H.B. No. 2410

	AN ACT
	relating to a request for a nursing peer review committee
	determination.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 303.005, Occupations Code, is amended by
	amending Subsections (b) and (d) and adding Subsections (b-1) and
	(b-2) to read as follows:
	(b)  Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), if [If] a person
	who is required to establish a nursing peer review committee under
	Section 303.0015 requests a nurse to engage in conduct that the
	nurse believes violates a nurse's duty to a patient, the nurse may
	request, on a form developed [or approved] by the board or on
	another form that meets standards developed by the board, a
	determination by a nursing peer review committee under this chapter
	of whether the conduct violates a nurse's duty to a patient.
	(b-1)  If a nurse is unable to complete a form required by
	Subsection (b) due to immediate patient care needs, the nurse may
	request a nursing peer review committee determination by orally
	notifying the nurse's supervisor of the request.  After receiving
	oral notification of a request, the nurse's supervisor shall record
	in writing:
	(1)  the name of the nurse making the request;
	(2)  the date and time of the request;
	(3)  the location where the conduct or assignment that
	is the subject of the request occurred;
	(4)  the name of the person who requested the nurse
	engage in the conduct or made the assignment that is the subject of
	the request;
	(5)  the name of the supervisor recording the request;
	(6)  a brief explanation of why the nurse is requesting
	a nursing peer review committee determination; and
	(7)  a description of the collaboration between the
	nurse and the supervisor.
	(b-2)  To be a valid request for a nursing peer review
	committee determination, the written record prepared under
	Subsection (b-1) must be signed and attested to by the requesting
	nurse and the nurse's supervisor who prepared the written record.
	(d)  If a nurse requests a peer review determination under
	Subsection (b) or (b-1) and refuses to engage in the requested
	conduct pending the peer review, the determination of the peer
	review committee shall be considered in any decision by the nurse's
	employer to discipline the nurse for the refusal to engage in the
	requested conduct, but the determination is not binding if a nurse
	administrator believes in good faith that the peer review committee
	has incorrectly determined a nurse's duty.  This subsection does
	not affect the protections provided by Subsection (c)(1) or Section
	301.352.
	SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
	conduct that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act.
	Conduct that occurs before the effective date of this Act is
	governed by the law in effect on the date the conduct occurs, and
	the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2410 was passed by the House on May 7,
	2019, by the following vote:  Yeas 146, Nays 0, 2 present, not
	voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 2410 was passed by the Senate on May
	22, 2019, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED:  _____________________
	Date
	_____________________
	Governor