Chapter 2014-92, Laws of Florida, became effective on July 1, 2014

Chapter 2014-92, Laws of Florida, became effective on July 1, 2014. Several areas impact the Board of Nursing. You will find a summary of the changes below and can view the actual bill language at http://laws.flrules.org/2014/92.

Nursing licensure applicants: The changes require graduates of approved nursing education programs in Florida, who do not take the licensure examination within 6 months after graduation, to complete a licensure exam preparatory course (approved by the Board of Nursing).

Licensed nurses: Licensed nurses (LPN, RN, ARNP) are now exempt from continuing education requirements for licensure renewal if they are certified by a health care specialty program accredited by the National Commission of Certifying Agencies (NCCA) or the Accrediting Bureau of Specialty Nursing Certification (ABSNC).

Nursing education programs:
•The law revises clinical training to include simulation and the use has been increased to 50% for each content area. In addition, all clinical training must be completed in the U.S., District of Columbia, or U.S. territory for LPN/RN programs.

•Programs must achieve a graduate pass rate for first time test takers who take the exam within 6 months of graduation. Approved programs shall require graduates who do not take the exam within 6 months of graduation to enroll in and complete a licensure exam preparatory course (approved by the Board of Nursing).

•Remediation plans for probationary programs must include specific benchmarks to identify progress toward a graduate passage rate goal.

•The board may choose to extend a program’s probationary period for 1 year if the program can demonstrate adequate progress toward the passage rate goal by meeting benchmarks in the established remediation plan.

•If a student transfers from a terminated program with more than 12 credit hours, the passage rates of the receiving program will be recalculated to exclude the scores of the transferred student.

•Professional nursing education programs are required to reach nursing accreditation status by July 1, 2019, or within 5 years of enrolling the program’s first students.