Florida Senate - 2017 CS for SB 328
By the Committee on Health Policy; and Senators Grimsley and
Perry
588-02417-17 2017328c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the regulation of nursing; amending
3 s. 464.012, F.S.; removing an obsolete qualification
4 no longer sufficient to satisfy certain nursing
5 certification requirements; amending s. 464.019, F.S.;
6 authorizing the Board of Nursing to conduct certain
7 on-site evaluations; removing a limiting criterion
8 from the requirement to measure graduate passage
9 rates; removing a requirement that certain nursing
10 program graduates complete a specific preparatory
11 course; clarifying circumstances when programs in
12 probationary status must be terminated; providing that
13 accredited and nonaccredited nursing education
14 programs must disclose probationary status; requiring
15 notification of probationary status to include certain
16 information; prohibiting a terminated or closed
17 program from seeking program approval for a certain
18 time; providing that a name change or the creation of
19 a new educational institution does not reduce the
20 waiting period for reapplication; authorizing the
21 board to adopt certain rules; removing requirements
22 that the Office of Program Policy Analysis and
23 Government Accountability perform certain tasks;
24 requiring the Florida Center for Nursing to make an
25 annual assessment of compliance by nursing programs
26 with certain accreditation requirements; requiring the
27 center to include its assessment in a report to the
28 Governor and the Legislature; requiring the
29 termination of a program under certain circumstances;
30 providing effective dates.
31
32 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
33
34 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 464.012, Florida
35 Statutes, is amended to read:
36 464.012 Certification of advanced registered nurse
37 practitioners; fees; controlled substance prescribing.—
38 (1) Any nurse desiring to be certified as an advanced
39 registered nurse practitioner shall apply to the department and
40 submit proof that he or she holds a current license to practice
41 professional nursing and that he or she meets one or more of the
42 following requirements as determined by the board:
43 (a) Satisfactory completion of a formal postbasic
44 educational program of at least one academic year, the primary
45 purpose of which is to prepare nurses for advanced or
46 specialized practice.
47 (a)(b) Certification by an appropriate specialty board.
48 Such certification shall be required for initial state
49 certification and any recertification as a registered nurse
50 anesthetist, psychiatric nurse, or nurse midwife. The board may
51 by rule provide for provisional state certification of graduate
52 nurse anesthetists, psychiatric nurses, and nurse midwives for a
53 period of time determined to be appropriate for preparing for
54 and passing the national certification examination.
55 (b)(c) Graduation from a program leading to a master’s
56 degree in a nursing clinical specialty area with preparation in
57 specialized practitioner skills. For applicants graduating on or
58 after October 1, 1998, graduation from a master’s degree program
59 shall be required for initial certification as a nurse
60 practitioner under paragraph (4)(c). For applicants graduating
61 on or after October 1, 2001, graduation from a master’s degree
62 program shall be required for initial certification as a
63 registered nurse anesthetist under paragraph (4)(a).
64 Section 2. Effective December 31, 2018, or upon enactment
65 of the Nurse Licensure Compact into law by 26 states, whichever
66 occurs first, subsection (1) of section 464.012, Florida
67 Statutes, as amended by section 8 of chapter 2016-139, section
68 12 of chapter 2016-224, and section 7 of chapter 2016-231, Laws
69 of Florida, is amended to read:
70 464.012 Certification of advanced registered nurse
71 practitioners; fees; controlled substance prescribing.—
72 (1) Any nurse desiring to be certified as an advanced
73 registered nurse practitioner shall apply to the department and
74 submit proof that he or she holds a current license to practice
75 professional nursing or holds an active multistate license to
76 practice professional nursing pursuant to s. 464.0095 and that
77 he or she meets one or more of the following requirements as
78 determined by the board:
79 (a) Satisfactory completion of a formal postbasic
80 educational program of at least one academic year, the primary
81 purpose of which is to prepare nurses for advanced or
82 specialized practice.
83 (a)(b) Certification by an appropriate specialty board.
84 Such certification shall be required for initial state
85 certification and any recertification as a registered nurse
86 anesthetist, psychiatric nurse, or nurse midwife. The board may
87 by rule provide for provisional state certification of graduate
88 nurse anesthetists, psychiatric nurses, and nurse midwives for a
89 period of time determined to be appropriate for preparing for
90 and passing the national certification examination.
91 (b)(c) Graduation from a program leading to a master’s
92 degree in a nursing clinical specialty area with preparation in
93 specialized practitioner skills. For applicants graduating on or
94 after October 1, 1998, graduation from a master’s degree program
95 shall be required for initial certification as a nurse
96 practitioner under paragraph (4)(c). For applicants graduating
97 on or after October 1, 2001, graduation from a master’s degree
98 program shall be required for initial certification as a
99 registered nurse anesthetist under paragraph (4)(a).
100 Section 3. Paragraph (b) of subsection (2), subsection (5),
101 subsection (8), paragraph (a) of subsection (9), and subsection
102 (10) of section 464.019, Florida Statutes, are amended,
103 paragraph (d) is added to subsection (7) of that section, and
104 paragraph (e) is added to subsection (11) of that section, to
105 read:
106 464.019 Approval of nursing education programs.—
107 (2) PROGRAM APPROVAL.—
108 (b) Following the department’s receipt of a complete
109 program application, the board may conduct an on-site evaluation
110 if necessary to document the applicant’s compliance with
111 subsection (1). Within 90 days after the department’s receipt of
112 a complete program application, the board shall:
113 1. Approve the application if it documents compliance with
114 subsection (1); or
115 2. Provide the educational institution with a notice of
116 intent to deny the application if it does not document
117 compliance with subsection (1). The notice must specify written
118 reasons for the board’s denial of the application. The board may
119 not deny a program application because of an educational
120 institution’s failure to correct an error or omission that the
121 department failed to provide notice of to the institution within
122 the 30-day notice period under paragraph (a). The educational
123 institution may request a hearing on the notice of intent to
124 deny the program application pursuant to chapter 120.
125 (5) ACCOUNTABILITY.—
126 (a)1. An approved program must achieve a graduate passage
127 rate for first-time test takers which who take the licensure
128 examination within 6 months after graduation from the program
129 that is not more than 10 percentage points lower than the
130 average passage rate during the same calendar year for graduates
131 of comparable degree programs who are United States educated,
132 first-time test takers on the National Council of State Boards
133 of Nursing Licensing Examination, as calculated by the contract
134 testing service of the National Council of State Boards of
135 Nursing. An approved program shall require a graduate from the
136 program who does not take the licensure examination within 6
137 months after graduation to enroll in and successfully complete a
138 licensure examination preparatory course pursuant to s. 464.008.
139 For purposes of this subparagraph, an approved program is
140 comparable to all degree programs of the same program type from
141 among the following program types:
142 a. Professional nursing education programs that terminate
143 in a bachelor’s degree.
144 b. Professional nursing education programs that terminate
145 in an associate degree.
146 c. Professional nursing education programs that terminate
147 in a diploma.
148 d. Practical nursing education programs.
149 2. Beginning with graduate passage rates for calendar year
150 2010, if an approved program’s graduate passage rates do not
151 equal or exceed the required passage rates for 2 consecutive
152 calendar years, the board shall place the program on
153 probationary status pursuant to chapter 120 and the program
154 director shall appear before the board to present a plan for
155 remediation, which shall include specific benchmarks to identify
156 progress toward a graduate passage rate goal. The program must
157 remain on probationary status until it achieves a graduate
158 passage rate that equals or exceeds the required passage rate
159 for any 1 calendar year. The board shall deny a program
160 application for a new prelicensure nursing education program
161 submitted by an educational institution if the institution has
162 an existing program that is already on probationary status.
163 3. Upon the program’s achievement of a graduate passage
164 rate that equals or exceeds the required passage rate, the
165 board, at its next regularly scheduled meeting following release
166 of the program’s graduate passage rate by the National Council
167 of State Boards of Nursing, shall remove the program’s
168 probationary status. If the program, during the 2 calendar years
169 following its placement on probationary status, does not achieve
170 the required passage rate for any 1 calendar year, the board
171 shall terminate the program pursuant to chapter 120. However,
172 the board may extend the program’s probationary status for 1
173 additional year, provided if the program has demonstrated
174 demonstrates adequate progress toward the graduate passage rate
175 goal by meeting a majority of the benchmarks established in the
176 remediation plan. If the program is not granted the 1-year
177 extension or fails to achieve the required passage rate by the
178 end of such extension, the board shall terminate the program
179 pursuant to chapter 120.
180 (b) If an approved program fails to submit the annual
181 report required in subsection (3), the board shall notify the
182 program director and president or chief executive officer of the
183 educational institution in writing within 15 days after the due
184 date of the annual report. The program director shall appear
185 before the board at the board’s next regularly scheduled meeting
186 to explain the reason for the delay. The board shall terminate
187 the program pursuant to chapter 120 if the program director
188 fails to appear before the board, as required under this
189 paragraph, or if the program it does not submit the annual
190 report within 6 months after the due date.
191 (c) A nursing education An approved program, whether
192 accredited or nonaccredited, which has been placed on
193 probationary status shall disclose its probationary status in
194 writing to the program’s students and applicants. The
195 notification must include an explanation of the implications of
196 the program’s probationary status on the students or applicants.
197 (d) If students from a program that is terminated pursuant
198 to this subsection transfer to an approved or an accredited
199 program under the direction of the Commission for Independent
200 Education, the board shall recalculate the passage rates of the
201 programs receiving the transferring students, excluding the test
202 scores of those students transferring more than 12 credits.
203 (7) PROGRAM CLOSURE.—
204 (d) A program that is terminated or closed under this
205 section may not seek program approval under its original name or
206 a new program name for a minimum of 3 years after the date of
207 termination or closing. An institutional name change or the
208 creation of a new educational institution with the same
209 ownership does not reduce the waiting period for reapplication.
210 (8) RULEMAKING.—The board does not have rulemaking
211 authority to administer this section, except that the board
212 shall adopt rules that prescribe the format for submitting
213 program applications under subsection (1) and annual reports
214 under subsection (3), and to administer the documentation of the
215 accreditation of nursing education programs under subsection
216 (11). The board may adopt rules relating to the nursing
217 curriculum, including rules relating to the uses and limitations
218 of simulation technology. The board may not impose any condition
219 or requirement on an educational institution submitting a
220 program application, an approved program, or an accredited
221 program, except as expressly provided in this section.
222 (9) APPLICABILITY TO ACCREDITED PROGRAMS.—
223 (a) Subsections (1)-(3), paragraph (4)(b), and paragraph
224 (5)(b) subsection (5) do not apply to an accredited program.
225 (10) IMPLEMENTATION STUDY.—The Florida Center for Nursing
226 and the education policy area of the Office of Program Policy
227 Analysis and Government Accountability shall study the
228 administration of this section and submit reports to the
229 Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
230 House of Representatives annually by January 30, through January
231 30, 2020. The annual reports shall address the previous academic
232 year; provide data on the measures specified in paragraphs (a)
233 and (b), as such data becomes available; and include an
234 evaluation of such data for purposes of determining whether this
235 section is increasing the availability of nursing education
236 programs and the production of quality nurses. The department
237 and each approved program or accredited program shall comply
238 with requests for data from the Florida Center for Nursing and
239 the education policy area of the Office of Program Policy
240 Analysis and Government Accountability.
241 (a) The Florida Center for Nursing education policy area of
242 the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
243 Accountability shall evaluate program-specific data for each
244 approved program and accredited program conducted in the state,
245 including, but not limited to:
246 1. The number of programs and student slots available.
247 2. The number of student applications submitted, the number
248 of qualified applicants, and the number of students accepted.
249 3. The number of program graduates.
250 4. Program retention rates of students tracked from program
251 entry to graduation.
252 5. Graduate passage rates on the National Council of State
253 Boards of Nursing Licensing Examination.
254 6. The number of graduates who become employed as practical
255 or professional nurses in the state.
256 (b) The Florida Center for Nursing shall evaluate the
257 board’s implementation of the:
258 1. Program application approval process, including, but not
259 limited to, the number of program applications submitted under
260 subsection (1); the number of program applications approved and
261 denied by the board under subsection (2); the number of denials
262 of program applications reviewed under chapter 120; and a
263 description of the outcomes of those reviews.
264 2. Accountability processes, including, but not limited to,
265 the number of programs on probationary status, the number of
266 approved programs for which the program director is required to
267 appear before the board under subsection (5), the number of
268 approved programs terminated by the board, the number of
269 terminations reviewed under chapter 120, and a description of
270 the outcomes of those reviews.
271 (c) The Florida Center for Nursing shall complete an annual
272 assessment of compliance by programs with the accreditation
273 requirements of subsection (11), include in the assessment a
274 determination of the accreditation process status for each
275 program, and submit the assessment as part of the reports
276 required For any state fiscal year in which The Florida Center
277 for Nursing does not receive legislative appropriations, the
278 education policy area of the Office of Program Policy Analysis
279 and Government Accountability shall perform the duties assigned
280 by this subsection to the Florida Center for Nursing.
281 (11) ACCREDITATION REQUIRED.—
282 (e) A nursing education program that fails to meet the
283 accreditation requirements shall be terminated and is ineligible
284 for reapproval under its original name or a new program name for
285 a minimum of 3 years after the date of termination. An
286 institutional name change or the creation of a new educational
287 institution with the same ownership does not reduce the waiting
288 period for reapplication.
289 Section 4. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this
290 act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2017.