SB 45 passed out of the Senate and is headed to the House, Contact your State Representative

On 2/1/24 the Indiana State Nurses Association (ISNA) shared their concerns with the language of SB 45. The IACNS Legislative Committee is encouraging you to contact your State Representative, as well as the bill's House Sponsor, Representative Cindy Ledbetter -  H75@iga.in.gov. 

ISNA’s concerns:

SB 45 was referred to the Senate Committee on Appropriations after it passed the Committee on Health & Provider Services. The bill was not listed on the agenda for the Committee on Appropriations this week. Instead, SB 45 was reassigned to the Rules Committee, which moved the bill to the Senate floor without a hearing. Then, the Senate passed the bill this afternoon. SB 45 now advances to the House.

SB 45 requires all nurses who have direct contact with patients to complete a training program on trauma informed care within five years.

1. SB 45 applies to all nurses who have direct contact with patients. That term is ambiguous and undefined. It will create confusion regarding who is required to complete the training.
2. The Professional Licensing Agency does not have the resources to verify whether nurses have completed the training.
3. The bill requires a nurse’s employer to maintain a record of the completion of the training in the nurse’s employment records. However, the Board of Nursing has no regulatory authority to enforce this requirement. Moreover, what happens when a nurse leaves their employer?
4. Training with a nursing education program satisfies the requirements of SB 45, but that statutory term only includes prelicensure education program, so it leaves out graduate programs that include this training.
5. Why does the training requirement apply only to nurses when it would be equally valuable to other health care providers?