Category Archives: All News

Updates from the Oct. 18th Board of Medicine Meeting

General News

On Thursday, October 18, the Board of Medicine approved the proposed draft regulations that would replace emergency regulations for the prescribing of opioids and buprenorphine by NPs.
 
These regulations are favorable, as they permit SAMHSA-waivered NPs to prescribe buprenorphine outside of a practice agreement, so long as these NPs are autonomous – that is, having completed five years of full-time experience and the attestation process, per the requirements of HB 793.
 
On October 10, the Joint Boards of Medicine and Nursing had unanimously voted to approve these regulations, in spite of organized medicine’s opposition. The draft regulations will now be reviewed and voted on by the Board of Nursing at its November 13th meeting. To view a copy of the latest draft regulations on the prescribing of opioids and buprenorphine, please click here.
 
The Board of Medicine also voted to eliminate the separate license for NP prescriptive authority. The updated regulations repeal 18VAC90-40-50 (“Renewal of prescriptive authority”), as well as 18VAC90-40-60 (“Reinstatement of prescriptive authority”). There will be a one-time, $35 fee for the initial issuance of prescriptive authority. For additional information, please see the relevant Notice of Intended Regulatory Action (NOIRA).

Shenandoah Region General Meeting Minutes-September 2018

News - Shenandoah

VCNP-Shenandoah Region

 

September 2018 Meeting Minutes

 

September 13, 2018

 

Members in attendance:  Chinor Fattahi, Maria Circosta, Susan Adamson, Barbara Call, Haley Tusing, Mary Atkins, Monica Heck, Andrea Knopp, Vicky Sullivan, Christine Yutzy, Lynne Eggert, Sue Klassen, Erin Morris, Maretta Yoder, Katelyn Marzolf, Victoria Krauss.

 

Meeting Location:  Bella Luna Restaurant, Harrisonburg, VA

 

Meeting Topic:  Jennifer Bryant, ACNP-BC, ACHPN presented a talk on “Palliative Care, Our Piece of the Puzzle.”  1.0 Contact hour of CME provided for participants.

 

Business Meeting:  

  1. Minutes from the February 2018 meeting were approved.

 

  1. Paige French was unable to attend the meeting, but sent an email reminder regarding the Legislative Meeting which will be held September 26, 2018 at the Augusta Health Community Care Building in Fishersville, VA.  Monica Heck NP graciously agreed to attend and will represent the Shenandoah Region.

 

  1. President, Erin Morris, reminded members of the upcoming November elections for the Shenandoah Region.  All positions are open including President, President- elect, Treasurer, Secretary and Historian. An email will go out to members asking for nominations. Elections will be held during the business portion of the November 15, 2018 meeting in addition to an email ballot. Vicky Sullivan agreed to remain on the ballot for the Treasurer position.

 

  1. Discussion regarding how new graduates can hear about our local group. Members were reminded that Nurse Practitioners and students wanting to obtain membership should go through the VCNP website. We also have a Facebook page.

 

  1. It was brought to the group’s attention that our events are not consistently on the VCNP website. In addition, certain members have not been getting the email notifications.  Erin Morris will look into the issue of events not being published.  It was thought likely some members were not notified secondary to recent membership renewals, and perhaps not showing up as current members since their membership briefly lapsed.

 

  1. Next meeting was discussed:

-11/15/18:  at Bella Luna.  Speaker:  Remma Zygerman, Pharmacist.  Exact topic has not been finalized.  Efforts will be made to obtain CME credit.

 

The meeting was then adjourned.

Respectively submitted.

Maretta Yoder, Secretary

September 18th Board of Nursing Meeting in Review

General News

Amended HB 793 Draft Regulations Passed Unanimously

 
At its September 18th meeting, the Board of Nursing voted 12-0 to adopt the HB 793 draft emergency regulations, as amended by the Board of Medicine at its August 3rd meeting. The Board of Nursing did not make any additional changes to the regulations. To view a copy of the updated emergency regulations, as passed, please click here.
 
Since the Board of Medicine and the Board of Nursing have now passed identical draft emergency regulations for HB 793, the regulations will now be reviewed by several state agencies before reaching the Governor’s desk. As soon as the Governor provides his signature, the legislation will go into effect! Per the law, the emergency regulations must be in place by the end of this year at the latest.
 
We are still waiting to learn more about the structure of the attestation form. Board of Nursing Executive Director Jay Douglas has indicated that the Board will keep licensees apprised of the latest developments, and we will continue to send updates as we discover more.
 
Looking forward: The emergency regulations will only remain in effect for 18 months, after which permanent regulations will be promulgated. This will be preceded by a Notice of Intended Regulatory Action (NOIRA) and additional opportunities for public comment.
 

Additional Developments at the Meeting

  • The Board voted unanimously to adopt proposed regulations that will eliminate the separate license for NP prescriptive authority. The updated regulations repeal 18VAC90-40-50 (“Renewal of prescriptive authority”), as well as 18VAC90-40-60 (“Reinstatement of prescriptive authority”). There will be a one-time, $35 fee for the initial issuance of prescriptive authority. For additional information, please see the relevant Notice of Intended Regulatory Action (NOIRA).

    •  

  • The Board of Nursing voted unanimously to extend the emergency regulations for the prescribing of opioids by NPs for another six months, beyond the expiration of November 7, 2018. Due to timing concerns, the Boards of Nursing and Medicine would have been unable to ensure the final regulations would take effect before the original expiration date. Please click here for more details about the motion.

    •  

  • The Department of Health Professions (DHP) is in the process of developing a paperless initiative, under which any licenses issued/renewed by the Board of Nursing will be available electronically. The license lookup system will be updated in real time, reflecting any changes as soon as they happen; hard copies of a license may be available only “by request,” for a fee. The paperless initiative will go into effect in the near future, though the exact date is uncertain – all licensees will be notified about these developments via email.

Fredericksburg Region VCNP meeting minutes 9/10/18

News - Fredericksburg

Membership is now an 18 month membership.  Several members have not renewed.

The board will be sending out a letter with their accomplishments to make NPs aware of all they have done advocating for us.  This will be accompanied by a letter reminding NPs to renew their membership or sign up if they have never been a member.

We had 2 philanthropy projects this quarter.  The Night of 1000 Pies was a yummy success with a VCNP banner displayed prominently at the party.  Members also got to speak with and thank Speaker Howell for his help with Bill 793.  Our “scholarship” for a food service worker has yet to be acknowledged by Micah Ministries.  Tiffany will follow up and make sure the check was cashed and made it to the right place.

Government Relations- Bill 793 was passed with the 9,000 hours of experience stipulation.

All NPS will need to do an attestation that they have practiced and have over 9,000 hours of experience which will then need to be signed by their collaborating physician.  This will go in their file and not need to be done again if they don’t change specialties.

Hopefully the VCNP will put an Attestation template on their website, to facilitate the uniform language of this document for all NPs.

An attorney has been hired for the VCNP.  Winifred Carson-

Linda Hazelgren is the incoming president and will start 3/2019.

Conference Committee position is vacant.

2 DNP scholarships were awarded, but no one in our group got one.  Hishani shared that the scholarship required the student to have already completed 18 credits toward their degree before they could be eligible.  Delisa will look into this requirement to verify.  Hopefully Hishani can apply next semester.

Submitted 9/12/18 JPSF

Fredericksburg region VCNP meeting minutes 5/14/18

News - Fredericksburg

The state board meeting convened 6/2/18.

At present, we have a vacancy for the president elect position.

The state board of health professions is discussing how to implement the new legislative information.

We now have 58 members, 19 have not yet renewed.

Conference chair? no report/absent.

Next program is at Brock’s regarding CPAP 6/11/18.

Timmye Ross received a Founder’s award at the VCNP conference in March.

 

Submitted 8/19/18 JPSF

Fredericksburg VCNP meeting minutes 8/13/18

News - Fredericksburg

Karen reminded everyone to pay their dues, which are now on a once a year rotation.

Bill 793 was signed, including the wording of 5,000 clinical hours with physician collaboration before being independent of that collaboration.

Please send money to the VCNP PAC to support our lobbyist and all the work they do on our behalf.

Philanthropy was discussed.  We have been invited again to a night of a thousand pies to support Empowerhouse.  Since the last meeting was so many months ago, no decision was made whether to donate a “scholarship” for a homeless person to go through training in food service with the Corner Café in Fredericksburg, or to support Empowerhouse.

A decision was made unanimously that we would donate to both:

$250 “Whoopie Pie” level to A Night of a Thousand Pies to support Empowerhouse, and $600 to Micah Ministries to sponsor one individual through the program to become certified in food service.  The motion was made by Timmye Ross, seconded by Michele Porthouse and agreed upon by all members present at the meeting.

Brenda has monthly meetings scheduled through January.

Linda Hazelgren has volunteered to be our president elect.

 

Submitted 8/19/18 JPSF

Northern Virginia region

News - Northern Virginia

General Notes:
We aim to have 5 meetings per year in the odd months Sept-May. Members receive emailed newsletter with meeting announcements and RSVP link.
We have a regional Facebook group with updates. Search VCNP-Northern Virginia Region under groups in Facebook to join.
New member questions – contact Anne Bejian anne.bejian@gmail.com

August 3rd Board of Medicine Meeting Recap

General News

Last Friday, August 3, the Virginia Board of Medicine convened and discussed the draft regulations for the Nurse Practitioner autonomous practice legislation, HB 793. The Committee of the Joint Boards and the Board of Nursing had both passed draft regulations that defined “five years of full-time experience” as 8,000 hours (an average of 1,600 hours/year) at their respective meetings. However, the Board of Medicine decided to amend the draft regulations, changing the definition of “five years of full-time experience” to 9,000 hours. To view the draft of the minutes from the meeting, please click here.
 
The amended regulations will now return to the Board of Nursing for their approval at their September 18th meeting. We will continue to keep VCNP membership apprised of any developments.
 
Thank you to everyone who came to the meeting in support of NPs!