Two local legislators have introduced a pair of bills that would set a state policy for the immediate revocation of a nurse’s license if they fail a drug test.
State Sen. Rusty Crowe and State Rep. John Holsclaw Jr., who both represent portions of Carter County in the Tennessee General Assembly, filed their bills on Thursday. If enacted, a new state law would allow the Tennessee Department of Health, through the Board of Nursing, to issue an emergency order to suspend or restrict the license of a nurse who tests positive for an illegal drug or a prescription medication for which they do not have a lawful prescription. Under the provisions of the proposed law, the nurse will have 48 hours from the time they are informed of the test result to produce a valid prescription for the drug before the Department issues the emergency for suspension.
“It kind of started from an incident where we had a nurse that failed a drug test here and then went to Middle Tennessee to practice and from there moved on to West Tennessee to practice,” Holsclaw said. “That went on for about a year and a half.”
Because a disciplinary procedure against a person’s nursing license takes time to move through the proper channels, the nurse was able to move on from job to job before the failed drug test caught up with them.
“We want to ensure their license is suspended immediately once a drug test is failed,” Holsclaw said, who serves on the House Health Committee.
Both Holsclaw and Crowe feel allowing the emergency order to suspend a license in the event of a failed drug test is something needed to help protect residents of the state.
“If a nurse is addicted to drugs you don’t want them dealing with patients,” Crowe said, who serves as Chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. “If you test positive for drugs and you don’t have a prescription then you’re going to be in trouble.”
Before introducing their legislation both Crowe and Holsclaw have worked with members of the Tennessee Department of Health and the Board of Nursing to come up with the best approach to address the issue of nurses abusing drugs.
“We’re being real careful with it. You don’t want to ruin someone’s life,” Crowe said. “I think everyone’s going to be happy with it because we’re not trying to hurt anybody with it.”
Holsclaw echoed his colleague’s thoughts on the bill.
“We’re all pretty much in agreement,” Holsclaw said. “Rusty and I met with them in Nashville this week. We’ve worked hard to get the right language in the bill.”