By Carol Moore
Guest columnist
This is a response to the article published in the April 16, 2026, Hutchinson Tribune titled “Nursing bill will overhaul industry.” I believe the public deserves a brief review of some of the events relating to HB2528.
The Kansas State Board of Nursing (KSBN) is a regulatory agency serving to protect the public, simular to other regulatory agencies that oversee other healthcare roles, cosmetology, barbering, insurance, and more. Each discipline is required to meet a specified number of continuing education hours related to the profession to renew a license to practice every two years. The DMV requires license renewal every four years and sends one renewal notification.
To receive continuing education credit in nursing, the credit must be from an approved state or national professionally accredited body. It is not difficult to obtain these credits. Many are available online. Often the employer pays the costs to attend in-person conferences. To obtain thirty clock hours of continuing education is not onerous. Licenses are renewed every two years during the birth month of the nurse. How difficult is that to remember and plan for, especially since it impacts the ability to earn a salary? One of the proponents of this bill complained about being audited and subsequently license renewal was rejected. The credits did not meet the established standard. It is very clearly stated that audits are randomly selected, not an unusual method to maintain accountability. This author has been audited—no problem. Submit the data requested to verify truthful reporting.
Another proponent of HB2528 complained about computer errors. The fee to renew an RN license and an ARNP license is different. So, is it a computer error if she did not recognize the total fee she paid did not add up to the correct amount for RN and APRN renewal? The “computer” error was that she selected to renew her RN license twice and continued to practice as an ARNP without having a valid license.
For a complaint of unsafe/unprofessional nursing action to reach the KSBN, it has been thoroughly scrutinized by the reporting agency. There are extreme care and extraordinary time given to an incident and attempts to resolve in-house before sending forward for further investigation. Consider the fact that it is usually a pattern of incidents that generates recommendation to KSBN, not one occurrence.
It was acknowledged that lumping all discipline cases into the same category was problematic and a taskforce was formed in the fall of 2025 to address issues identified by an audit of the KSBN. A member of this taskforce was Rep Sandy Pickett of Wichita. Pickett was instrumental in having HB2528 written and carried to the legislature in January 2026 without allowing any time for KSBN to implement taskforce recommendations. Considering also that this bill was not worked in its entirety by the legislature is a failure on their part to protect the public. What the members of the body focused on was how badly a few nurses were treated based on emotionally charged tearful testimony and the costs incurred to secure legal counsel.
A significant result of HB2528 is to expunge non-practice disciplinary records from 2005 to 2026. There are approximately 3,000 records to review and determine whether a disciplinary action is practice or non-practice related. Some will not be difficult to categorize such as lapses in license renewal. But what about the nurse charged with abuse of his/her children or fiduciary abuse of his/her parents or repeated DUI violations or consuming illegal drugs or violating HIPAA, incidents outside of the workspace. Who will make those determinations? There are liability questions for an employer to consider.
The haste with which this bill was ushered through committee and both chambers is alarming. Opposition testimony was not allowed in committee despite multiple proponents’ testimony.
The fact that less than a dozen nurses “signed on” to this bill does not indicate they are a voice for the 78,000 nurses in Kansas.
The fact that the legislature failed to acknowledge that KSBN’s reason for existence was to protect the public but instead focused on those few nurses that could not practice within the regulatory parameters is concerning.
The fact is that this bill does absolutely nothing to relieve the nursing shortage. More than likely, it will exacerbate the shortage.
The nursing profession has been voted as one of the most trusted professions for the past 20+years. The actions of a few nurses and a clumsy legislature could have devastating consequences on public confidence in the safety of health care in Kansas.
Carol Moore retired from Baker University after a lengthy career in nursing practice and nursing education. She is currently the city clerk for the City of The Highlands.