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| 1 | AN ACT concerning regulation.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | Section 1. Legislative findings. The General Assembly | |||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | recognizes: | |||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | (1) There is a growing shortage of nurses working in | |||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Illinois health care facilities, which is most profound in | |||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Southern Illinois. | |||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | (2) Nurse employers, including hospitals and long-term | |||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | care facilities, cannot hire the number of nurses they need to | |||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | provide quality nursing care. | |||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | (3) The purpose of the Illinois Nursing Workforce Center | |||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | is to address issues of supply and demand in the nursing | |||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | profession, including issues of recruitment, retention, and | |||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | utilization of nurse manpower resources. | |||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | (4) The Center reports that the Department of Financial | |||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | and Professional Regulation provides nursing licenses, as of | |||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | June 2022, in the following amounts: 17,931 advanced practice | |||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | registered nurse licenses; 200,600 registered nurse licenses; | |||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | and 25,978 licensed practical nurse licenses. | |||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | (5) The number of licenses does not equate to the number of | |||||||||||||||||||
| 22 | nurses currently in the workforce in Illinois as many nurses | |||||||||||||||||||
| 23 | renew their licenses even after retirement. | |||||||||||||||||||
| 24 | (6) There have been nursing surveys, but they have been | |||||||||||||||||||
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| 1 | voluntary. For instance, in 2020, only 22% of nurses responded | ||||||
| 2 | to surveys. | ||||||
| 3 | (7) Strategies and changes are necessary to solving the | ||||||
| 4 | nursing shortage. There needs to be accurate and complete | ||||||
| 5 | data. | ||||||
| 6 | (8) Illinois must know whether there are regional | ||||||
| 7 | shortages of nurses, shortages of nurses in specialty areas, | ||||||
| 8 | or impediments to entering the nursing profession. A required | ||||||
| 9 | survey will address these and other nurse shortage issues. | ||||||
| 10 | Section 5. The Nurse Practice Act is amended by changing | ||||||
| 11 | Section 75-10 as follows: | ||||||
| 12 | (225 ILCS 65/75-10) (was 225 ILCS 65/17-10) | ||||||
| 13 | (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2028) | ||||||
| 14 | Sec. 75-10. Illinois Nursing Workforce Center. The purpose | ||||||
| 15 | of the Illinois Nursing Workforce Center to address issues of | ||||||
| 16 | supply and demand in the nursing profession, including issues | ||||||
| 17 | of recruitment, retention, and utilization of nurse manpower | ||||||
| 18 | resources. The General Assembly finds that the Center will | ||||||
| 19 | enhance the access to and delivery of quality health care | ||||||
| 20 | services by providing an ongoing strategy for the allocation | ||||||
| 21 | of the State's resources directed towards nursing. Each of the | ||||||
| 22 | following objectives shall serve as the primary goals for the | ||||||
| 23 | Center: | ||||||
| 24 | (1) To develop a strategic plan for nursing workforce | ||||||
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| 1 | in the State by selecting priorities to be addressed, | ||||||
| 2 | including: manpower in Illinois by selecting priorities | ||||||
| 3 | that must be addressed. | ||||||
| 4 | (A) For license renewals beginning in 2024 and | ||||||
| 5 | each renewal thereafter, to develop and require the | ||||||
| 6 | completion of a supply survey of all licensed nurses, | ||||||
| 7 | including licensed practical nurses, registered | ||||||
| 8 | nurses, and advanced practice registered nurses, at | ||||||
| 9 | initial licensure and each license renewal thereafter. | ||||||
| 10 | The survey shall use the National Forum of State | ||||||
| 11 | Nursing Workforce Centers Minimum Nurse Supply | ||||||
| 12 | Dataset. The Center shall compile, process, and | ||||||
| 13 | evaluate the survey findings and report to the | ||||||
| 14 | Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker | ||||||
| 15 | of the House of Representatives with recommendations. | ||||||
| 16 | (B) No later than 2026, to develop a nurse demand | ||||||
| 17 | and employer survey to be collected biennially. The | ||||||
| 18 | survey shall use the National Forum of State Nursing | ||||||
| 19 | Workforce Centers Minimum Nurse Demand Dataset. The | ||||||
| 20 | Center shall compile, process, and evaluate the survey | ||||||
| 21 | findings and report to the Governor, the President of | ||||||
| 22 | the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of | ||||||
| 23 | Representatives with recommendations. | ||||||
| 24 | (2) To convene various groups of representatives of | ||||||
| 25 | nurses, other health care providers, businesses and | ||||||
| 26 | industries, consumers, legislators, and educators to: | ||||||
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| 1 | (A) review and comment on data analysis prepared | ||||||
| 2 | by for the Center; and | ||||||
| 3 | (B) recommend systemic changes, including | ||||||
| 4 | strategies for implementation of recommended changes. | ||||||
| 5 | (3) To enhance and promote recognition, reward, and | ||||||
| 6 | renewal activities for nurses in the State Illinois by: | ||||||
| 7 | (A) proposing and creating reward, recognition, | ||||||
| 8 | and renewal activities for nursing; and | ||||||
| 9 | (B) promoting positive media and positive | ||||||
| 10 | image-building efforts for nursing.
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| 11 | (Source: P.A. 100-513, eff. 1-1-18.)
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