Nevada ranks 49th in the United States for nurses per capita. Assembly Bill 142 is geared to help address the shortage. If the bill passes, Nevada would join 34 other states in the Nursing Licensure Compact. It would allow nurses to move to Nevada for work without getting a new nursing license through the state.

"We have got to compete with other states, other areas to attract nurses and this is, to me, one of the biggest drivers we have," Assem. PK O'Neill, R-Carson City said.

According to Health Workplace in Nevada, the state would need 8,617 additional registered nurses just to meet the national average per capita. The national average is 1,237.6 registered nurses per 100,000 residents. Nevada's is 964.9 per 100,000. It is even lower in Clark County with just 705.2 registered nurses per 100,000.

"This one would help put us at least in the competitive pool, at least be able to compete with the 34 other states that allow nurses to come," Assem. Robin Titus, R-Smith Valley said.

Kiersten Fink is the Infection Preventionalist at Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center. Her home state is Washington, which is not part of the compact. She moved to Nevada nearly two years ago, so she had to get another license in this state.

"They issue a temporary license and I think I got that about three, four weeks into the process, so I could practice at that time and the permanent one comes after that," Fink said.

Fink also has a license to practice nursing in four other states. She pays about $400 each year to keep those licenses. When she moved to Oregon, it took six months to get licensed. She says joining the compact would save time and money.

"Why, each time do I have to go apply for a new license?" Fink said. "My school was accredited. Work, I've been doing this for 23 years."

Supporters say the military is also onboard with the idea because when a service member transfers, it would make it easier for their spouse to get a job in nursing. Fink says the military already has a similar plan in place.

"As a nurse, if I'm in the reserve or in the military, I can go anywhere," Fink said. "So why shouldn't it be the same kind of thing."

Gov. Sisolak is allowing nurses to bypass the licensing process as part of an emergency directive. The pandemic showed how short-handed hospitals in Nevada are for nurses.

"If the compact had been in place, we might have been able to bring those people on more quickly," Fink said.

Some of Nevada's hospitals have a hard time retaining nurses, so they rely on traveling nurses. Titus says they can be more expensive because hospitals have to pay their salaries, plus a large fee to the nursing agencies.

"In our local hospital in Yerington, we can't get nurses in long-term care, so two-thirds of our nurses are contract nurses," Titus said. "So we hire them anyway and they stay two months and then they move on because we can't fill our spots."

"Maybe some of the nurses that are currently working here on their Per Diem or traveling nurses want to stay but they don't feel like going through the onerous actions of getting their new license in Nevada," O'Neill said.

The deadline for bills to pass their committees is Friday. Democrats are in the majority, so they determine which bills are scheduled for hearings. AB142 does not have a hearing set, so the likelihood of the bill passing is low.

"Not to mention perhaps a little union influence on this bill," Titus said. "There's some concerns there. Health care shouldn't be a partisan issue. It should be a bipartisan issue."

Democrats denied our requests for their stance on the legislation. The bill's sponsor says one concern is that it could make it harder for nurses to strike in Nevada. There are also questions of how the move could affect salaries.

"Just the numbers alone and the competition we have with other states, the wages will stay up there," O'Neill said. The wages, they're in demand."

AB142 was introduced on February 16. The bill is sitting in the Committee on Commerce and Labor.Â