Ohio House proposal aims to alleviate nursing faculty shortage

The state’s leading nursing group praised a proposed law that it says would help to lessen the shortage of nursing instructors in Ohio.

House Bill 457 would make it easier for nurses to work as faculty members while they pursue a certificate that allows them to write prescriptions, according to a statement from the Ohio Nurses Association.

Under current law, nurses must complete a 1,500-hour supervised externship in one year–with an option for a one-year extension–to earn the right to prescribe medicine. The ONA says that’s a problem because it doesn’t leave enough time for nurses to both teach and complete the externship, which is essentially the same thing as an internship.

The proposed law would help to lighten the load on nurses by giving them an additional year to complete their externships, according to the statement.

Under the terms of the legislation, “faculty who are actively pursuing prescriptive authority would not have to give up their academic responsibilities and could also practice fully as advanced practice nurses,” said Elise Geig, the ONA’s policy director.

House Bill 457 was co-sponsored by Reps. Jay Goyal, D-Mansfield, and James Zehringer, R-Fort Recovery.