No. SB 742
Filed under Healthcare.
Nursing Licensure; Revising information that the Board of Nursing must publish on its website with respect to approved nursing education programs; providing for provisional licensure of registered nurses and licensed practical nurses; establishing that provisional licensees may practice only under direct supervision of a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse, as applicable, etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDNursing graduates who have applied for their exam, carry malpractice insurance, and have a supervision plan in place can now get a provisional license and start working as a registered or practical nurse before they take their boards.
A provisional nurse can only work under a licensed nurse's direct supervision, one trainee per supervisor, and that supervisor must cosign every patient record the trainee produces and must have held their own license for at least six months.
The provisional license is not renewable and expires automatically once a full license is granted, or immediately becomes void if the graduate doesn't pass the licensing exam within three months of graduation or fails it three times in a row.
Separately, the passage-rate figures nursing schools must post and be judged against now count second- and third-attempt test takers, not just first-time takers, and the Board must ask a national testing body to offer the exam in Spanish.
AIA nursing graduate who has applied for the licensing exam and for licensure, carries malpractice insurance, and has a supervision arrangement documented must be issued a provisional license to work as a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse.
AIA registered nurse or licensed practical nurse practicing on a provisional license cannot work independently; every shift must be under the direct supervision of a fully licensed registered nurse or licensed practical nurse.
AIThe nurse supervising a provisional licensee must personally cosign every patient record that provisional licensee produces, making the supervisor legally attached to each entry of care the trainee documents.
AIIf the provisional licensee doesn't pass the licensing exam within three months of graduation, or fails it three times in a row within that window, the provisional license becomes void and the person must stop working as a nurse immediately.
AISubmitting an application does not itself authorize practice; the applicant is barred from working as a registered or practical nurse until the department has actually issued the provisional license.
AIA nurse cannot supervise a provisional licensee unless they have held their own license for at least six months before the supervision period starts, setting a minimum experience floor for supervisors.
AIThe graduate passage rate used to judge whether a nursing program meets state standards, and the peer-average benchmark it's compared to, now includes students on their second and third exam attempts, not just first-time takers as before.
AIBy July 1, 2026, the Board of Nursing must ask the national testing body that administers the nursing licensing exam to offer both the exam and its test-prep materials in Spanish, targeting a July 2027 rollout.