Help may be on the way to alleviate Pa. nursing crisis

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Pennsylvania is moving to implement the Nurse Licensure Compact by allowing nurses with multistate licenses issued by 40 other states and territories to practice in Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt announced Tuesday. 

The Shapiro Administration said in a press release it expects this step to address Pennsylvania’s nursing shortage and increase and improve health care access across the state. 

“By implementing this first phase of Pennsylvania’s engagement in the NLC, we are expanding opportunities for patients and providing hospitals and health systems with access to an approved, vetted group of licensed RNs and LPN,” Schmidt said.

Registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) who hold a multistate license through the interstate Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) will be permitted to practice in Pennsylvania beginning Sept. 5. The NLC is administered by the National Council for State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and serves as an agreement among 41 states and territories to recognize nurses licensed by compact members. Act 68 of 2021 authorized Pennsylvania to join the NLC, which increases patients’ access to in-person and telehealth care.

In his first month in office, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order that catalogued each of the 2,400 permits, certificates, and licenses Pennsylvania issues and set timelines for each of them.

According to a survey conducted in November 2022 by The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP), vacancy rates for RNs providing direct care have reached 30%. Allowing qualified RNs and LPNs to practice in Pennsylvania will expand the pool of recruits for hospitals and health care facilities and should help alleviate burdens on overworked nursing staffs.

“This is a critical first step in the full implementation of the Nurse Licensure Compact,” said Schmidt. “The Department of State continues to work diligently with its state and federal partners to satisfy the preconditions necessary to fully implement the NLC. Once that occurs, Pennsylvania’s State Board of Nursing will be able to issue NLC multistate licenses to Pennsylvania nurses, allowing them to practice in compact member states and territories.”

Preconditions for implementing the NLC include certifying to other compact states that Pennsylvania’s State Board of Nursing has performed FBI criminal background checks on Pennsylvania applicants. The process requires FBI authorization, and the Department of State is awaiting a response.

Schmidt said Pennsylvania is also ensuring that other technical and regulatory requirements can be met so that the commonwealth can fully implement the NLC as quickly as possible once FBI approval is received.

Sen. Lisa Boscola served as the prime sponsor of the legislation that became Act 68.

“Our hospitals and health care systems need nurses now,” said Boscola. “Allowing nurses who have a compact license from another state to start work without unnecessary bureaucratic hoops to jump through is a great first step. I will continue to work to ensure this compact is fully implemented in Pennsylvania because our nurses deserve the full benefits of being a compact state.”

Rep. Bridget Kosierowski is a registered nurse who sponsored the House bill that led to Act 68. 

“While there is still work to do to get to full implementation of the compact, as a nearly 30-year registered nurse, I am very clear about the critical need for increasing the number of nurses in our Commonwealth,” she said. “I am grateful and excited that the Department of State has taken this positive action that hopefully will not only increase the availability of nurses but will also help to lessen the incredible burden of paperwork the Department has to process.”

Nicole Stallings, president and CEO of The Hospital and HAP, said Tuesday’s announcement is an important step to bringing more nurses to the bedside to care for Pennsylvanians.

“HAP thanks the Shapiro Administration for its action on this initiative and its ongoing efforts to finalize Pennsylvania’s implementation of this compact,” said Stallings.

Maureen May, an R.N. and president of PASNAP, the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals, called it “critically important” to alleviate the hospital staffing crisis.

“By drawing more nurses to PA, the Nurse Licensure Compact will help ensure that, at this very critical time, our hospitals are amply staffed and that our nurses are able to give the care they want and have been trained to give,” said May.