interprofessional Workgroup for Health Professions Regulation (IWHPR). The study was conducted May through August, 2002. The data, as currently analyzed, led to the following conclusions:

1. Nurses tend to accumulate Continuing Education (CE) hours whether or not they are mandated to do so.
2. Nurses with a CE mandate attend more hours of CE unrelated to their work or interests.
3. Nurses consider work experience as the greatest contributor to their current levels of ability.
4. Those nurses with and without CE mandates estimate the same levels of growth in ten professional abilities.
5. Access to CE and other factors related to professional learning varies among nurses in different work settings and possibly among nurses in different population settings.
6. Nurses with CE mandates may have greater access to some sources of CE such as CE vendors because nurses with mandates are targeted by those providers.
7. Nurses in lower population areas experience less growth in some abilities than do those in more populous regions.

For a complete report with regard to background, research design and methods, assumptions, questions, process, samples, and so forth, please access NCSBN's web site at: www.ncsbn.org Click on RESOURCES and then PUBLICATIONS.
Or, you may write to:

National Council of State Boards of Nursing
111 East Wacker Drive, Suite 2900
Chicago, IL 60601
(312) 279 - 1032