When Can a Smaller Workgroup of the Nursing Peer Review Committee be utilized?
A smaller workgroup of the nursing peer review committee may be used in either Safe Harbor or Incident-Based nursing peer review. The nurse involved in either type of peer review must agree to the use of the smaller workgroup. The nurse does not give up his/her right to review by the full peer review committee just because they initially agree to the smaller workgroup. As stated in the rule, the workgroup must be made up of members of the peer review committee, and must follow the same time lines, due process steps, and other procedures that apply to the full nursing peer review committee. The peer review rules do not address use of a smaller workgroup of peer review in the event a nurse was terminated for practice related reasons. When a report to the BON is mandated under NPA 301.405(b), peer review is conducted solely to look for the existence of external factors that may have impacted the nurse’s actions. Since neither the statute or board rules specifically allow or prohibit the u
