Political and Governmental Influences

While we recognize the major stakeholders influencing this bill, such as the military, we must not forget the minor stakeholders who would be dealing with the outcomes of the bill on a daily basis.

Governmental Objectives:
According to Halloran, “There's a troubling nursing shortage and an impending surge in the numbers of elderly who will need nursing care-as will the veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, whom medics already cared for in the field.” With the increasing nursing shortage, the government is going to want a “quick fix” in getting medical corpsman their RN licensure to reverse the nursing shortage. This would also provide job security for those medical corpsmen after they leave the service. Currently most nursing programs do not receive enough funding to increase their enrollment size, thus affecting the nursing shortage negatively.

Political Influences:
Unfortunately due to the new development of this bill, there are few published or concrete data expressing the opinions of nurses or other health care professionals. One particular article we found sparked our interest as the author is a RN lobbyist supporting this bill. His article can be found on the right side of our page. Other political influences include the military and nursing organizations across the nation.

Political Impact of Policy Change:
The implementation of this bill has the ability to strongly impact many areas of health care. Nurses who have completed traditional Associate or Baccalaureate programs may feel resentment towards the corpsmen who will become RNs without completing the traditional two or four year program. The community and patients will be directly affected by this bill due to the possible change in patient care provided by a medical corpsman versus a RN. This bill may influence the decision of possible prospective military recruits as well. Recruits may see joining the military as an easier and less expensive pathway to obtaining RN licensure rather than attending a two or four year university. Current military corpsmen may see this bill as a way to shorten their time in the military and have a job opportunity available to them upon leaving.

Summary of HB 253

Virginia House Bill No. 253 offered on January 13, 2010, proposes the notion of allowing medical corpsmen to take the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), a standardized test accrediting them to practice as Registered Nurses (RN). Currently, to become an RN in the United States, one must apply for a license to practice professionally. To obtain a RN license, one must have either a high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED), received a diploma or degree from an accredited professional nursing program, pass the NCLEX, and be in good legal standing. An applicant from a foreign country that completes a nursing program in their country prior to coming to the United States must take the NCLEX in order to practice as a RN in the Commonwealth.

Virginia House Bill No. 253 proposes the addition of another opportunity to acquire RN licensure. If passed, this bill would allow an applicant that has served in the medical corps of any branch of the US military to apply to take the NCLEX without completing a traditional nursing program. While serving in the military, a corpsman must complete the course of instruction to qualify him/her as a medical specialist advanced, medical service technician, or advanced hospital corpsman technician or another equivalent in order to take the national board exam.

Delegates Donald W. Merricks and Donald W. Marshall, III are co-patrons of this bill. Merricks serves as a congressional delegate for district five, while Marshall serves as a congressional delegate for districts five and nine.


Potential Issues:
• Lack of traditional nursing education
• Different priorities related to patient care
• Increase in the number of available working RNs
• Risk for criticism from current health care professionals
• Integration of military nursing skills with bedside nursing practice