Amid a shortage of nurses, California is turning to retirees to fill the gap.
On Oct. 8, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that creates a license for retired nurses, which allows them to volunteer with a limited scope of practice while waiving continuing education requirements. The new law states that nurses with active licenses supervise the retired nurses.
The California Board of Registered Nursing will allot the new licenses to eligible applicants, which excludes those who had restricted licenses.
The law also reduces the license renewal fee, which costs $190, according to an Oct. 11 report from The San Joaquin Valley Sun. The retired license fee is required to cost between $95 and $190.
"As this state remains desperately short of qualified nurses, this action helps those who still have a calling to serve in the medical field across California to now do so without the burden of excessive state fees," state Rep. Jim Patterson, the lawmaker who wrote the bill, said in a statement.