The Nursing Practice Act provides for the licensure and regulation of registered nurses by the Board of Registered Nursing within the Department of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires the board to appoint an executive officer to perform duties delegated by the board. Existing law repeals those provisions establishing the board and the executive officer position on January 1, 2016.

This bill would extend the repeal date to January 1, 2018.

The act authorizes the board to take disciplinary action against a certified or licensed nurse or to deny an application for a certificate or license for certain reasons, including unprofessional conduct. Existing law establishes the California State Auditor’s Office, which is headed by the California State Auditor, to conduct financial and performance audits as directed by statute.

This bill would require the board, by February 1, 2016, to contract with the California State Auditor’s Office to conduct a performance audit of the board’s enforcement program, as specified. The bill would require the board to reimburse the office for the cost of the performance audit. The bill would require the office to report the results of the audit to the Governor, the department, and the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature by January 1, 2017. The bill would require the board’s staff and management to cooperate with the office and provide the office with access to data, case files, employees, and information.

The act authorizes any person who has served on active duty in the medical corps of the Armed Forces of the United States and who successfully completed the course of instruction to qualify him or her for rating as a medical service technician—independent duty, or other equivalent rating, and whose service in the Armed Forces was under honorable conditions to submit the record of that training to the board for evaluation. The act requires the board to grant a license to that person if he or she meets specified qualifications and the board determines that his or her education would give reasonable assurance of competence to practice as a registered nurse in this state. The act requires the board to maintain records of those applicants, including, but not limited to, applicants who are rejected from examination.

This bill would repeal those provisions.

The act requires the board to maintain a list of approved schools or programs of nursing in this state, as specified, and provides that an approved school or program of nursing is one that has been approved by the board and meets certain academic requirements. The act requires the board to deny an application for approval of, and to revoke the approval given to, any school of nursing that does not give student applicants credit for previous education and the opportunity to obtain credit for other acquired knowledge by the use of challenge examinations or other methods of evaluation.

This bill would require the board to deny or revoke approval of a school of nursing that does not give student applicants credit in the field of nursing for military education and experience by the use of challenge examinations or other methods of evaluation. The bill would require the board, by January 1, 2017, to adopt regulations requiring schools seeking approval to have a process to evaluate and grant credit, as defined, for military education and experience. The bill would require the board to review a school’s policies and practices regarding granting credit for military education and experience at least once every 5 years to ensure consistency in evaluation and application across schools. The bill would require the board to post on its Internet Web site information related to the acceptance of military coursework and experience at each approved school.