SOURCE: NCSBN

 

CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwire - August 26, 2008) - The National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. (NCSBN®), www.ncsbn.org, welcomes the Nebraska Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Board, as a new member board, and the College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia (CRNBC) as its first international associate member. Both boards were inducted at the NCSBN Annual Meeting and Delegate Assembly held in Nashville, Tennessee, Aug. 5 - 8, 2008.

The expansion of NCSBN membership to include APRN boards, which are separate entities from state and territorial boards of nursing, allows these boards to have input at the national level. The Nebraska APRN was established in 1996 to regulate nurse practitioners, but legislation passed in 2007 expanded the authority of the board giving them regulatory responsibility over all advanced practice nurses; nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives and clinical nurse specialists.

"Becoming an NCSBN member board is an honor. As demonstrated by the passage of the APRN Model Act/Rules and Regulations at the 2008 Annual Meeting, NCSBN's commitment of time and resources to impacting the future of APRNs' practice is ongoing. As a member we plan to actively participate on issues and items directly connected to APRN practice. We thank both NCSBN and our own Charlene Kelly, PhD, RN, executive director, Nebraska Board of Nursing, for their vision in affording APRN boards a more prominent role in NCSBN," notes Brenda Bergman-Evans, PhD, APRN-NP, APRN-CNS, president of the Nebraska APRN Board.

Created by Delegate Assembly resolution in 2007, the associate membership category is designed to provide a forum by which nursing regulatory bodies from around the globe can join NCSBN in a dialogue regarding issues of common concern as well as share information and knowledge in a multicultural exchange of thoughts and ideas.

"We are very pleased to join this national group of state boards of nursing and have for some time recognized the high caliber work NCSBN does to advance regulatory excellence for our common goal of public protection," says Laurel Brunke, CRNBC's executive director. "We know we will benefit from shared experiences and look forward to contributing, along with NCSBN, to building regulatory expertise worldwide."

CRNBC is the nursing regulatory body in British Columbia empowered to regulate registered nurses and nurse practitioners under the Health Professions Act and regulates more than 40,000 registrants.

"We are thrilled to add these two boards to our membership," comments Laura Rhodes, NCSBN President. "The opportunity for national and international nursing regulators to come together in this way is very exciting. We look forward to their active participation and hope that many other nursing regulatory entities will join us in this vital endeavor."

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. (NCSBN) is a not-for-profit organization whose membership comprises the boards of nursing in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and four U.S. territories.

Mission: The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), composed of Member Boards, provides leadership to advance regulatory excellence for public protection.

National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc.
111 E. Wacker Drive, Suite 2900
Chicago, IL 60601-4277