Please Be Advised of New Compact Rule
Starting Jan. 2, 2024, if you have a multistate license and change your primary state of residence to another state within the Enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact (eNLC), you must apply for a license in that state within 60 days.
If this latter step is not completed within the allotted time frame, your previous license may expire. This puts you at risk of practicing without a license. As an example, if you are a registered nurse with a multistate license from Arizona practicing in Colorado and you move to Colorado, you have 60 days to apply to Colorado’s Board of Nursing for a new multistate license. These changes were part of the final rules passed by the Interstate Commission of Nurse Licensure Compact Administrators at its annual conference in August. The eNLC allows for mobility and creates a more robust workforce by allowing nurses to practice in Colorado with licenses from other compact states.
SB19-079: Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances
Important Information on Emotional Support Animal Recommendations
A bona fide provider-patient relationship should exist between a licensed healthcare professional and an individual seeking an emotional support animal (ESA) for therapeutic benefit prior to the issuance of a recommendation letter in Colorado. This bona fide provider-patient relationship is defined in the mental health, medical and nursing practice acts.
Healthcare professionals must first establish whether a disability exists and if found, determine whether there is sufficient information for a recommendation for an ESA to provide a therapeutic benefit for that disability. In order to make such determinations, licensees must be both sufficiently familiar with the patient and the patient’s disability; and legally and professionally qualified to make this determination.
Nursing and mental health law (Section 12-255-133(3)(a) and 12-245-229(3)(a) Colorado Revised Statutes) further clarifies that “a licensee shall not make a determination … unless the licensee has met with the patient in person.” Registered nurses are permitted to issue ESA recommendations but must be under the direct supervision of a licensed physician.
Physicians shouldn’t make a determination unless having “met with the person or by telemedicine,” according to 12-240-144(3)(a), C.R.S.
Healthcare practitioners under the purview of Division of Professions and Occupations must follow all applicable laws for those seeking an assistance animal.
An ESA is an animal that provides a therapeutic benefit, such as emotional support, comfort, or companionship, to a person with a mental health or psychiatric disability. An ESA is not considered a Service Animal and ESA users don’t receive the same accommodations as service dog users.
ESAs don’t perform specific tasks related to the person’s disability, instead, it is the presence of the animal that relieves the symptoms associated with the serious mental health condition. This condition is documented by a properly formatted prescription letter.
Colorado Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Legislative Update and Training Webinar Recording and Summary/FAQ Document Now Available
In August and September 2022, the Colorado Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) hosted three webinars concerning several statutory updates to the Colorado PDMP as well as training and resources regarding registration and use of the Colorado PDMP. A recording of the August 23rd webinar, copy of the presentation slides, and a Summary and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document are now available at dpo.colorado.gov/PDMP/Training.