Nursing programs: state of emergency.

Existing law, the Nursing Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of the practice of nursing by the Board of Registered Nursing. Existing law requires the board to appoint an executive officer to perform duties delegated by the board. Existing law requires an applicant for licensure to have completed a nursing program at a school of nursing that is approved by the board. Existing regulatory law sets forth curriculum requirements for nursing programs, including preceptorships and clinical practice hours, and also requirements for clinical facilities that may be used for clinical experience. This bill would authorize an approved nursing program to submit a request to a board nursing education consultant to revise certain clinical experience requirements, including reducing the required direct patient hours and using preceptorships without maintaining specified written policies, for enrolled students until the end of the 2020–21 academic year and whenever the Governor declares a state of emergency in the county where an agency or facility used by the approved nursing program is located, subject to specified requirements. The bill would require the board nursing education consultant to approve the request if specified conditions are satisfied and to reject the request if the approved nursing program fails to meet the conditions or fails to submit information satisfactory to the board. The bill would require the board's executive officer to develop a uniform method for evaluating requests and granting approvals and would require the nursing education consultants to use the uniform method. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.