On November 4, 2020, the Board of Nursing adopted, as an emergency regulation, changes in Title 12, Chapter 44 of the Alaska Administrative Code. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and future urgent situations, the emergency amendment removes a November 30 deadline for renewal of registered nurse (RN) and advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) licenses and allows the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development to set a different date in response to staffing shortages, to cut down on administratively disqualified renewals and keep more highly skilled nurses working. The emergency regulations took effect on November 12, 2020 and will expire March 11, 2021 unless made permanent.

On February 3, 2021, the Board of Nursing adopted the emergency regulation changes to be made permanent. The permanent regulation changes were reviewed and approved by the Department of Law, signed and filed by the Lieutenant Governor on February 24, 2021. See attached copy of the filed permanent regulations.

The new regulation changes will be printed in Register 237, April 2021 of the Alaska Administrative Code.