Legislative wins

The Federation of Nurses actively engages in advocacy efforts to address systemic issues affecting nurses and healthcare professionals. This includes lobbying policymakers, organizing grassroots campaigns, and participating in community initiatives aimed at improving working conditions and patient care standards. By leveraging its collective influence and resources, the Federation of Nurses amplifies our members' voices and advocates for meaningful change.

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See the successful results of 16 years of scrutinizing legislation & lobbying activity with these legislative wins:

Limits Temporary Authorization of Out-of-State Nurses or Physicians to Practice – extends the emergency authorization for certain applicants but limits it to one-year (expires June 22, 2024) (Ch. 136 of 2023).
Creates Civil Penalty to Strengthen Mandatory Overtime– provides a mechanism for fines in the event an employer violates the law, which place restrictions on consecutive hours of work. (Ch. 815 of 2022).
Extends Line of Duty Benefits for Families of Front-Line Workers – extends the COVID-19 accidental death benefit for the statutory beneficiaries of deceased members’ families through Dec. 31, 2024 (Ch. 783 of 2022).
Extreme Risk Protection Order – authorizes certain health care providers to file an application for an extreme risk protection order against a person who was examined by such health care provider in certain circumstances (Ch. 208 of 2022).
Creates Clinical Staffing Committees to Establish Safe Staffing Ratios – establishes clinical staffing committees in each general hospital to develop and oversee a clinical staffing plan (Ch. 155 of 2021).
Line of Duty Benefits for Families of Front-Line Workers – establishes a COVID-19 accidental death benefit for the statutory beneficiaries of deceased members’ families (Ch. 89 of 2020).
Protecting Patients from Surprise Hospital Bills – subjects hospital charges for emergency services to the independent dispute resolution process established to protect against excessive emergency charges and the chapter amendment (Ch. 375 & 377 of 2019).
Sexually Transmitted Infections - authorizes expedited partner therapy for certain sexually transmitted infections (Ch. 298 of 2019).
Allows for Hepatitis C Testing in Hospitals - provides expanded opportunities for hospitals to offer testing for Hepatitis C (Ch. 284 of 2019).
Pregnancy-Related Condition to Include Lactation - amends the definition of pregnancy-related condition to clarify that lactation is protected in the workplace (Ch. 271 of 2019).
Promote Leukemia, Lymphoma & Myeloma Research - provides a program to promote leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma research, education and treatment and establishes the leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma research, education and treatment fund (Ch. 266 of 2019).
Concussions & Sub-Concussive Blows - requires information on concussions and sub-concussive blows to be provided to all parents of children playing tackle football (Ch. 243 of 2019).
Establishing Maternal Mortality Review Boards - relates to establishing maternal mortality review boards and the maternal mortality and morbidity advisory council (Ch. 140 of 2019).
Conversion Therapy - prohibiting mental health professionals from engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with a patient under the age of eighteen years and expanding the definition of professional misconduct with respect to mental health professionals (Ch. 7 of 2019).
Reproductive Health Act - codifies the Supreme Court’s Roe v Wade decision and subsequent rulings into State law to secure women’s access to reproductive health options (Ch.1 of 2019).
Newborn Care - authorizes hospitals to establish standing orders for the care of newborns in the hospital until the discharge of the newborn from the hospital following the birth, which may authorize an attending nurse to provide services and care to healthy newborns (Ch. 566 of 2018).
Nurse Practitioners - authorizes a patient's attending nurse practitioner to witness the patient's execution of a health care proxy, authorizes a nurse practitioner to act as a person's health care agent and authorizes an attending nurse practitioner to determine that a patient lacks capacity (Ch. 342 of 2018).
Water Contaminant Notification Levels - requires the Department of Health to post on its website information relating to emerging contaminant notifications levels and educational materials so that the information is easily accessible to the public and public water systems (Ch. 314 of 2018).
School-Based Health Center Fund - creates a School-Based Health Centers Fund for which donations to can be checked off on one's personal income tax form (Ch. 293 of 2018).
Certified School Psychologists - allows approved school multidisciplinary evaluation programs to employ a certified school psychologist to conduct a multidisciplinary evaluation of a preschool child or an infant or toddler who is suspected of having a disability (Ch. 68 of 2018).
Sepsis Awareness, Prevention and Education Program - chapter amendment to the sepsis awareness, prevention and education program (Ch. 347 of 2017) to clarify that sepsis is not contagious but that pathogens that may cause sepsis can be transmitted from person to person either directly or indirectly (Ch. 10 of 2018).
Amends BSN in 10 Years Maintaining Multiple Entry Points in the Profession – chapter amendment to establish a temporary commission to examine the potential barriers to entering nursing (i.e., economic, cultural and compliance, etc.), examined the availability, access and financial barriers to obtaining a baccalaureate degree in nursing (BSN) within ten years and will make recommendations on alternative equivalent programs in which nurses may obtain training and experience equivalent to a BSN (Ch. 502 of 2017).
Employee Leave for Cancer Screening - grants excused leave to public officers, employees of the state, a county, a municipality or a school district to undertake screening for cancer. (Ch. 465 of 2017).
Maternal Depression - requires the commissioners of health and mental health to compile a list of providers who treat or provide support for maternal depression (Ch. 463 of 2017).
Suicide Prevention - establishes the adolescent suicide prevention advisory council (Ch. 436 of 2017).
Allows Attending Nurse Practitioner to Execute DNR & Life Sustaining Treatment - authorizes nurse practitioners to execute orders not to resuscitate to the list of health care providers who are authorized to execute an order not to resuscitate, as well as orders pertaining to life sustaining treatments. (Ch. 430 of 2017).
Mammography Coverage - requires certain health insurance policies to include mammography screening by breast tomosynthesis (Ch. 414 of 2017).
Sepsis Awareness, Prevention & Education Program - establishes a sepsis awareness, prevention and education program within the Department of Health to educate students, parents and school personnel about sepsis awareness (Ch. 347 of 2017).
Child Obesity - authorizes schools to screen for childhood obesity as part of their health services (Ch. 183 of 2017).
Automatic External Defibrillator - clarifies that any health care practitioner who has the necessary experience, prescribing authority, and scope of practice, may enter into a collaborative agreement with a person or entity seeking to possess and/or operate an automated external defibrillator (Ch. 119 of 2017).
WIC - ensures that participants of the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children (WIC) have access to all WIC approved products, including specialty formula (Ch. 12 of 2017).
WIC - ensures that participants in the women, infants and children (WIC) program have access to all WIC approved products, including specialty and exempt formulas, at any WIC approved vendors (Ch. 518 of 2016).
Clean Water - requires school districts and BOCES to conduct testing of school potable water sources and systems to monitor for lead contamination in certain school buildings (Ch. 296 of 2016).
Employee Leave for Prostate Cancer Screening - provides excused leave to screen for prostate cancer (Ch. 96 of 2016).
Breast and Prostate Cancer Screening for NYC - expands breast and prostate cancer screening removes any financial barriers (deductibles, co-pays, or coinsurance) towards coverage for the early detection and screening of breast cancer and expanding available hours (morning, evenings, and weekends) for such screenings. The law also provides additional hours of paid leave for New York City residents (who previously did not have this option) to get screened for either breast cancer (Ch. 74 of 2016) or prostate cancer (Ch. 96 of 2016).
Breast Cancer - allows for coverage and leave for breast cancer screening and requires breast cancers certified centers to have extended hours (Ch. 74 of 2016).
Home Care - provides wage parity for home care workers (Ch. 56 of 2016).
Pregnancy Health Care - allows pregnant woman to enroll in any health plan on the state health insurance exchange at any time (and not only during a certain enrollment period) (Ch. 11 of 2016).
WIC - ensures that participants in the women, infants and children (WIC) program have access to all WIC approved products, including specialty and exempt formulas, at any WIC approved vendors (Ch. 518 of 2016).
Epinephrine - allows for the stockpiling of epinephrine auto injectors in educational facilities (Ch. 373 of 2016).
Safe Water/Lead Contamination - requires school districts and boards of cooperative educational services to conduct testing of school potable water sources and systems to monitor for lead contamination in certain school buildings (Ch. 296 of 2016).
School Psychologists - allows school psychologists to participate in multidisciplinary evaluation programs for preschool students with disabilities (Ch. 76 of 2016).
Prenatal Care - allows woman to enroll for health insurance when they become pregnant, regardless of the open enrollment period on the health benefit exchange or any other restrictions in seeking coverage off the health benefit exchange (Ch. 581 of 2015).
Prohibits Assault on Any Employee Caring for Patients – clarifies that assault on a person providing direct patient care is assault in the second degree under section 120.05 of the Penal Law (Ch. 423 of 2015).
Requires School Immunization Against Meningococcal Disease – requires immunization against meningococcal disease for students entering, repeating or transferring into the seventh and twelfth grades and adds it to the list of school vaccination requirements (Ch. 401 of 2015).
Aligns NYS Laws to Nurse Practitioner Scope of Practice – makes confirming changes to reflect the previously authorized (Ch. of 2014) scope of practice of nurse practitioners eliminating references to NP written collaboration or practice agreements (Ch. 376 of 2015).
School Epinephrine Supply - provides schools (namely, the school nurse) with the ability to stockpile an adequate supply of epinephrine injectors to administer to students in emergency situations (Ch. 424 of 2014).
School Nurse Best Practices Law - makes the school nurse the authority on a student’s need for administering necessary medications in school (Ch. 423 of 2014).
Allows Registered Nurses Access to the Statewide Immunization Information System – authorizes registered nurses and pharmacists, who are authorized to administer immunizations, to also be authorized users of the statewide immunization information system and requite that they report immunizations of adults upon oral consent (Ch. 420 of 2014).
Authorizes Hepatitis C Testing by Registered Professional Nurses – this bill allows nurse practitioners and physicians to issue nonspecific patient orders allowing registered nurses to administer Hepatitis C screening tests (Ch. 352 of 2014).
Maternal Depression Education, Screening & Referrals – amends the public health law and the insurance law in relation to the provision of maternal depression, education, screening guidelines, and referrals for treatment (Ch. 199 of 2014).
Safe Patient Handling Act - establishes a statewide safe patient handling policy for health care facilities in the state; creates the statewide safe patient handling work group (Ch. 60 of 2014).
Allows for Hepatitis C Testing in Hospitals - provides expanded opportunities for hospitals to offer testing for hepatitis C (Ch. 425 of 2013).
Creates the Clinical Nurse Specialist Certification – establishes the certification for clinical nurse specialists and to protect the title and the CNS designation to ensure only those properly educated and prepared are holding themselves out as such (Ch. 364 of 2013).
Providing Professional Services to Children’s Camps – allows camps to employ health care professionals to serve the needs of children during their summer camp experience (Ch. 214 of 2012).
Concussion Management & Awareness Act – direct the commissioners of education and health to establish rules and regulations for the treatment and monitoring of students of school districts, boards of cooperative educational services and non-public schools who suffer mild traumatic brain injuries (Ch.496 of 2011).
Allows Nurse Practitioners to Sign Death Certificates – authorizes nurse practitioners to sign death certificates in like manner as physicians and imposes upon them the same duties that physicians have (Ch. 153 of 2011).
Patient’s Right to Palliative Care Information – ensures that patients diagnosed with terminal illness or condition receive information about options for palliative and end-of-life care (Ch. 331 of 2010).
Violence Against Nurses Law - makes assault on an RN and LPN acting in their professional capacity a felony (Ch. 318 of 2010).
Increasing the Rates of HIV/AIDS Testing - creates provisions relating to HIV testing, including consent for such testing, required offering for such testing, confidentiality and disclosure as significant advances in the medical treatment of and testing for HIV/AIDS have been made (Ch. 308 of 2010).
Certified Nurse Practitioner Testing of Blood – allows a physician, a registered professional nurse, a registered physician assistant, a certified nurse practitioner, or an advanced emergency medical technician as certified by the department of health to withdraw blood at the request of a police officer, resolving a conflict between current medical practice and statute (Ch. 169 of 2010).
Family Health Care Decision Act – establishes procedures for making health care decisions on behalf of patients unable to decide about treatment for themselves (Ch. 8 of 2010).
Updates the Pre-Natal Care Services Program – various updates are codified into current law, an update of statutes dating back to 1987 (Ch. 484 of 2009).
Nurse Quality Protection Act - requires hospitals to disclose nursing quality indicators, such as the numbers of RNs and LPNs providing direct care and the ratio of patients per RNs (full-time equivalent) providing direct care (Ch. 422 of 2009).
Eliminates Use of Mandatory Overtime - ends the unsafe practice of mandatory overtime in hospitals (Ch. 493 of 2008).
Requires Circulating Nurse in an Operating Setting - requires that a registered nurse, qualified by training and experience in operating room nursing, shall be present as a circulating nurse in any and each separate operating room where surgery is being performed for the duration of the operative procedure (Ch. 158 of 2008).
School Nurse or Physician Must Administer Nebulizers in Schools – a chapter amendment requested by the Governor, to Ch. 672 of 2007, that requires a health care professional to administer nebulizers in accordance with a student’s patient specific order (Ch. 32 of 2008).