SR0610 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0610 LRB097 20457 GRL 65969 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Nursys (www.nursys.com) is the national nurse licensure database operated by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), located in Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Boards of nursing in 48 states and territories presently participate in Nursys and 3 additional jurisdictions have signed agreements to fully participate in Nursys; and

WHEREAS, Nursys is a vital tool for boards of nursing to protect the public; and

WHEREAS, Full-participating boards of nursing contribute licensure and discipline data to Nursys; and

WHEREAS, Participation in Nursys is a no-cost benefit to members of NCSBN and allows member boards of nursing to share licensure and discipline data with other boards of nursing; and

WHEREAS, Participating boards of nursing retain complete control of their data and are thus responsible and accountable for their data in Nursys; and

WHEREAS, Nursys contains personal, licensure, education, verification, and discipline information supplied as regular updates by boards of nursing in the U.S. and its territories; and

WHEREAS, Nursys provides centralized license information to boards of nursing, which in turn, use this data to verify applicant license information, enter and review disciplinary actions, and send electronic communications between boards of nursing for information requests; and

WHEREAS, Employers and the public have free online access to information about nurses who hold a license in a Nursys fully-participating jurisdiction, including past disciplinary history via the "Licensure Quick Confirm" feature on www.nursys.com; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Board of Nursing's current online licensure lookup service will only display Illinois licenses and does not display additional licenses held by Illinois licensees in other jurisdictions; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Board of Nursing is a dues-paying member of NCSBN, but does not fully participate in the Nursys database; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Board of Nursing will not incur any revenue loss by full participation in Nursys in view of participation in the license verification service being optional; and

WHEREAS, As a public protection function of Nursys, a board of nursing that fully participates in Nursys receives immediate notification whenever one of its state licensees is disciplined in another jurisdiction, while, as a non-participant in Nursys, Illinois does not benefit from such instant notifications; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the Illinois Board of Nursing of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to take the necessary steps to become a full participant of the Nursys national nurse licensure database; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we further urge the Illinois Board of Nursing to sign the Nursys participation agreement in 2012; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be delivered to the Illinois Board of Nursing of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.