SB 526 filed to revise Nursing Education Requirements

Florida Senator Gayle Harrell has filed SB 526 Nursing Education Programs that would revise nursing education standards to include changes to admission criteria for students, evaluation standards and program licensing standards.
The bill includes requirements for student admission criteria that must, at a minimum, identify those students who are likely to need additional educational support to be successful program graduates. 

The program must develop and implement an individualized student academic support plan for those students identified as in need of additional preparation and educational support.

In addition all programs will be required to administer a comprehensive examination must be termed an exit examination that all programs will administer and may not be the sole exclusion to graduation if the student has
otherwise successfully completed all coursework required by the
program. The program director is responsible for ensuring that
the average exit examination results of the program are placed on the program’s website and reported to the Florida Board of Nursing.

The legislation would further require that a program with NCLEX passage rates at least 10 percentage points below the average passage rate for the most recent calendar year must offer remediation at no additional cost or refer the student to an approved remedial program and pay for that program for the student.

The legislation would require the revocation of licensure for any school that has had any adverse action against the program within Florida, or any other state.

The bill would further authorize the Florida Board of Nursing to conduct on site inspections of any nursing education program to determine if licensure requirements are being met by the nursing education program.

As of today the Bill has not been assigned to any Committee hearings.

If you support this legislation please reach out to your Florida legislators, Florida Senate President and Florida Speaker of the House to share your thoughts to advance this bill.