Nurse Licensure Compact Transforms a Nurse into a Super Hero Times 35

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - May 19, 2021 - PRLog -- The Nurse Licensure Compact still needs to be passed in sixteen states. The Nurse Licensure Compact allows nurses to practice modern, robust health care, including telehealth and nurse education. It provides a multi-state license that allows nurses to practice with patients across state lines.

For example, if Nurse Licensure Compact is passed in Illinois, an Illinois licensed nurse would automatically have a license to practice in 35 "compact" states instead of only in Illinois. The Nurse Licensure Compact allows patients to have much greater access to health care, especially in those communities that have suffered the scourge of health care resource inequity and disparity.

The Nurse Licensure Compact also makes it much more attractive for healthcare companies to relocate to states who have passed the nurse "compact." Healthcare companies are much more likely to hire nurses who have a license to practice in 35 states instead of nurses who can only offer their services to practice in one state.

In Illinois, the Nurse Licensure Compact Illinois Senate Bill, IL SB2068, and Illinois House Bill, IL HB 0580, need to pass. SB2068 is set for a third reading on the Senate floor by Friday, May 21. This Senate bill needs to be both "called" and "voted" on, or it will die. For example, 60 senators could be backing SB 2068, but if it is not allowed to be "called," it will die in committee. Illinois House Bill, IL HB 0580, is on life support. It has been left to die in the "Rules" committee after exiting the Labor committee.

The Nurse Licensure Compact will ease nursing shortages and grant companies much more flexibility in filling open positions, helping to improve patient care. According to a recent Sun-Times article, Illinois has a nursing shortage crisis with aging baby boomers needing more health care. At the same time, its roughly 185,000 registered nurses are aging – with more than half of them over age 55, and 27% of nurses planning to retire within five years." If Illinois were to adopt the Compact, Heraty said, "It would allow elderly and disabled nurses to continue practicing in the nursing field longer and more productively through telehealth. It would also allow nurse educators to teach students in 35 states instead of just Illinois and for nurses to better respond to public health emergencies such as Covid-19."

"It's time for Illinois to join in this effort to improve and streamline health care nationwide," said John Heraty, LCSW, public policy liaison with the Case Management Society of America-Chicago. "We call on the Illinois Senate and House to pass the critically important Nurse Licensure Compact legislation and urge Gov. J.B. Pritzker to sign it."

www.cmsa-chicago.org