Nurse Staffing Agencies in Louisiana Must Apply for Licensure by January 2024

The Louisiana Department of Health finalized its rule for the initial licensing of nurse staffing agencies in Louisiana on Oct. 20. Under the regulations, any nurse staffing agency operating within Louisiana must apply for licensure by Jan. 18, 2024, or stop operating within the state.

These regulations are being issued to comply with the Act, passed by the Louisiana Legislature during the 2022 legislative session.

Under the final rule, any person or entity that employs, assigns or refers nurses or certified nurse aides to provide health care services in a Louisiana-licensed health care facility (e.g., a hospital, nursing home, hospice, home health agency, rural health clinic, etc.) must apply for and obtain licensure from the Louisiana Department of Health.

Applicants are required to meet certain requirements for licensure, including requirements to maintain certain minimum staff, a governing body, and a physical business location, and to develop and implement a series of written policies relating to the nurse staffing agency operations.

Further, the final rule includes restrictions on conditions of employment and incentives offered by health care facilities and nurse staffing agencies associated with the employment of or contracting with nurse staffing agency employees or contracted staff. These restrictions limit the ability of health care facilities to require employees to recruit staff away from nurse staffing agencies and the ability of nurse staffing agencies to recruit staff away from health care facilities.

Significantly, the final rule restricts the ability of nurse staffing agencies to charge health care facilities fees if a nurse staffing agency employee or contractor is hired as a permanent staff member of a health care facility.

Once granted, a license to operate a nurse staffing agency is valid for a period of two years and must be renewed for the agency to continue operating beyond that period.

Both nurse staffing agencies and health care facilities utilizing nurse staffing agency services should become familiar with the final rule and assess its impact on their operations. Many health care facilities will need to amend their contracts and policies associated with nurse staffing agencies to remain compliant.

Please contact Matt Harrell, Courtney Stokes Hurtig, Beau Haynes or any member of Phelps’ Health Care team if you have questions or need advice and guidance.