Page 22 - University of Martland Nursing Forum - Winter 2017

PARTNERSHIPS
New State Law Pays Preceptors Back
Governor approves state income-tax credit in areas with health care workforce shortages
By Nancy Menefee Jackson
For years, when it came to training the next generation, primary care practitioners paid it forward, dedicating time to precept future
doctors and nurse practitioners. Now, thanks to Maryland Senate Bill (SB) 411, they’ll be paid back, in a way, by owing a little less in taxes.
SB 411, approved by Gov. Larry Hogan in May and effective as of last July 1, authorizes a state income-tax credit
for anyone who serves as a preceptor
in certain preceptorship programs in specified areas of Maryland that have health care workforce shortages.
Preceptors may claim a credit of $1,000 per student per rotation—or in the case of nurse practitioners, per semester—up to a maximum of $10,000. To help pay
for the credit, the bill establishes the special, nonlapsing Nurse Practitioner Preceptorship Tax Credit Fund,
requiring the Maryland Board of
Nursing to assess a $15 fee for the renewal of a specified certification.
Richard Colgan, MD, professor, Family and Community Medicine, University
of Maryland School of Medicine, and director of the school’s Maryland Area Health Education Centers program, led the initiative to pursue the preceptor tax-credit legislation, modeling it after
a similar law in Georgia. Colgan met
with Maryland Sen. Adelaide C. “Addie” Eckardt, MS ’81, BSN ’78, who represents the Eastern Shore and is a nurse, and she agreed to sponsor the legislation.
“This is a reasonable incentive to affirm what our practitioners are already doing,” Eckardt says. “It is a small token of our appreciation and a reinforcer to continue
Lane Fodel, MS ’10, CRNP, senior nurse practioner, Adult Emergency Department, University of Maryland Medical Center (right), precepts Siham Sleiman, a School of Nursing visiting master’s scholar from Lebanon (center).
20 WINTER 2017
MIKE CIESIELSKI