Michigan 2017 Annual Report

2017 ANNUAL REPORT
GOVERNMENT AND LEGISLATIVE REPORT
(as of August 23, 2017)
Monika Miner, Consultant
MBON Rule Revisions Update: The Michigan Board of Nursing is in the process of revising
the administrative rules. To view the proposed rule revisions, please visit: http://w3.lara.
state.mi.us/orr/Files/ORR/1712_2017-037LR_orr-draft.pdf
HB 5400 (PA 499) Now Law: The LARA department, in conjunction with the MBON, has
developed the following Q and A for licensees: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/
lara/Nursing_FAQs_538224_7.pdf
2017 Bill Introductions
Emergency Room Personnel Protection: Senate Bill 33 amends the Michigan Penal Code to extend to
emergency room personnel a prohibition against assaulting, battering, wounding, resisting, or endangering
law enforcement or other emergency personnel. The bill also would require an employer of any of the
people included in that provision to post a sign at any property used by the employer stating that it is a
felony to assault such a person knowing that the person is performing his or her duties. The code prescribes
felony penalties for an individual who assaults, batters, wounds, resists, obstructs, opposes, or endangers a
person whom the individual knows or has reason to know is performing his or her duties. “Person” includes
certain law enforcement personnel, a firefighter, emergency medical service personnel, and an individual
engaged in a search and rescue operation. The definition of emergency room personnel includes physicians,
nurses, intake clerks, and any other individual employed in the emergency department, emergency room,
operating room, or trauma center of a licensed hospital. The bill is awaiting action on the senate floor.
Immunization Bills: In 2015, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) implemented
a policy in which parents requesting a non-medical vaccine waiver for a school-age child were required to
receive education and sign a waiver. House Bills 4425 and 4426 (SBs 299-300) would roll back the childhood
immunization standards requiring parents of school-aged children who seek a “non-medical exemption”
to the immunization requirements to have their waiver certified by a local health department. Similar bills
have been introduced in the Senate. Several healthcare organizations are opposing the legislation, as well
as ANA-MI, and the Governor. To date, there has been a hearing only in committee.
Certified Nurse Aide Regulation: Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood introduced SB 286, a bill that would create
a Nurse Aide Training and Registration Program. According to the Michigan Department of Licensing and
Regulatory Affairs (LARA), there are approximately 52,400 nurse aides active in Michigan. The legislation
also defines the “practice as a nurse aide” as providing nursing or nursing-related services to a patient
or resident. It would not be the practice of nursing as defined in Michigan’s Public Health Code. “Nurse
Aide” would be defined as an individual who held a registration. It would not mean a health professional
licensed under Article 15 (Occupations) of the Public Health Code, a registered dietician, or someone who
volunteered to provide nursing or nursing-related services without pay. The bill passed the Senate and is
32