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AN ACT relating to the Board of Nursing. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 314.121 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) The Governor shall appoint a Board of Nursing consisting of seventeen (17) 4
members: 5
(a) Three (3) members shall be registered nurses actively engaged in clinical 6
practice consisting of dir ect bedside patient care on a daily basis and 7
licensed to practice in the Commonwealth at the time of appointment and 8
throughout their terms. 9
1. One (1) member shall be [,] selected from a list of names submitted by 10
the Kentucky School Nurses Association. 11
2. Two (2) members shall be selected from a list of names submitted by 12
the Kentucky Hospital Association; 13
(b) Three (3) members shall be advanced practice registered nurses actively 14
engaged in clinical practice and licensed to practice in the Commonwealth at 15
the time of appointment and throughout their terms , two (2) of whom shall 16
be selected from a list of names submitted by the Kentucky Association of 17
Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Midwives, and one (1) of whom shall be a 18
certified nurse anesthetist select ed from a list of names submitted by the 19
Kentucky Association of Nurse Anesthetists; 20
(c) Two (2) members shall be practical nurses actively engaged in clinical 21
practice and licensed to practice in the Commonwealth at the time of 22
appointment and throughout their terms , selected from a list of names 23
submitted by the Kentucky Association of Licensed Practical Nurses; 24
(d) One (1) member shall be a nurse service administrator actively engaged in 25
practice who is a registered nurse licensed to practice in the Comm onwealth 26
at the time of appointment and throughout the member's term, selected from 27
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a list of names submitted by the Kentucky Organization of Nurse Leaders; 1
(e) Four (4) members shall be actively engaged in nursing education, each of 2
whom is a registered n urse licensed to practice in the Commonwealth at the 3
time of appointment and throughout their terms ,[ three (3) of whom shall 4
be] selected from a list of names submitted by the Kentucky League for 5
Nursing[ and one (1) of whom shall be selected from a list of names submitted 6
by the Kentucky Nurses Association]; 7
(f) Two (2) members shall be registered nurses experienced in long -term care at 8
the time of appointment and throughout their terms , one (1) of whom shall 9
be selected from a list of names submitted by LeadingAge Kentucky, and one 10
(1) of whom shall be selected from a list of names submitted by the Kentucky 11
Association of Health Care Facilities; and 12
(g) Two (2) members shall be citizens at large, who are not associated with or 13
financially interested in the practice or business regulated. 14
(2) Each appointment shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate and shall be for a 15
term of four (4) years expiring on June 30 of the fourth year, except in 2024, when 16
new appointments shall be made by the Governor afte r July 15, 2024. A board 17
member shall not serve for more than three (3) consecutive terms, and shall be 18
ineligible for reappointment until the passage of one (1) full four (4) year 19
appointment cycle. 20
(3) (a) By August 1, 2024, the Kentucky School Nurses Association shall submit to 21
the Governor two (2) names of qualified individuals for appointment as a 22
registered nurse (R.N.) who are actively engaged in clinical nursing practice, 23
from which the Governor shall make an appointment as necessary by October 24
1, 2 024. Thereafter, by March 1 of the year in which the term of an R.N. 25
actively engaged in clinical practice expires: 26
1. For one (1) of the three (3) members , the Kentucky School Nurses 27
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Association shall submit to the Governor two (2) names of qualified 1
individuals for appointment as an R.N. who are actively engaged in 2
clinical nursing practice, from which the Governor shall make an 3
appointment as necessary by July 1; and 4
2. For two (2) of the three (3) members, the Kentucky Hospital 5
Association shall submit to the Governor for each appointment two (2) 6
names of qualified individuals for appointment as an R.N. who are 7
actively engaged in clinical nursing practice, from which the 8
Governor shall make an appointment as necessary by July 1. 9
(b) By March 1 of [1of] the year in which the term of an L.P.N. expires, the 10
Kentucky Licensed Practical Nurses Organization Incorporated shall submit 11
to the Governor two (2) names of qualified individuals for appointment as an 12
L.P.N. who are actively engaged in clinical nursing p ractice, from which the 13
Governor shall make an appointment as necessary by July 1. 14
(c) By March 1 of the year in which the nurse service administrator's term 15
expires, the Kentucky Organization of Nurse Leaders, an affiliate of the 16
Kentucky Hospital Associa tion, shall submit to the Governor two (2) names 17
of qualified individuals for appointment as the nurse service administrator, 18
from which list the Governor shall make an appointment as necessary by July 19
1. 20
(d) By March 1 of the year in which the term of the R.N. recommended by 21
LeadingAge Kentucky expires, LeadingAge Kentucky shall submit to the 22
Governor two (2) names of qualified individuals for appointment as an R.N. 23
experienced in long -term care, from which the Governor shall make an 24
appointment as necessary by July 1. 25
(e) By March 1 of the year in which the term of the R.N. recommended by 26
Kentucky Association of Health Care Facilities expires, the Kentucky 27
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Association of Health Care Facilities shall submit to the Governor two (2) 1
names of qualified individ uals for appointment as an R.N. experienced in 2
long-term care, from which the Governor shall make an appointment as 3
necessary by July 1. 4
(f) By March 1 of the year in which the practical nurse educator's term expires, 5
the Kentucky League for Nursing shall submit to the Governor two (2) names 6
of qualified individuals for the appointment as a licensed practical nurse 7
educator, from which the Governor shall make the appointment as necessary 8
by July 1. 9
(g) By August 1, 2024, the Kentucky League for Nursing shal l submit to the 10
Governor two (2) names of qualified individuals for appointment as a 11
graduate degree nurse educator, from which the Governor shall make an 12
appointment as necessary by October 1, 2024. Thereafter, by March 1 of the 13
year in which the term of the graduate degree nurse educator expires, the 14
Kentucky League for Nursing shall submit to the Governor two (2) names of 15
qualified individuals for the appointment as a graduate degree nurse educator, 16
from which the Governor shall make an appointment as necessary by July 1. 17
(h)[ By March 1, 2025, and thereafter on March 1 of the year in which the term of 18
the undergraduate nurse educator expires, the Kentucky Nurses Association 19
shall submit to the Governor two (2) names of qualified individuals for the 20
appointment as an undergraduate nurse educator, from which the Governor 21
shall make the appointment as necessary by July 1. 22
(i)] By March 1, 2026, and thereafter on March 1 of the year in which the term of 23
an[the] undergraduate nurse educator expires, the Kentuc ky League for 24
Nursing shall submit to the Governor two (2) names of qualified individuals 25
for each appointment as an undergraduate nurse educator, from which the 26
Governor shall make the appointment as necessary by July 1. 27
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(i)[(j)] By March 1 of the year in which the certified registered nurse anesthetist 1
term expires, the Kentucky Association of Nurse Anesthetists shall submit to 2
the Governor two (2) names of qualified individuals who are actively engaged 3
in clinical nursing practice for the appointment, fr om which the Governor 4
shall make the appointment as necessary by July 1. 5
(j)[(k)] By August 1, 2024, the Kentucky Association of Nurse Practitioners and 6
Nurse-Midwives shall submit to the Governor the names of qualified 7
individuals for appointments of two (2) advanced practice registered nurses. 8
The appointed individuals shall be certified in different population foci and 9
shall be actively engaged in advanced nursing clinical practice. Two (2) 10
names of qualified individuals shall be submitted to the Governo r for each 11
position. The Governor shall appoint one (1) advanced practice registered 12
nurse from the two (2) names submitted in one (1) population focus for an 13
initial term of four (4) years and shall also appoint one (1) advanced practice 14
registered nurse from the two (2) names submitted in another population focus 15
for an initial term of two (2) years. The Governor shall make each 16
appointment as necessary by October 1, 2024. Successive terms for each 17
advanced registered nurse practitioner shall be four (4) years. The two (2) 18
advanced practice registered nurses shall be certified in a different population 19
focus. Thereafter, on March 1 of the year in which the term of an advanced 20
practice registered nurse expires, the Kentucky Association of Nurse 21
Practitioners and Nurse-Midwives shall submit to the Governor the names of 22
two (2) qualified individuals, from which the Governor shall make the 23
appointment as necessary by July 1. 24
(k)[(l)] The Governor shall appoint two (2) members who shall be citizens at 25
large, who are not associated with or financially interested in the practice or 26
business regulated. The Governor shall make the appointments by July 1 of 27
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the year in which the citizen members' terms expire. 1
(4) Among the seventeen (17) members of the board, at all t imes, at least two (2) 2
members shall be appointed from each of the six (6) congressional districts of the 3
Commonwealth. 4
(5) Among the nurse board members appointed under subsection (1) of this section, no 5
less than three (3) and no more than six (6) nurse board members shall be nurse 6
educators. All other nurse members of the board shall be practicing nurses. 7
(6) A vacancy on the board shall be filled by the Governor as provided for under 8
subsection (1) of this section. 9
(7) The Governor may remove any membe r from the board for neglect of duty, 10
incompetence, or unprofessional or dishonorable conduct. 11
(8) Each R.N. member of the board shall be a citizen of the United States, a resident of 12
Kentucky, a graduate of an approved school of nursing, and a registered nurse in 13
this state. All shall have had at least five (5) years of experience in nursing, three 14
(3) of which shall immediately precede such appointment. Three (3) members shall 15
be engaged in clinical nursing practice; four (4) shall be engaged in nursing 16
education; three (3) shall be engaged in advanced practice registered nursing, one 17
(1) of whom shall be a certified registered nurse anesthetist; two (2) shall be 18
experienced in long-term care; and one (1) shall be in nursing administration. 19
(9) Each L.P.N. member of the board shall be a citizen of the United States, a resident 20
of Kentucky, a graduate of an approved school of practical nursing or its equivalent, 21
licensed as a licensed practical nurse in this state, have at least five (5) years of 22
experience in nursing, three (3) of which shall immediately precede this 23
appointment, and be currently engaged in nursing practice. Two (2) members shall 24
be engaged in clinical nurse practice. 25