LB676 would substantially revise Nebraska law governing certified nurse midwives. The bill rewrites and harmonizes multiple sections of the Revised Statutes to create a new Certified Nurse Midwifery Practice Act, replacing older provisions and eliminating several existing definitions and statutory references. It establishes the Board’s authority to set standards for integrated practice agreements between collaborating physicians and certified nurse midwives, monitor scope-of-practice issues for advanced practice registered nurses, recommend disciplinary action, and adopt rules for implementation, including standards related to approved certification organizations, approved education programs, and professional liability insurance.
The bill also defines key terms such as collaboration, consultation, referral, supervision, licensed practitioner, and health care provider, and it clarifies what certified nurse midwives may do in practice. Those duties include providing preconception, prenatal, intrapartum, postpartum, gynecological, primary care for females, newborn care immediately after birth through 28 days of age, diagnostic testing, therapeutic measures, sample medication dispensing, prescribing within scope, and pronouncing death and completing death certificates when allowed by law. It further states that certified nurse midwives may attend normal childbirth cases and must refer patients when care is beyond their scope. The bill also makes the Nebraska Hospital-Medical Liability Act applicable to certified nurse midwives and repeals original and obsolete statutory sections.
The bill’s impact on state law would be to modernize and consolidate the legal framework for certified nurse midwifery, while also clarifying the relationship between midwives, physicians, and the Board of Nursing. It would affect certified nurse midwives, collaborating physicians, hospitals, and other health care providers by defining practice boundaries, referral obligations, and regulatory oversight. By expressly tying the profession to the Hospital-Medical Liability Act, the bill also affects malpractice and liability treatment for certified nurse midwives and related providers.
The general sentiment reflected in the voting history suggests the bill had meaningful support overall, since it advanced 40-3 to Enrollment and Review Initial. However, the later votes on amendments show some disagreement over the details of the proposal, with Hansen AM1097 failing and Health and Human Services AM655 also failing, indicating that while the bill’s general direction was acceptable to most members, specific provisions remained contested. The bill was ultimately indefinitely postponed, which suggests that despite initial momentum, it did not complete the legislative process.
The main points of contention appear to center on how much authority and autonomy certified nurse midwives should have, how integrated practice agreements should be structured, and how the bill should balance midwifery practice with physician oversight and liability concerns. Supporters likely viewed the bill as a needed update that clarifies scope of practice and removes outdated language, while opponents or skeptics may have been concerned about regulatory changes, professional boundaries, or the effect on existing health care practice arrangements.
LB676 would amend and partially repeal Nebraska statutes governing certified nurse midwives by creating a revised statutory framework for certification, practice standards, collaboration, consultation, referral, and board oversight. It would also make the Nebraska Hospital-Medical Liability Act applicable to certified nurse midwives and align related provisions across the Uniform Credentialing Act and other health care statutes. The bill would directly affect certified nurse midwives, collaborating physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, hospitals, and patients receiving maternity, gynecological, newborn, and primary care services.
The bill appears to have had broad but not unanimous support. It advanced by a strong margin in one recorded vote, suggesting general agreement with updating and consolidating the law on certified nurse midwifery. At the same time, multiple amendment votes failed, indicating that some members had concerns about the bill’s details even if they supported the overall concept. The final disposition of indefinite postponement suggests the measure did not ultimately secure enough sustained support to become law.
The likely areas of contention were the scope of practice granted to certified nurse midwives, the degree of physician collaboration or supervision required, and the bill’s liability implications under the Nebraska Hospital-Medical Liability Act. Amendments that failed suggest disagreement over how far the bill should go in changing existing practice rules or regulatory structure. Supporters likely favored modernization and clearer authority for midwifery practice, while critics may have been concerned about patient safety, professional oversight, or the effect on physicians and hospitals.