H.B. 2889
(By Delegates Manuel, Williams, Spencer, Hall, Harrison and
Anderson)
(Originating in the Committee on Education)
[April 3, 1997]
A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-two, article five,
chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, by adding thereto language all
relating to providing for the overlap of continuing education
units between the West Virginia state board of examiners for
registered nurses and the West Virginia state board of
education with regard to continuing education requirements;
exempting from the taking of the pre-professional skills test
nurses who serve public schools but whose primary employer is
not a county board of education; creating the policy advisory
council of school nursing to meet annually to make
recommendations on issues related to certification,
recertification, continuing education, other matters and
making a report of such to the Legislature.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-two, article five, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
§18-5-22. Medical and dental inspection; school nurses; specialized
health procedures; establishment of council of school nurses; continuing education requirements; policy advisory council of school nurses; and report of recommendations.
County boards shall provide proper medical and dental
inspections for all pupils attending the schools of their county
and shall further have the authority to take any other action
necessary to protect the pupils from infectious diseases, including
the authority to require from all school personnel employed in
their county, certificates of good health and of physical fitness.
Each county board shall employ full time at least one school
nurse for every one thousand five hundred kindergarten through
seventh grade pupils in net enrollment or major fraction thereof:
Provided, That each county shall employ full time at least one
school nurse: Provided, however, That a county board may contract
with a public health department for services considered equivalent
to those required by this section in accordance with a plan to be
approved by the state board: Provided further, That the state
board shall promulgate rules requiring the employment of school
nurses in excess of the number required by this section to ensure
adequate provision of services to severely handicapped pupils.
Any person employed as a school nurse shall be a registered
professional nurse properly licensed by the West Virginia board of
examiners for registered professional nurses in accordance with
article seven, chapter thirty of this code.
Specialized health procedures that require the skill,
knowledge and judgment of a licensed health professional, shall be
performed only by school nurses, other licensed school health care
providers as provided for in this section, or school employees who
have been trained and retrained every two years who are subject to
the supervision and approval by school nurses. After assessing the
health status of the individual student, a school nurse, in
collaboration with the student's physician, parents and in some
instances an individualized education program team, may delegate
certain health care procedures to a school employee who shall be
trained pursuant to this section, considered competent, have
consultation with, and be monitored or supervised by the school
nurse: Provided, That nothing herein shall prohibit any school
employee from providing specialized health procedures or any other
prudent action to aid any person who is in acute physical distress
or requires emergency assistance. For the purposes of this section
"specialized health procedures" means, but is not limited to,
catheterization, suctioning of tracheostomy, naso-gastric tube
feeding or gastrostomy tube feeding. "School employee" means
"teachers", as defined in section one, article one of this chapter and "aides", as defined in section eight, article four, chapter
eighteen-a of this code.
Any school employee who elects, or is required by this
section, to undergo training or retraining to provide, in the
manner specified in this section, the specialized health care
procedures for those students for which the selection has been
approved by both the principal and the county board, shall receive
additional pay of at least one pay grade higher than the highest
pay grade for which the employee is paid: Provided, That any
training required in this section may be considered in lieu of
required in-service training of the school employee and a school
employee may not be required to elect to undergo the training or
retraining: Provided, however, That commencing with the first day
of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, any newly employed
school employee in the field of special education shall be required
to undergo the training and retraining as provided for in this
section: Provided further, That if an employee who holds a class
title of an aide is employed in a school and such aide has received
the training, pursuant to this section, then an employee in the
field of special education shall not be required to perform the
specialized health care procedures.
Each county school nurse, as designated and defined by this
section, shall perform a needs assessment. These nurses shall meet
on the basis of the area served by their regional educational service agency, prepare recommendations and elect a representative
to serve on the council of school nurses established under this
section.
There shall be established a council of school nurses which
shall be convened by the state board of education. This council
shall prepare a procedural manual and shall provide recommendations
regarding a training course to the director of the state division
of health who shall consult with the state department of education.
The state division of health then has the authority to promulgate
rules to implement the training and to create standards used by
those school nurses and school
employees performing specialized health procedures. The council
shall meet every two years to review the certification and training
program regarding school employees: . Provided, That the six
continuing education credits required by the state department of
education for the recertification of school nurses shall have no
less than four credits that are identical to at least four of the
units required by the West Virginia state board of examiners for
registered professional nurses (hereinafter the "board of
examiners") so that four of the credits required of school nurses
shall also count as four of the units required by the board of
examiners. Provided, however, That any change in the number of
units required by the state department of education shall
maintain a ratio of not less than two units required by the board of examiners to one unit required by the state board of education;
Provided further, That nurses who serve the public schools but
whose primary employer is not a county board of education shall not
be required to take the pre-professional skills test.
The state board of education shall work in conjunction with
the board of examiners and county boards to provide training and
retraining no less than every two years as recommended by the
council of school nurses and implemented by the state division of
health: Provided, That the state board of education or its
designee, the board of examiners or its designee, the commissioner
of the bureau of health or his or her designee, a representative
from each of the state higher education institutions offering a
school nurse certification program, and, should such institution
choose to send one, a representative from each private independent
institution within the state offering a school nurse certification
program shall meet as the policy advisory council of school
nursing (hereinafter the "policy council") to discuss and make
recommendations to each other and to the Legislative oversight
commission on education accountability regarding issues related to
the training, certification, recertification, continuing education
and such other matters as are of concern to the members of the
policy council. The first meeting of the policy council shall be
convened by the council of school nurses no later than the first
day of November, one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, and shall be the only meeting required of the council during said year.
Subsequently, the policy council shall meet twice yearly. On
behalf of the policy council, the state board of education shall
provide administrative support for the policy council and compile
and present make the report required by this section to the
Legislative oversight commission on education accountability
(hereinafter "LOCEA") during LOCEA's February meeting of one
thousand nine hundred ninety-eight regarding the recommendations
and issues discussed by the policy council. Representatives to the
policy council shall not be reimbursed their expenses for their
service on the policy council. State employees serving on the
policy council shall be reimbursed per state regulations.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the
overlap of units required by the West Virginia state board of
examiners for registered nurses to maintain their license and
continuing education units required by the state board of education
for a nurse to maintain certification as a school nurse.
Additionally, this bill exempts from taking the Pre-Professional
Standards Test school nurses whose primary employer is not a county
board. Finally, this bill creates the Policy Advisory Council of
School Nursing to provide a formal exchange of information relevant
to education, certification, recertification and continuing
education among the West Virginia state board of examiners for
registered nurses, the state board of education, the council of
school nurses, and higher education programs offering baccalaureate
nursing programs with a specialization in school nursing.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.