Amendment
Engrossed on 1/15/26
This legislation establishes a comprehensive regulatory framework for nursing education programs in Florida, fundamentally transforming how prelicensure nursing programs are approved, monitored, and held accountable for student outcomes. The bill addresses concerns about nursing program quality by implementing rigorous performance standards tied to graduate passage rates on licensing examinations, mandating minimum faculty qualifications, and creating robust oversight mechanisms. The legislation aims to ensure that nursing graduates are adequately prepared for professional practice while protecting students from substandard educational programs through transparency requirements and financial accountability measures. By requiring programs to maintain passage rates within ten percentage points of the state average and limiting clinical simulation to fifty percent of training, the bill prioritizes hands-on clinical experience and demonstrable competency. The framework creates a multi-layered accountability system involving the Board of Nursing, the Department of Health, and the Florida Center for Nursing to evaluate program effectiveness and enforce compliance with educational standards.
The legislation amends Section 464.019 of the Florida Statutes to establish stringent requirements for nursing education program approval and continuation. Programs must submit detailed applications with a one thousand dollar fee, including comprehensive documentation of accreditation status, student enrollment statistics, retention rates, and program structure. Faculty qualification standards require that fifty percent of professional nursing program faculty hold master's degrees in nursing or related fields, while fifty percent of practical nursing program faculty must possess bachelor's degrees in nursing. The bill mandates that at least fifty percent of clinical training occur within the United States and limits clinical simulation to no more than fifty percent of total clinical hours. Programs must maintain graduate passage rates on licensing examinations within ten percentage points of the state average, with programs falling below thirty percent passage rates required to reimburse student tuition. Clinical supervision is capped at eighteen students per faculty member in training sites, with specific requirements for direct supervision in hospital and community-based settings. All programs must implement exit examinations or preparation courses and develop remediation plans for students who fail to pass these assessments or the licensing examination within one year of graduation. The Board of Nursing gains authority to approve applications, approve with conditions, or deny applications within ninety days of submission, and can impose disciplinary remedies up to program approval revocation.
The Board of Nursing serves as the primary regulatory authority responsible for program approval, oversight, and enforcement, with the Department of Health providing administrative support for application review and onsite evaluations. The Florida Center for Nursing is tasked with evaluating the program application approval process, assessing program accountability, and completing annual compliance assessments. Programs must submit annual reports by November first each year, documenting student metrics, graduation rates, employment outcomes, and compliance with all regulatory requirements. The Department of Health is authorized to conduct onsite evaluations within ninety days of application submission to verify program compliance with all standards. Programs placed on probationary status must disclose this status to all current students and applicants, offer remediation at no additional cost, and submit detailed improvement plans. The Board must adopt rules implementing these provisions by December thirty-first, two thousand twenty-six, following the procedures established in Chapter 120 of the Florida Statutes. Program directors must notify the Board within fifteen days of any significant changes to program structure, faculty, or operations. Institutions with existing programs on probationary status are prohibited from submitting new program applications until the probationary status is resolved. The Board can terminate programs that fail to meet requirements or demonstrate sustained non-compliance, with authority to consider adverse actions from other regulatory jurisdictions when making approval decisions.
The legislation directly benefits nursing students by ensuring they receive quality education from programs that demonstrate successful graduate outcomes, with transparency requirements allowing prospective students to make informed decisions about program selection. Students enrolled in programs with passage rates below thirty percent receive financial protection through mandatory tuition reimbursement provisions. The regulatory framework is expected to reduce the number of low-performing nursing education programs operating in Florida, potentially consolidating the market around higher-quality institutions. Educational institutions face significant administrative burden through enhanced reporting requirements, mandatory remediation programs, and the financial risk associated with low passage rates. The requirement that fifty percent of faculty hold advanced degrees may create recruitment challenges and increase operational costs for nursing programs. Clinical training sites experience increased oversight through the eighteen-student-per-faculty supervision ratio, which may limit the number of students that can be accommodated at any given facility. The legislation does not include specific appropriations or cost estimates, but implementation costs will be borne by the Board of Nursing, Department of Health, and educational institutions through application fees and compliance activities. The effective date of July first, two thousand twenty-six, provides a transition period for programs to achieve compliance with new standards. No sunset provision is included, indicating the regulatory framework is intended as permanent law.
The legislation operates under the state's constitutional police power to regulate professions affecting public health and safety, specifically the authority to license and regulate nursing practice. The statutory framework builds upon existing nursing regulation authority in Chapter 464 of the Florida Statutes while incorporating disciplinary procedures from Section 456.072. The Board of Nursing's rulemaking authority is governed by Chapter 120, requiring adherence to the Administrative Procedure Act for all rule adoptions and enforcement actions. The legislation references standards established by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and United States Department of Education accreditation requirements, creating interplay between state regulation and national professional standards. Programs subject to adverse action have access to administrative review procedures under Chapter 120, including formal hearing rights and judicial review through the district courts of appeal. The requirement that clinical training occur in the United States raises potential questions about international clinical experiences and study abroad programs, though the fifty percent threshold provides flexibility for limited international components. The legislation does not explicitly preempt local government authority but establishes statewide minimum standards that supersede any less stringent local requirements. The tuition reimbursement provision creates a private right of action for students, though the specific enforcement mechanism and venue are not detailed in the statutory language.
The legislation faces significant implementation challenges related to the strict faculty qualification requirements, which may create workforce shortages as programs compete for faculty with advanced degrees in a limited labor market. The fifty percent master's degree requirement for professional nursing programs could force smaller or rural programs to close if they cannot recruit qualified faculty, potentially reducing access to nursing education in underserved areas. The tuition reimbursement provision for programs with passage rates below thirty percent creates substantial financial risk for educational institutions and may lead to program closures rather than remediation efforts, particularly for programs serving disadvantaged student populations who may face greater barriers to examination success. The legislation does not address whether passage rate calculations account for student demographics, prior academic preparation, or socioeconomic factors that influence examination performance, raising concerns about potential disparate impact on programs serving diverse student bodies. The ninety-day application review timeline may prove insufficient for thorough evaluation of complex program applications, particularly when onsite visits are required. The prohibition on new program applications from institutions with existing programs on probationary status could limit expansion of nursing education capacity even when the new program would address different geographic areas or student populations. The eighteen-student-per-faculty clinical supervision ratio may conflict with existing clinical site agreements and reduce the total number of clinical training slots available statewide, potentially creating bottlenecks in program completion. The requirement for fifty percent of clinical training to occur in the United States may disadvantage programs with established international partnerships and limit global health education opportunities. Cost implications include increased administrative expenses for the Board of Nursing and Department of Health, higher operational costs for educational institutions, and potential tuition increases to offset compliance costs and financial risks. Opposition arguments center on concerns about reduced access to nursing education, particularly in rural and underserved communities, and the potential for the legislation to decrease rather than increase the nursing workforce at a time of critical shortages.
107 Yea
RRRDDDRDRRRRDRRRDRRDRRRDRRDRDDRRRDDRDRRRRRRDRDRRRDRDRRRRRDDRRRRRRRDDRDRDRRRDRRRRRRRRRDRRDDRRRRRRRRRRRRRDRRD1 Nay
R9 Not Voting
RRRDDDRRR| Nov 5, 2025 at 8:30 AM | House Education & Employment Committee Hearing | |
| Dec 4, 2025 at 8:30 AM | House Health & Human Services Committee Hearing |