No. CS/HB 121
Filed under Healthcare.
Nursing Education Programs ; Revises application requirements for nursing education program approval; authorizes Board of Nursing to revoke program's approval; revises requirements for annual reports program directors of approved programs are required to submit to board; provides for revocation of program's approval & discipline of its program director; revises remediation procedures; removes provision authorizing board to extend program's probationary status; authorizes agents of DOH to conduct onsite evaluations & inspections; authorizes DOH to collect evidence as part of such evaluations & inspections; removes provision authorizing approved nursing education programs to request extension to meet board's accreditation requirements.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDNursing schools that fail to meet licensing-exam passage rates for two straight years must now be shut down. The Board of Nursing no longer has authority to grant a one-year extension if the program is making progress.
A program whose graduates pass the licensing exam at below 30 percent in a year must refund tuition and fees to every first-time test taker who failed. Probationary programs must also pay for exam remediation.
Programs also lose the option to request a two-year extension on meeting accreditation deadlines. Department of Health agents gain new authority to inspect programs and collect evidence, and refusing an inspection now counts as a violation.
Applicants must disclose a program director's disciplinary history in other states. The board must reject any applicant whose program had its authority to operate revoked elsewhere, and may reject one tied to an owner whose earlier program failed.
AIIf a program's graduate passage rate still falls short after two years on probation, the board must terminate it. The board no longer has authority to grant a one-year extension to a program showing progress toward its benchmarks.
AIA program whose graduates pass the licensing exam at less than 30 percent in a calendar year must reimburse the full tuition and fees paid by every first-time test taker who failed that exam.
AIApproved programs could apply for up to a two-year extension of the deadline to meet accreditation requirements if they met passage-rate and retention benchmarks. That entire extension process is deleted, leaving the deadline fixed.
AIThe board must deny a program application if another state's regulator has terminated or revoked that applicant's authority to operate a nursing program, and may discipline or revoke an already-approved program over lesser adverse actions elsewhere.
AIDepartment of Health agents may conduct onsite evaluations or inspections during regular operating hours and collect evidence to verify compliance or support prosecution. A program that refuses an inspection is treated as violating a legal obligation.
AIThe board may deny a program application if the applicant is owned by a person or entity that held a 25 percent or greater interest in a different nursing program that closed while on probationary status.
AIIf a program does not submit its required annual report, the board must terminate it once 30 days pass after the report's due date, down from the 6-month grace period the law previously allowed.
AIPrograms must adopt standardized admission criteria that flag students likely to need extra support, maintain individualized support plans for them, and give every student an exit exam or preparation course before completion to ready them for licensure testing.